1. How to Differentiate Your Company to
Grow in a Crowded Market
Steve Offsey
CEO, MarketBuildr

2. When you started
your company
you may have had
a unique product
or solution!

3. You found your product / market fit and began to
grow

4. But, now there’s an influx of new entrants vying for
leadership in your rapidly expanding market

5. >70
! >35

7. In the early days…
Your challenge was to
get skeptical
prospects, hires and
investors to
understand your
target market and
solution.

8. Now you hear…
“Aren’t X, Y and Z
doing that?“
“What's different
about you?"
You

9. So, how can you differentiate your company to
grow in a crowded market?
1. Sharpen your target market 2. Improve your positioning

10. Everyone knows what a target market is…
“A specific group of consumers at which a company
aims its products and services. Your target
customers are those who are most likely to buy
from you.”
Source: Entrepreneur.com
…So why is a lack of focus a common startup disease?

12. How Could Everyone Not Be On The Same Page?
I need to generate more
leads and our email
subscriber list is growing
too slowly. I can add a
free sample list from this
great trade publication.
I can easily
add these
contacts
from my
last
company
to my next
campaign.
This opportunity is
a bit off target, but
the buyer’s really
interested and has
budget!
I’ll call my old
contact at
BleedingEdg
e.com. He’s
always
looking to try
something
new.

13. External Pressure To ‘Think Big’ Can Make Things
Worse
Raising funds often
creates pressure on
company founders to
expand the definition of
their target market in
order to increase its
potential size

14. Why is an Overly Broad Target Market Bad?
• Too many target
customers to easily target
with existing resources
• Too many buyer personas
or, more typically,
personas that are too
vague
• Reduced effectiveness of
market programs due to
dilution or generalization
of messages

15. Resist the temptation to be too general in the
hopes of getting a larger slice of the market
It’s way more risky and
expensive to fire 10
arrows in a variety of
directions instead of
aiming at the dead
center of the target

16. What are the odds?

17. OK, I’m convinced. Now how do I do it?

18. 3 Steps to Ensure Everyone Is Aiming at the Same,
Well-Defined Target Market
1. Assess your target
customer’s needs
versus your solution’s
benefits
2. Carefully evaluate
and segment your
target market
3. Communicate,
measure and repeat

19. How can I find more target customers to talk to?
• Create an offer for content relevant
to your general market and follow
up with respondents by email or
phone
• Attend a conference or meet-up
focused on your general market.
Network and follow up with suitable
contacts afterwards
• Work with key influencers in your
general market. Tap their expertise
and pitch creating an online chat
session to explore your area of
interest
• You can always cold call into
companies in your general market
and ask to speak to people in specific
positions of interest

20. 2. Evaluate and segment your target market
• Company Size
• Industry
• Product Usage
• Pain Level
• Motives
• Behaviors (online and off-line)

21. 3. Communicate, measure and repeat
• Document and internally
communicate your refined
target market definition to
your sales and marketing team
• Measure the impact on all
stages of the sales funnel
• Repeat periodically to ward
against target creep
• As your business expands to
encompass multiple target
markets, repeat the process
for each individual segment to
ensure it is sharply defined

22. The dangers of over-sharpening!

23. So, how can you differentiate your company to
grow in a crowded market?
1. Sharpen your target market 2. Improve your positioning

24. What Is Positioning?
“Positioning is not what you do to a product.
Positioning is what you do to the mind of the
prospect.”
– Al Ries and Jack Trout in Positioning - The Battle for Your Mind
“Product Positioning is consumers' perceptions of a
product's attributes, uses, quality, and advantages
and disadvantages relative to competing brands.”
– Louis E. Boone and David L. Kurtz, Contemporary Marketing

25. Positioning is really about understanding things
from the buyers' perspective
1. How existing products or
brands inhabit buyers'
minds (i.e. the occupied
spaces)
2. Determining the holes or
unoccupied spaces, and
3. Devising a strategy and
tactics to attain the
desired position in the
minds of your prospects
(and customers)

26. Define the market in which the product or brand
will compete (who the relevant buyers are)

27. Identify the attributes (also called dimensions) that
define the product or brand 'space'
AAttttrriibbuuttee IImmppoorrttaannccee
Price
7
Speed
8
Range of Features
5
Ease of Integration
9
Flexibility and Configurability
3
Cool Factor
4
Reliability
9
24x7 Support
4
Usability
9
Security
5

28. Ask your target customers about their perceptions
of each product on the relevant attributes
Determine the
target market's
preferred
combination of
attributes
(referred to as
an ideal vector)

29. Position Around Your Customer and Their Pain /
Problem
If you do a good job of
defining the customer
problem, you don’t need
to describe your product.
The customer will want
to learn more in the next
conversation.

30. Focus on how
you can be
the best

31. Rather than
simply the
most unique

32. Example: Risk Management Software

33. Craft a succinct positioning statement
For (target customers)
Who are dissatisfied with (the current market
alternative, or a lack of an alternative)
Our product/solution is a (new product category)
That provides (key problem-solving capability)
Unlike (the alternatives)
We have assembled (key whole product features for
your specific application)
Source: Jeffrey Moore, Crossing the Chasm

34. What makes a good positioning statement?
• It's simple, memorable, and tailored to the target market
• It provides an unmistakable and easily understood picture
of your brand that differentiates it from your competitors
• It's credible, and your brand can deliver on its promise
• Your brand can be the sole occupier of this particular
position in the market, i.e. you can “own” it
• It helps you evaluate whether or not marketing decisions
are consistent with and supportive of your brand
• It leaves room for growth
Source: Doug Stayman, How to Write Market Positioning Statements

35. Example: Zipcar
To urban-dwelling, educated, techno-savvy
consumers who worry about the environment that
future generations will inherit [target and insight],
Zipcar is the car-sharing service [competitive frame]
that lets you save money and reduce your carbon
footprint [points of difference], making you feel
you've made a smart, responsible choice that
demonstrates your commitment to protecting the
environment [target's goal].
Source: Alice M. Tybout and Bobby J. Calder in Kellogg on Marketing

36. Test your positioning statement
• Is it clear who should buy,
what they should buy and
why they should buy?
• If you substitute a
competitor, is it still
compelling?
• Does the point of
differentiation link to the
buyer’s goals?
• How does it resonate with
your target customers?

37. Two ways to differentiate your company to grow in
a crowded market
1. Sharpen your target market 2. Improve your positioning

38. It’s a process: deploy, test, refine and repeat…

39. Steve
Offsey
CMO / VP Marketing
617.834.2834
steve.offsey@gmail.com
marketbuildr.com
www.linkedin.com/in/steveoffsey
@MarketBuildr
plus.google.com/u/0/112180942182740068934
Building exception B2B, SaaS, Enterprise
Software and Internet businesses