Positioning Statements of Top Agencies

Positioning Statements are important. They tell a potential consumer how their offering eases their pain points. Positioning Statements are everywhere you look, in fact!

Any product or service you look at has a Tagline or Positioning Statement. They’re as common as green grass in Oregon or someone saying Roll Tide in Tuscaloosa.

I’m revising our Positioning Statement. As an enterprising middle-aged lad, I figured it would be a good time to survey the landscape and look at some of my contemporaries within the space we all serve for a little inspiration.

Was I inspired? Does a Bear wear boxers? No. And please don’t comment with a meme of a Bear wearing boxers. Please.

Simply put, I was underwhelmed by what I saw. Ours isn’t much better, but I think it’s clever. But is being clever better than being clear? No.

Adventures in Branding and Positioning

A good positioning statement immediately lets someone know they’re in the right place. They don’t have to think; they know that the product or service they’re looking at understands their needs and pains.

While this article is oriented toward Agencies, you can do this for your product, service, or field.

I’ve also looked at and listed various Positioning Statements from several agencies here. They’re mostly kinda meh. Most of these agencies are a part of the WordPress VIP program, and I assume they’re pretty darn good agencies.

Top Agency Positioning Statements

1. Leading WordPress Development Agency
2. Experience technology leadership
3. Publish Better.
4. Let’s Do Launch.
5. Creating Digital Experiences That Drive Growth
6. Revolutionizing how you create, collaborate, and publish.
7. Generate New Value from New Technologies
8. Elevating the Future of Digital Experience
9. We Code Your WordPress Experience
10. Way more than websites.
11. Bring your biggest ideas to light.
12. Good Work. Good People.
13. Your Success Is Our Mission.
14. Building a better web at enterprise scale
15. We are a web agency that helps businesses achieve more with WooCommerce and WordPress. How may we help you?
16. Building a braver, brighter, better-connected world
17. Become Accessible and Improve Your Bottom Line
18. We Are Here to Make an Impact
19. Build awareness and generate leads through smarter web design.
20. We help businesses grow.
21. We Get You Where You’re Growing.

The question to ask yourself is this: If you were looking to build a website that makes money, who are you going with, based on the positioning statement?

Several of these are meh. A few are on the nose. Some are clever, cute even.

I know many Agency owners who tend to get their work from existing clients or word-of-mouth referrals. That’s how it mostly works. Very few agencies get new business organically. That is, these agencies may not care as much about if their positioning statements draw new leads because perhaps it speaks more to the voice of their brand.

What Makes for a Poor Positioning Statement?

Unclear. Clever, unclear. Confusing and jargon-y and unclear.

Notice a theme here?

Be clear. Hit the nail on the head. Don’t make people think.

Unclear positioning statements

Yes, I’m aware that when users scroll down a website, they’ll get the measure of what it’s all about and yadda blah blah. Sure. Yes, that’s true. But we’re talking about crystal clear statements, no murkiness, no guessing. We’re looking for clarity.

• Way More Than Websites — Great! Like what else? What is the desired outcome you sell to your customers and clients? Make that the tagline!
• Good Work. Good People. — Dope. What the heck does that even mean?
• Building a Braver, Brighter, Better-connected World — I love the aspirational nature of this statement but again, like, whatttt? What does this even mean?? If a person is coming to them for what they I can guarantee it’s not because they desire to make the world better and more connected.

Examples of Great Positioning Statements

Clear Positioning Statements

• We Help Businesses Grow — Boom about as clear as you can make it. This is Echo-Factory; we partnered with them on a project a few years back. They make it clear that they’re oriented around a positive outcome. Want to learn more? Scroll down the site to see how they’re going to achieve that.
• Build Awareness and Generate Leads Through Smarter Web Design — More wordy but still effective. I’ve heard it said the best copy is minimal copy. Say the same thing with fewer words. Bullshit. State your value clearly if you can be both clear AND clever. Wonderful. If you can make someone feel something even better!

I’m not sure who said the following, but I agree:

“Never sacrifice clarity in favor of being clever.”

What did we come up with for our positioning statement?

For the longest time, DigiSavvy’s positioning statement was “We Get You Where You’re Growing.”

Cool right? It’s clever, witty, whatever. We changed that up in favor of being more clear. Check out our homepage to see the update.

It’s less fun, but it’s on the nose and more effective as a result.

Tips for creating effective positioning statements

• Just say the thing that you do. Here are a few examples:
  • Example – The Best Residential Roofing Company in Pomona
• Focus on the positive, winning outcome. People come to your site for a reason.
  • Example – We build websites that create profits, not frustration
• Focus on your understanding of the problem your customers have
  • Example – I am a therapist who helps people create better relationships in their lives
• Share your list of positioning statements with your friends, maybe your parents. Ask them if they know what it means.

In Conclusion

Test for clarity with people who know your business and also people who don’t know your business. See what they think? Note any questions or issues they may bring up.

Positioning statements can be difficult, but they needn’t be. If you’re unsure, just go for being clear as see-thru glass.

Creating a positioning statement can be fun if you don’t let it overwhelm you.

Jonathan Stark has a great post on positioning statements that’s also worth a read. Read it here.

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