In today’s noisy online world, knowing how to define your differentiator (the thing that makes you stand out in the minds of your audience) is essential for small business owners to get right. With countless competitors vying for your audience’s attention, it’s crucial to quickly and succinctly highlight what makes your brand, offers, or approach unique.
But knowing your differentiator isn’t enough. You need to know how to leverage your marketable qualities to attract leads, nurture sales, and book more clients.
Your first move should be to weave what makes you the cat’s pajamas into your website copy. Here are seven places on your website to drop your differentiators into the chat.
(Reminder: Your differentiator is NOT necessarily about being the best. It’s about being the best fit for your audience. Read this if you want to shortcut how to figure this out.)
7 Places To Use Your Differentiator In Your Website Copy (+ Case Studies)
(BTW, these website examples are all Big Picture clients and their copy was crafted by, yours truly. You may now proceed.)
Hero Headers
Call me conceited about using my homepage header as an example, but it’s a simple example everyone can understand, so deal with it. (Ah, the joy of being the boss.)
I use my hero header to call out my unique value proposition (my “conversational copywriting” style), immediately. This does a few things that benefit my business.
First, it filters out potential bad-fit leads who don’t vibe with this communication style and aren’t open to exploring a more personable brand voice.
Second, naming/branding things makes you memorable.
For instance, if you’re looking for a website copywriter and you’ve got five tabs open to compare and contrast which of the five copywriters you’re going to reach out to first, I’ve given you something specific to remember me by.
Prospective client’s inner monologue: “She’s the academic bookish one with the conversational style I like.”
I named the quality they like and the thing I’m known for. This is a lot easier to remember than “she’s one of the many copywriters with an editorial aesthetic and neutral color palette who uses the word “aligned” a lot.
(Fellow writers take note: Copywriting that aligns with your business is important, but it’s not specific enough to be your differentiator.)
Mini Bio Section
Misty at Co-Creative Interiors isn’t right for you if you want to design a room you can look at, but can’t touch. Her top differentiator isn’t even that she likes bold patterns and textures. Her calling card is that she helps her clients design a room that feels like their personal style using pieces and materials that can handle kid’s “art” on the fabric, muddy puppy paws on the rug, dinner party spills, woods that can handle humidity, and all the accouterments of a life well lived.
I know that I can hire Misty and not worry about “ruining” my investment because she won’t let me choose something that won’t work for my lifestyle and environment.
About Page
Your About page is where you can let your brand story shine in full detail. You can talk about your purpose and P.O.V. with less restraint than the mini bio section (above) because you’re not trying to wrap everything up into one tight paragraph or a short section.
Ali Gunn Jewelry is an e-commerce business and most e-comms pull back on their brand narrative because they want to spend all their precious real estate showing you their products, not necessarily telling you about them.
But people don’t buy products and services, they buy stories and transformations. AGD’s About page is the perfect place to highlight the mission behind the brand and reveal the founder’s origin story.
Services Page
In case her business name isn’t an obvious signal, Barbara at Third Opinion MD’s business hinges on her signature process. She spotlights her Health Story process throughout her site, but uses her 1:1 Consultations page to break down all of the reasons her East meets West philosophy is a better health care strategy, that yields better results for her clients, who must be individuals who are open-minded and interested in exploring health strategies that go beyond whatever trendy supplement drinks the influencers are hawking.
Social Proof (And “Last Chance” CTA!)
In case you forgot that social proof can be more than testimonials, hop over to this post and bank a few more social proof examples that don’t include 5-star reviews. Bryn at Bright Evolution Coaching pulls a serious 1-2 punch by dropping some proof that she’s got some serious qualifications under her belt. To drive her point even further, she takes advantage of her call-to-action subheader to point out that she’s worked with thousands of clients.
If you’re a C-Suite exec or high-level leader looking for more, you’re not going to sign on with someone without receipts. You’re definitely going to call Bryn.
Your Philosophical / “So, What?” section
You need to have a section on your homepage that addresses the “So, What?” The “So, What?” is the narrative running through your audience’s mind that reflects why they care about your offer.
When we wrote Tracey at Talent Track’s website copy, we knew we needed to make it clear that the advantage of working with her team is that rather than spending months to find and hire a costly new HR/recruiting specialist or signing with a scammy hiring agency, her services don’t require long-term commitments. Why is this important to her audience? Because her audience targets growth-stage startups who have to hire fast but aren’t ready for a full-blown HR department yet. Enter, Talent Track Solutions.
Last Chance CTA (Again)
I’ve included Suzanne at Vamonos because her differentiator stemmed from a “voice of customer” copy pull. As she started building her coaching portfolio to include leadership teams and executives, she continued to hear her clients tell her that they wanted to continue to grow their high-powered careers but were afraid it meant sacrificing their lives, outside interests, family, and relationships. And Suzanne is not about that life. Her approach is her differentiator. When you read through her site you get the sense that she’s no-nonsense when it comes to goal setting, but she has a softness (and humor) that reinforces that she sees her clients as human beings first, and professionals with infinite potential second.
(Or at least, I think that comes across, because I wrote the copy with that goal in mind. 😇)
If you want more help figuring out what to put where on your website (including your differentiator)…
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