I’ve talked about differentiation ad nauseam, and even created a video about it last spring.
And I’ve provided some examples of lack of differentiation from my own industry:
- (Company I) “Reimagine trust.”
- (Company J) “To protect against fraud and financial crime, businesses online need to know and trust that their customers are who they claim to be — and that these customers continue to be trustworthy.”
- (Company M) “Trust is the core of any successful business relationship. As the digital revolution continues to push businesses and financial industries towards digital-first services, gaining digital trust with consumers will be of utmost importance for survival.”
- (Company O) “Create trust at onboarding and beyond with a complete, AI-powered digital identity solution built to help you know your customers online.”
- (Company P) “Trust that users are who they say they are, and gain their trust by humanizing the identity experience.”
- (Company V) “Stop fraud. Build trust. Identity verification made simple.”
This isn’t effective. Trust me.
But prospective customers aren’t the only ones who are turned off by “me-too” messaging.
Further ramifications of lack of differentiation
What about prospective employees who don’t want to apply to your company because they see no compelling reason to do so?
I’ll grant that the tech job market is so out of balance right now that people are applying to ANYTHING.
But the more choosy ones are…more choosy in their applications. Just like choosy mothers choose…you know.
I recently received this message from a product marketer after I shared a particular identity/biometric job description with them.
Not so sure that company is well positioned for evolving identity landscape.
From a selfish perspective, this benefits me, because I DID apply for this position while they DIDN’T. Reducing the competition increases my chances of getting the job.
But the company (which I’m not naming) doesn’t benefit, because at least one experienced identity verification product marketer doesn’t want to work for them.
So be sure to differentiate…as long as the differentiation resonates with your hungry people (target audience). If your audience is repelled by your differentiation, then that’s a problem with your customer focus.
Now Bredemarket can’t help you with your job search, because I’m certainly not an expert in that. But I can ask you questions that help you create content that conveys that your product is great and your competitors’ products…are not so good.
Visit Bredemarket’s “CPA” page to learn how I can help your firm’s content (and analysis, and proposals), and to schedule a meeting.
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