Many businesses feel generic because they adopt templated marketing from agencies. A "Strategy First" approach, involving customer interviews and brand audits, doesn't invent a unique value proposition—it uncovers one that already exists but is overlooked. The key is stepping back to discover what customers already value.
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Instead of crafting a story internally, ask your best customers what they say about you to others. Their organic language reveals what's truly interesting, memorable, and different about your brand, providing a powerful, market-tested narrative.
In markets saturated with similar product features, true differentiation comes from personality. Brands must find their "inner weird" and the human, universal truths that create an emotional connection, rather than focusing only on technical specs.
Positioning involves high-level strategic decisions about your market and competitors. Messaging is the critical next step: crafting the core sentences that bring that abstract strategy to life and direct all subsequent copywriting.
Your core values are a powerful marketing tool. Instead of keeping them internal, broadcast them. When you state values like being "fiduciary marketers," you build trust and attract clients who share those principles. This acts as a self-selection mechanism, pre-qualifying leads for a better-aligned partnership.
Directly asking customers for solutions yields generic answers your competitors also hear. The goal is to uncover their underlying problems, which is your job to solve, not theirs to articulate. This approach leads to unique insights and avoids creating 'me-too' products.
A simple litmus test for unique brand positioning is to ask, "Could our competitor say this and have it be believable?" If the answer is yes, the message is too generic and not tied to a core, defensible differentiator. The message must be uniquely ownable.
Don't assume even sophisticated buyers understand your unique technical advantage, like a "fuzzy logic algorithm." Your marketing must translate that unique feature into a tangible business value they comprehend. Your job is not to be an order-taker for their feature checklist, but to educate them on why your unique approach is superior.
The first step to humanizing a brand is not internal brainstorming, but conducting deep-dive interviews with recent customers. The goal is to understand precisely what problem they were solving and why they chose your solution over others, grounding your brand messaging in real-world validation.
Don't just list all your features. To build a strong 'why us' case, focus on the specific features your competitors lack that directly solve a critical, stated pain point for the client. This intersection is the core of your unique value proposition and the reason they'll choose you.
A common marketing mistake is being product-centric. Instead of selling a pre-packaged product, first identify the customer's primary business challenge. Then, frame and adapt your offering as the specific solution to that problem, ensuring immediate relevance and value.