April Dunford · Offer
Show the difference that matters
Positioning as April Dunford describes it: start with what customers would otherwise choose, identify what you can do that those alternatives can't, translate it into value, define the customers who care most and pick the market category that makes that value obvious.
When it helps
When readers can't tell what you sell, who it's for or why they should choose you over what they already do – or when you keep being compared with the wrong competitors.
Keep in mind
When the only differences you can name are words like innovative, seamless or leading, or when you don't yet know which alternatives customers actually weigh you against. Find out first.
How to apply it
- Competitive alternatives: list what customers would do if you didn't exist – pick a competitor, carry on with a spreadsheet, hire an intern or do nothing at all. That is what readers compare you with, not your own list of competitors.
- Unique attributes: write down what you have or can do that the alternatives lack – features, ways of working, expertise, delivery model. Stick to facts, not adjectives.
- Value: ask 'so what does that mean for the customer?' of each attribute until the answer is a concrete benefit, and note the evidence that shows the benefit is real.
- Best-fit customers: describe what the customers who care most about that value have in common – their situation, needs or way of working, not just industry and size – and write for them.
- Market category: choose the context that lets readers instantly understand what you are and why your value matters. Don't claim to be unique or the best without a comparison to back it up.
Questions to work with
- What would customers use if we didn't exist?
- What can we do that those alternatives can't – and how do we show it?
- Who cares most about that difference, and what do they have in common?
- In what context does our value become obvious to the reader?
A fictional example
Fictional: a scheduling tool holds the rota and lets staff request shift swaps inside the tool. Today, customers keep the rota in a spreadsheet and handle swaps by email and text.
Draft
An innovative platform that takes your business to the next level.
Revised
Let staff request shift swaps right in the rota, instead of emailing and texting you.
The copy sets the tool against what the reader actually uses today and highlights the difference that decides the comparison.
Read the original sources
The application and example are our own. The example is fictional and has not been conversion-tested.