We have all been there. You land on a website, read the headline, scroll through three sections of sleek copy, and yet, five minutes later, you still can’t explain what the company actually does. Or worse, you know what they do, but you have no idea why you should care.
In the marketing world, we call this messaging failure.
Businesses often assume that if their messaging isn’t converting, they just need “better copy.” They hire a wordsmith to sprinkle some magic dust on the prose, hoping for a miracle. But the truth is much harsher: You cannot fix a messaging problem with better writing if you have a positioning problem.
Here is why most messaging falls flat—and how strategic positioning serves as the “north star” that fixes it.
Most brands treat messaging like a game of “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.” This leads to three common pitfalls:
If messaging is the voice of your brand, positioning is the soul. Positioning is the strategic exercise of defining exactly where you sit in the market and in the mind of your customer.
Positioning is not what you say; it’s the space you own.
Think of it like building a house. Messaging is the paint, the furniture, and the decor. Positioning is the blueprint and the foundation. If the foundation is cracked, the most expensive paint in the world won’t keep the walls from leaning.
When you shift your focus from “what words should we use” to “what position do we occupy,” three things happen:
Strategic positioning forces you to answer one question: “What is the one thing we want to be known for?” When you decide to be the “fastest,” the “safest,” or the “most affordable,” your messaging suddenly has a filter. You no longer have to guess what to write on your homepage; you simply communicate the evidence of that specific position.
Great messaging shouldn’t just attract; it should also repulse. Strategic positioning identifies your “Anti-Persona”—the people who are not a fit for your brand. By being specific about who you are for, you gain the trust of those people much faster. Positioning gives your messaging the “teeth” it needs to be bold.
Positioning is rooted in a Unique Value Proposition (UVP). Instead of listing features, your messaging starts describing a “New Reality” for the customer.
To fix your messaging, you must step back from the keyboard and look at the market map.
Identify the “Winner’s Stakes”: What does your customer stand to gain if they choose you over the status quo?
Messaging fails because it lacks a target. It is a shot in the dark. Strategic positioning turns on the lights, shows you exactly where the target is, and hands you a laser-guided arrow.
Stop trying to find “better words.” Start finding a better position. Once you know exactly where you stand, the right words will practically write themselves.