When Slack launched in 2013, it was positioned carefully: a team communication platform that would transform how organisations work together. The company spent millions refining that message.

Then they talked to customers.

Some companies described Slack as “better email.” Others referred to it as “instant messaging for work.” A third group positioned it as “project management.” Enterprise buyers categorised it as “collaboration software.” IT departments saw it as “yet another tool we have to support.”

They were all correct and were using different category frameworks to evaluate Slack.

The disconnect wasn’t due to messaging. Slack executed its positioning well. The challenge: customers assign categories based on their own problems, not yours.

That gap between the category you claim and the categories customers assign you costs more than most marketing budgets can absorb.

The categories you don’t control

Your company exists in multiple categories simultaneously, and you don’t get to choose them.

At RevLifter, we’ve learned this through experience. Ask five different customers what we do, and you’ll hear five different category assignments. Some see us as a promotions platform. Others classify us as conversion optimisation. A third group puts us in personalisation technology.

They’re all correct. We genuinely operate in each of those spaces.

Each category brings separate expectations, comparison sets, and purchase criteria: a promotions buyer compares us to discount tools, a CRO buyer to A/B testing platforms, and a personalisation buyer to recommendation engines.

Same product. Three different competitive landscapes. Three different value propositions. Three different sales conversations.

The traditional marketing response is to pick one category and fight for it. Claim the high ground of “AI-powered promotional intelligence” or “behavioural conversion optimisation” and defend that territory in every piece of content.

This approach fails because it overlooks how customers categorise in their minds.

How customers categorise

Customers categorise you by the problem they’re solving, not by your product definition.

If someone’s searching for ways to reduce discount costs, they put you in the promotions category. If they’re researching conversion rate improvements, you’re CRO. If they’re exploring ways to personalise the customer experience, you’re personalisation technology.

The customer’s problem determines your category for them at that moment.

This is why Microsoft‘s attempt to position Bing as a “decision engine” rather than a search engine failed. When people needed to find information online, they thought “search,” not “make a decision.” Google owned the mental real estate labelled “search.” Bing’s carefully crafted category distinction vanished the moment customers applied their own framework.

The category in Microsoft’s marketing deck held little significance compared to the category already established in customers’ minds.

The language problem

Most businesses describe themselves using internal language, then wonder why customers struggle to understand them.

Take this actual description from a technology company’s website: “We provide an integrated platform solution enabling cross-functional teams to orchestrate customer engagement across channels while leveraging behavioural intelligence for optimised outcomes.”

Now watch what happens when you ask their customers what the company does: “They help us send better emails.”

That gap isn’t just a communication issue. It’s a listening issue.

Customer language may be imprecise, but it reveals real, experience-driven categories.

When someone says, “I need to stop forgetting to follow up with people,” they’re not looking for “customer relationship management software.” They’re seeking a solution to their follow-up issue.

The CRM category exists in vendor marketing, not in customer thinking.

Search reveals truth

Google’s search data reveals exactly the words people use when they encounter a problem. Those words define your actual categories – not the ones invented in strategy meetings.

Someone searching for “reduce discount costs” has placed you in a different category than someone searching for “improve checkout conversion” or “personalise product recommendations.” The same product, with three different entry points and three distinct mental categories.

The search bar exposes genuine problem language, worth more than any positioning framework.

Three diagnostic questions

To understand how customers actually categorise you, ask:

What do they compare you to?

Not what you want to be compared against – what they actually mention in the same breath. If customers compare your “revolutionary solution” to Excel, you’re in the spreadsheet category regardless of what your marketing claims.

What problem do they have right before they find you?

The language customers use to describe their problem becomes your category label. If they’re searching “email marketing that actually works” before discovering your “omnichannel engagement platform,” their category is “email tool that doesn’t break,” not “enterprise marketing automation.”

What do they call you when you’re not in the room?

This reveals your actual category. “That scheduling thing” beats “integrated calendar management solution” every time – because the first is the category in their heads, the second is the category in your deck.

The cost of category fiction

Fighting customer categorisation is costly. Content that insists on your chosen category instead of theirs creates friction. Leading sales conversations with your positioning adds unnecessary hurdles.

Slack accepted a diverse range of customer categories and adapted its messaging accordingly. Replacing email for teams, enhancing collaboration, and providing communication for enterprises.

Sometimes you accept the categories customers create. Sometimes you build something new that fits categories they already understand. But you never win by insisting that customers have categorised you incorrectly.

Listen first

Don’t chase the ‘right’ category. Understand the categories in customers’ minds and address each.

Start by listening to sales calls—not your presentations, but the questions customers ask before they understand what you do. Record their exact words. Those words are more valuable than any brand positioning document.

Then audit your marketing through a simple test: Would a customer actually say this? If the answer is no, you’re using your category language instead of theirs.

Finally, speak with customers who have recently made a purchase from you. Ask them what problem they were trying to solve, what they compared you to, and how they described you to colleagues. The gap between those answers and your marketing messaging shows where you’re fighting categories instead of acknowledging them.

The lesson isn’t that categories don’t matter. Categories shape how customers evaluate products and services, set price expectations, and determine competitive alternatives.

The only categories that matter are those already in customer’ heads, shaped by their experience.

You can fight customer categories or learn from them.

Invest energy in understanding customers and using their language.

The key takeaway: meet customers in their chosen categories, use their language, and align your messaging accordingly. This approach reduces friction, improves clarity, and drives better business results.

This article was written with the assistance of AI.