Differentiation is the key to owning a unique position in the market.

But what happens when you have a commodity service?

Photography, videography, website development, accounting, IP law, financial planning — services that don't really have a unique process.

Finding a differentiator in what you do is nearly impossible.

I've held multiple strategy workshops for commodity-style businesses, and given them all the same advice:

Turn your position into your differentiator.

Let's dive into how that's possible.

Positioning and Differentiation

Before we start with the how, let's clear up some misunderstandings around these terms.

• Differentiator: The thing you do that your customers want and your competitors can't copy. It's often found in your methodology, process, or deliverable.
• Position: The place you hold in the minds of your potential buyers, often driven by your differentiator.

I like to use this image to explain the difference:

Your differentiator is what you do. Your position is how customers perceive you.

In an ideal world, your differentiator should drive your position, sitting at the core of the place you hold in the minds of your ideal customers.

But when you have a commodity service, there often isn't a clear and compelling differentiator to use.

Take B2B photography as an example.

Unless you have an incredibly unique style that businesses want (and may change their minds about in 3-5 years), there isn't much that sets you apart.

Now, I've had photography clients try to claim these differentiators:

• Make your team members comfortable while taking pictures
• Provide photos that work for any campaign
• Work as an extension of your team

All good things for a photographer to do, but none are super compelling reasons to buy — so they don't make for great differentiators.

Turning Your Position into a Differentiator

When you don't have a compelling differentiator, focus on making your position different.

A caveat before we dive in:

With that out of the way, here's how to turn your position into a differentiator.

Step 1: Understand Your Ideal Customer

Research your ideal customers to understand who they are and what matters to them.

Ideally, you want to know:

• What they look for in a commodity service like yours
• What their real problems are
• How they talk about their problems
• What they want from a solution
• Who they are

The more you know about them, the easier this process will be.

Take our B2B photographer example from above.

We found that his ideal customers are all marketing leaders — marketing directors, VPs, or managers.

They're marketers, so using their language, solving their problems, and helping them manage their images is a key to attracting them.

Do the same — know your ideal customers and come up with a list of things that would help them.

Step 2: Understand Your Competitors

Next, research your competitors to find ways to stand out.

Look at their websites, content, offers, resources — anything and everything they do that shapes the perception of the company.

One of my favorite research tactics is to take screenshots of competitors' homepage hero sections and put them side by side on a whiteboard.

You'll quickly see how your competitors are blending in.

Once you research your competitors, ask yourself: What can we do to stand out?

Let's go back to our B2B photography example.

All of their competitors look and sound the same: portfolio websites, messaging around bringing your brand to life, copy that's all about their photography style.

No competitor is actually owning a position in the market.

So we came up with a list of takeaways our photography client could do:

• Show their photographs in use (brochures, websites, ad campaigns)
• Create tools to help marketers organize their images
• Create case studies instead of portfolio entries
• Use marketing-focused messaging

Easy ways to stand out that their competitors aren't doing.

Step 3: Choose Your Position

By now, a position should start forming before your eyes.

Looking at what your customers want and what your competitors aren't doing will frame the position you should try to hold.

Be warned: this is the hardest step, because it requires you to say NO to doing what everyone else is doing.

And say NO to potential positions you could hold.

Take our B2B photography example.

After looking at their ideal customers and competitors, a clear position showed up:

Be the marketer's best friend.

Do everything you can to talk like, look like, and resource marketers — so when they are looking for a photographer, my client is the first and only choice they turn to.

The key is to find a position that will attract your ideal customers.

Step 4: Own That Position

Lastly, it's time to align everything in your business around that position.

Your messaging, marketing, content, sales, offers, pricing, resources — everything should point back to that position.

Here's how my B2B photographer client is doing it:

• Lead magnets that teach marketers how to create photography briefs, organize their images, and get images that work across multiple campaigns
• Content that teaches marketers how to get images that work for their campaigns
• Case studies that show how his photographs improved his clients' campaigns
• Showcasing his pictures in the context of marketing campaigns
• Messaging that focuses on improving marketing efforts

He's not worried about "telling your story" or "bringing your brand to life."

Every other photographer says that.

His goal is to become the marketer's best friend — and to wrap his entire position around improving marketing with photography.

Crafting a Unique Position

My B2B photographer client doesn't have a clear differentiator.

He runs a commodity service with no unique process or methodology that his ideal customers would line up to buy.

Crafting a unique position — a unique place he holds in the minds of his ideal customers — will make him stand out.

That's what turning your position into your differentiator does.

It's not easy to do. My client won't be able to DIY a website that a marketer would look at and say, "This website is a great resource."

He'll also have to ditch the typical photographer messaging and client acquisition.

But if he does it all well, he will own a unique position that attracts and converts his ideal customers.

You can do the same by following those four steps above.

Turn your position into your differentiator.

It's the best way for a commodity service to stand out in the market.

Need help crafting a unique position in the market?

The Brand OS gives you the exact system for standing out and attracting your ideal customers.

So you can be more profitable sooner.

Until next week,

#SassyJason out.