The Power of Product Positioning: Why Some Offers Sell and Others Flop

You’ve done everything right—built a strong product or service, refined your offer, and marketed it to your audience. Yet, the sales just aren’t coming. It’s frustrating, and it makes you question everything.

Before you assume your product is the problem, take a step back. Oftentimes, the real issue is positioning—how you present your product to the market and differentiate it from competitors.

What is Product Positioning?

Product positioning is the strategic process of defining how your audience perceives your offer compared to your competitors. It’s not just about listing features or setting a price—it’s about carving out a distinct space in the market that makes your product the go-to choice.

An effective brand positioning strategy is a revenue booster. For instance, consider how Apple positions its products as innovative and user-friendly, thereby setting them apart from other tech companies. Or how Nike positions its athletic wear as high-performance and stylish, appealing to a specific market segment.

Think of positioning as a first impression. When people encounter your product, they subconsciously ask: Is this for me? Will it solve my problem? Is it better than my other options? If your positioning doesn’t provide a clear and compelling “yes” to all three, they’ll move on without a second thought.

Avoid These Product Positioning Mistakes That Can Kill Sales

1. Targeting Too Broad of an Audience

A common mistake businesses make is trying to appeal to everyone. The reality? When you speak to everyone, you resonate with no one. Generic messaging makes it difficult for potential buyers to see how your product fits their unique needs. When people don’t see themselves reflected in your copy (like looking into a mirror), it is easy for them to scroll past without a second thought.

The solution? Instead of casting a wide net, refine your target audience and tailor your messaging to their specific pain points. For example, when you crave a takeaway burger, do you automatically think of the family restaurant with a vast menu from chicken tenders to Chinese food or the burger joint down the street? The latter has a better chance of attracting customers who know exactly what they want. In business, it's not just about attracting prospects but qualified leads.

2. Lack of a Strong Differentiator

If your product positioning sounds like every other option on the market, customers will default to the brands they already know and trust. 77% of B2C buyers are likelier to choose a brand they recognize over a lesser-known competitor. (cxl.com)

To stand out, define what makes your product different. It could be an exclusive feature, a more personalized experience, or an innovative pricing model.

Consider toothpaste brands—some focus on whitening, others on sensitivity relief, and some emphasize natural ingredients. Even though they serve the same function, their unique positioning sets them apart and meets a particular consumer need.

3. Failing to Address a Real Problem

Even the best products will struggle if customers don’t see them as the answer to a specific problem. Effective positioning aligns with what your audience actually wants, not just what you assume they need.

Take M&M’s as an example. Instead of merely branding themselves as tasty candy-coated chocolate, they addressed a practical concern: chocolate that melts and makes a mess. Their famous slogan, “Melts in your mouth, not in your hands,” instantly communicated why their product was different—and better—for people on the go, and any parent can see why this would be an apparent 'less mess' winner for kids.

Your product should do the same. If you can tie your positioning to a problem your audience actively experiences, you’ll create an emotional connection that drives conversions.

4. Focusing on Features Instead of Benefits

Customers don’t buy features—they buy solutions. If your messaging is overloaded with technical jargon rather than actual outcomes, it’s harder for people to see why they should care.

For example, instead of saying, “This project management tool includes customizable workflows and automated reminders,” shift the focus to: “Never miss a deadline again—automate tasks and streamline team collaboration effortlessly.”

Always ask: How does this make my customer’s life easier? That’s what your positioning should highlight.

5. Inconsistent Messaging Across Channels

Even with strong positioning, inconsistency can weaken your message.

Think about your brand positioning like Franks red hot sauce; and put that (bleep) on everything —your message needs consistency to stick. Customers may feel disconnected if your website says one thing, but your social media tells a different story.

Keep your positioning consistent across:

• Website copy

• Social media content

• Email marketing

• Sales conversations

The more cohesive your brand message, the stronger your positioning becomes.

How to Strengthen Your Product Positioning

1. Define Your Ideal Customer – Be specific about who your product is for and the exact problem it solves.

2. Differentiate Your Offer – Make it clear why your product stands out from the competition.

3. Craft a Clear Value Proposition – Ensure customers instantly understand the benefits.

4. Test and Refine – Positioning is not a one-time task. Gather feedback, tweak your messaging, and evolve as needed.

5. Stay Consistent – Reinforce your platform positioning to build trust and recognition.

   
   

Final Thoughts

As a conversion copywriter, I am keenly interested in using copy to position your product or service as the ideal solution for the right audience, which will help you generate sales. Remember, your product isn’t necessarily the issue—your positioning might be. A well-defined product positioning strategy doesn't happen by accident; it starts with in-depth research of your target audience and competitors, as well as ongoing monitoring, testing, and optimization.

However, with a well-defined product positioning strategy, you can transform an overlooked offer into a must-have solution, paving the way for growth and success.

Struggling with your positioning? Let’s fix it together. Book a free strategy call today!

Click Me

How to Create An Irresistible, Relatable Ideal Customer Avatar (ICA).

If you want to elevate your marketing strategy to the next level, then you need to create an Ideal Customer Avatar.

Also known as a buyer persona or marketing persona, a semi-fictional representation of your customer is a game-changer in personalized marketing.

Crafting your Ideal Customer Avatar (ICA) is the cornerstone of effectively targeting your unique audience and will boost your brand's success through:

• Focused marketing budget and efforts

• Tailored messaging and content

• Increased relevance and resonance

• Personalized interactions

• Higher customer satisfaction and loyalty

Getting Started with Your Ideal Customer Avatar

Before creating an Ideal Customer Avatar, you'll need to investigate to understand your audience deeply. A sample group or an existing customer base would be an excellent place to start. Begin by reviewing the information you have and collecting data on their demographics, preferences, behaviours, pain points, and motivators. If you don't have an existing customer base, you'll need to conduct customer research through surveys and interviews with a focus group of willing participants.

This information will form the foundation for building a well-rounded ICA that reflects the needs and desires of your target customers.

Now you have the facts, it's time to breathe life into your ICA by creating a detailed persona. This is where you can give your avatar a name, age, occupation, hobbies, goals, and challenges. The more specific and vivid you make your ICA, the easier it will be to tailor your marketing strategies to 'click' with them.

It's important to note that if your business offers a variety of products and services that appeal to more than one audience, you may need to develop more than one ICA or aspects of an ICA specific to a certain offer.

Getting to Know Your Ideal Customer Avatar Further

When you aim to understand your target customers so you can tailor your messages accordingly, there are four main areas to consider.

Age:

It's no surprise that different age groups have varying communication styles. For example, you wouldn't want to use Gen Alpha slang like "rizz" to reach a Gen X audience. You'd use relevant terms and also cover relevant information. One powerful tip here is to be mindful of nostalgia's role in your marketing efforts. For example, using music, movies, commercials, foods, and candies from your target audience's era will go a long way in creating an emotional bond with the audience you want to help.

Location:

Knowing where your audiences are based allows you to personalize promotions and offerings to suit their geographic needs.

Knowledge of Certain holidays, seasons, and weather can all help you decide what you'll promote and when and assist in your product creation.

For example, if your audience is based in regions celebrating Christmas, you can personalize promotions and offerings with Christmas-themed products and discounts. Understanding local weather patterns, such as promoting warm clothing during winter in colder climates, can significantly enhance the relevance of your promotions and product offerings.

Hobbies, Interests, Passions:

By aligning your offerings with their interests, hobbies, and passions, you can deepen their emotional connection and loyalty to your brand.

For example, if you ICA loves mountain climbing, why not use relevant imagery to get their attention when creating new social media posts

Pain points and challenges:

When it comes to connecting with your audience trust is key, and you can build trust by showing empathy for their unique pain points and challenges.

For example, if your audience suffers from anxiety, providing resources like guided meditation apps, stress-relief workshops, or supplements targeting stress can demonstrate empathy and a commitment to supporting their well-being.

Tip: Having identified your ICA's pain points and challenges, you can now draft an ideal outcome opposite each point; this exemplifies the benefits of applying the solution you offer.

The Power Of Personalization

Crafting your ICA is not a one-time task; it's an ongoing process that evolves with your business and market trends. Regularly revisit and refine your ICA to align with your audience's changing needs and expectations. Personalization is the key to fostering meaningful connections with your customers and creating long-term loyalty.

In conclusion, your Ideal Customer Avatar is a hypothetical representation of your audience, but MORE importantly, it is a strategic tool that guides your marketing efforts toward success. By investing time and effort in creating a detailed ICA, you set the stage for targeted campaigns, improved customer engagement, and, ultimately, business growth.

So, if you are ready to transform your marketing and offer impactful, personalized customer interactions that resonate deeply with your audience, why not start crafting your Ideal Customer Avatar today?

Remember, your customers are the heart of your business, and with your ICA in mind, they'll be the centre of your marketing strategy, too!

Did you get something good out of this article? If so, feel free to share it with others and demystify what it means to create an ICA.

Cheers to your success!

Five Wellness Copy Mistakes to Avoid—And What To Do Instead.

It's no secret that the wellness space is alive and thriving—just like the wheatgrass growing at your favorite ‘juicery’. In fact, the wellness economy is valued at 1.8 trillion dollars in the U.S. alone.

That means you have a ready-made market for your products and services.

Avoiding these five common copy mistakes will aid in your efforts to convert more wellness browsers into buyers.

Ick # 1: Overusing Jargon and Buzzwords

Please don't shoot the messenger; I come in peace.

As a wellness provider, you have a lot of information to convey about your industry, expertise, and solutions. A common mistake is to write your marketing copy assuming that your reader knows “wellness” buzzwords or jargon, like “container”, ''hold space”, ''holistic, ''your best self”, ''wound”, ''vibration”, and “alignment”. Words like these are familiar to you and your peers, but it's important to consider that they may alienate the everyday gal or guy who needs your help if they don’t know what they mean or if they give them the "ick".

For instance, instead of 'holistic, 'you could use 'complete' or 'broad.'  

SOLUTION: Review your copy. Do you use many of those words?

Consider whether another choice would be clearer, simpler, and more accessible to your wider audience. A free app like Word Hippo may assist you with finding a suitable replacement word.

Ick # 2: Making Unrealistic Claims

Ooof... this problem alone is a doozy and is the very thing that has given the wellness industry a bad rap.

The reality is that making unsubstantiated or exaggerated claims not only has reputation-damaging legal implications for you but can also create a tidal wave of consumer skepticism and paralyzing buyer mistrust, which could lead to a loss in sales and brand reputation.

SOLUTION:  Build trust with your audience by providing evidence-based information and being honest about the benefits and limitations of your products and services. Imagine how much more trust YOU'd have in a wellness professional if they were upfront about the limitations of their products and services alongside the MANY benefits. Create a list of and use only reputable sites for research, and give a list of those sites to anyone who writes for you.

INSIDER TIP: Use your FAQ sections to address limitations and buyer objections.

Ick # 3: Not Addressing a Specific Target Audience

It's Marketing 101. Yet identifying and addressing the needs of a single target audience to the possible exclusion of "somebody" may leave you second-guessing your decision. However, without a well-planned buyer persona(s), you'll have a weak message that fails to connect with anybody.

SOLUTION: Create and or refine your buyer persona(s)*; take the time to research and understand your ideal customer to find out which problems they need help with. Then, investigate their buying patterns and the thought processes that led them to make a purchase.

*If you have products or services that are specific to an audience segment you may need to develop more than one buyer persona for your business.

To gather intel, consider emailing a questionnaire to your list or joining groups and online forums where the target audience hangs out to listen in on the conversations, this can yield a gold mine of information, use that information to inform your copy.

In addition, you can find out more information about creating a buyer persona, aka Ideal Customer Avatar (I.C.A), here!

Doing the work will give you insight into their unique problems and how your solution can help. By doing so, you're showing your audience that you truly understand and care about their needs.

For example, if your wellness brand targets busy professionals, your buyer persona might be a 35-year-old working woman who values convenience and stress relief.

Ick # 4: Lack of Emotional Connection

It's safe to say that health and wellness consumers trust you with the deepest parts of themselves—their wellness. Without emotional connection, your reader may feel you have nothing in common or don’t understand their struggles when nothing can be farther from the truth.

Instead, humanize your brand through emotional connection and foster the loyalty and trust you need so they feel safe working with you.

SOLUTION:  Add emotional connection builders throughout your marketing copy through things like:

• Storytelling: It's an age-old art for a reason. When we read or hear a story, we paint a picture in our mind, activating parts of our brain that go beyond words, reinforcing the message and making it more memorable.

• Social Proof: Reviews and testimonials to help build trust. When we see people just like us getting the results we want, it is a powerful motivator. Be choosy when selecting your reviews to reinforce the right message.

• Relevant Images—A picture paints a thousand words, as they say. Use images that help reinforce the feelings you want your reader to have. Choose a happy, smiling face or images of success when in doubt.

Ick # 5: Poor Structure and Clarity

Unclear and overstructured copy can confuse your reader and reduce the effectiveness of your message. A confused reader is much less likely to buy from you.

SOLUTION:  Edit your copy with the following tips in mind:

1.   Write your copy at a Grade 8 reading level— use a free online app like the Hemingway Editor to ensure your readability is on point.

2.   Write for skim readers. Use headings, subheadings, crossheads, and bullet points to grab your reader's attention. The reader should be able to glean your content's main points without reading all the nitty gritty details.

INSIDER TIP:  Before you press “Publish” on your next marketing copy, have a text-to-voice reader read it back to you. I use a Microsoft Word “Read Aloud” feature for this.

It's surprising how going this extra step can help you identify dry, dull, or run-on sentences and highlight errors, such as spelling and missing words, that you may not have seen upon initial editing.

---

And there you have it, 5 common "Icks" that could keep you from the sale. Now it is time to review your copy for:

• Jargon and Buzzwords

• Unrealistic claims

• Lack of Emotional connection builders

• Too vague a target audience

• Poor Copy structure and Clarity

Apply the suggestions here for "ick"-free copy that connects with, builds trust with, and effectively engages your audience.  

A quick reminder from your copywriter Ally: Great copy can impact your ability to sell, but it will only reach its full selling potential when combined with a sound marketing plan built on a firm foundation of customer and market research.

---

Do you have time to review your copy in depth?

Do you need help applying the suggested solutions?

A Professional Copy Audit may be for you!

Click the button below to learn how it works.

Check It Out