Every successful positioning project is founded on a deep understanding of which customers will get the most value from your product or service.

It requires you to find a whole new layer of specificity, as it’s highly unlikely your ideal customer makes up 99% of the people who buy from you.

You might feel worried about getting laser-focused, but a broad approach doesn’t do your positioning any favours. Yes, you might lose some customers, but your business will resonate more deeply with the people who actually matter.

So, where do you start? To get your targeting right, there are three critical steps we recommend:

“Having a wide range of target verticals is a huge resource drain. Prioritise a select number of verticals and focus on the best fit for you and you have the resources to succeed in. The goal has to be a big player in that segment, rather than just being present in it.” - Erik Syrén.

1. Identify your ideal customer profiles

Some of your customers are more valuable to your business than others.

The most valuable ones are those who use your product or service as it’s intended, get the most value from it themselves, and provide you with a lot of value in return.

A great first step when building your ICP is to examine your current customer base. Identify the shared quantitative and qualitative data characteristics of your most valuable customers.

This will help you pinpoint common attributes of both the most and least valuable accounts.

Consider factors like:

• Annual contract values (ACV)
• Lifetime values (LTV)
• Cost-of-acquiring-customer (CAC)
• CAC payback time

Your ideal customer profile (ICP) criteria should be extensive, including a potential customer’s industry, budget, revenue, size, location, pain points, age, and potential lifetime value.

2. Understand who you are not for

Positioning is as much about identifying who your product is not suitable for as who it's perfect for.

This distinction requires confidence, as it involves moving away from broader market segments that do not align with your core offerings.

If you try to go after everyone as well as your ICP, you’ll end up diluting your message. It’s okay to rule out customers who aren’t in the right role, industry, company size, or geography.

3. Identify your target segments and verticals

Focus your efforts on specific segments and verticals where you can truly excel rather than spreading your resources too thin across many.

Avoid the temptation to have a wide range of target segments as a way of ‘keeping your options open’ – it’ll cause major headaches down the road.

It’s vital that your ideal customers recognise themselves in your marketing – fast.

Being specific about your segments and verticals will give you the best chance of doing that.

You can add segments and verticals as you grow – but move strategically.

Being laser-focused on your target customers is essential. Your first starting point should be to understand everything about your ideal customers in order to filter your search.

This specificity in your targeting strategy is not just a tactical choice; it's a strategic one that can lead to universal appeal and significant business growth.

Want to know more about creating a first-rate B2B SaaS positioning?

Read our Positioning Your Company guide here.

We're Monterro, an investment firm (of the get-your-hands-dirty with strategy and operational support variety) that helps Nordic software companies hit their biggest growth goals.

If that's you: let's talk.