Lesson 1: Customers and Positioning

Why start with customers?

Marketing is the work of getting the right message to the right people. A business that tries to talk to everyone usually ends up persuading no one. Before you build a website, post on social media or pay for ads, you need clear answers to two questions:

1. Who are we for? (your ideal customer)
2. Why should they choose us? (your positioning)

The UK has a lot of competition. At the start of 2025 it had about 5.7 million private sector businesses, and roughly three quarters of them employed nobody except the owner. Customers have plenty of choice, so a business that is clear about who it serves gets noticed.

This lesson follows one example business the whole way through: Muddy Paws, a mobile dog groomer in Bristol run by one person from a converted van.

Task 1: Write a simple customer profile

A customer profile is a short description of one typical ideal customer. It is not "everyone with a dog". It describes a specific group you can picture clearly.

Cover these five areas:

1. Who they are: life stage, location, budget, and anything that shapes how they buy.
2. Needs: the problem they want solved, in their own words.
3. Buying triggers: the event that makes them look for help now.
4. Objections: the doubts or worries that stop them buying.
5. Where they look for help: the places they search, ask or browse before they decide.

Example: Muddy Paws customer profile

• Who: Working dog owners in north Bristol, aged 30–55, with medium or large breeds. Busy, with a reasonable budget.
• Needs: "I need my dog groomed without losing half a Saturday driving to a salon and waiting."
• Buying triggers: The dog comes home muddy after a walk, the dog is getting old and finds car journeys stressful, a holiday is coming up, or the owner's usual salon has closed.
• Objections: "Is a van clean and safe?" "Will my nervous dog cope?" "Is it much more expensive than a salon?"
• Where they look: Google searches such as "dog groomer near me", local Facebook groups, neighbours and their vet's recommendations, and online reviews.

How to get real answers rather than guesses:

• Talk to 3–5 current or past customers. Ask: "What made you book?" and "What nearly stopped you?"
• Read reviews of your business and your competitors. Customers write down their needs and complaints there in their own words.
• Read the questions people ask in local online groups.

DO: Write a profile for Muddy Paws (or your own business) using the five headings. Keep it to one page.

Task 2: Draft a positioning statement

Your positioning is the place you want to hold in the customer's mind compared with the alternatives. A positioning statement puts that in one sentence. It is an internal tool for you, not an advertising slogan.

A widely used template comes from Geoffrey Moore's book Crossing the Chasm. Here is a simplified version:

For [target customer] who [need or problem], [business name] is [category] that [main benefit]. Unlike [main competitor or alternative], we [main difference].

Follow these steps:

1. Target customer: copy the "Who" line from your profile.
2. Need: take the most important need or trigger.
3. Category: name what you are in plain words, so people instantly know what you offer.
4. Benefit: describe the result the customer gets, not the features. "Saves you a trip" is a benefit. "Has a van" is a feature.
5. Difference: name what competitors do not offer, or do less well.

Example:

For busy dog owners in north Bristol whose dogs get stressed by car trips and salon waits, Muddy Paws is a mobile grooming service that grooms your dog calmly outside your front door. Unlike town-centre salons, we see one dog at a time in our van, so there is no travel, no cage waiting and no other barking dogs.

Common mistakes to avoid:

• Too broad: "For dog owners who want a clean dog" describes every groomer.
• Vague differences: "High quality" and "friendly service" are claims every competitor makes.
• Claims you can't prove: In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) expects businesses to hold evidence for objective claims such as "cheapest" or "the only" before they use them in marketing. Choose a difference that is true and that you can show.

DO: Fill in the template for your business. Then cut every word that a competitor could also say.

Task 3: Check your statement against three competitors

A positioning statement only works if it is distinct. Test it like this:

1. Find three real competitors. Search Google the way your customer would, for example "dog groomer Bristol". Pick three businesses that customers would genuinely compare with yours.
2. Open each website and note:
   • Who they seem to be talking to
   • Their main headline or promise
   • Any difference they claim (price, speed, specialism, location)
3. Compare in a simple table with four rows (you plus three competitors) and columns for target customer, main promise and difference.
4. Ask three questions:
   • Does any competitor make the same main promise as you?
   • Could you swap your business name for theirs and the statement would still be true?
   • Is your difference something the customer from Task 1 actually cares about?
5. Revise. If a competitor already owns your difference, narrow your target customer (for example, "nervous and elderly dogs") or pick another real strength.

How to check your work: Show your statement to someone who doesn't know the business, without the name in it. If they can tell it apart from the three competitor homepages, it is distinct enough.

Note for other markets: The method works anywhere. Only the rules on advertising claims change. In the UK the ASA applies the CAP Code. Other countries have their own regulators, so check the local rules before you publish comparisons.

Key takeaways

• A customer profile covers who the customer is, their needs, buying triggers, objections and where they look for help.
• Base the profile on real conversations and reviews, not guesswork.
• A positioning statement names the target customer, the problem, the benefit and the main difference from competitors.
• Benefits describe the result for the customer. Features describe what you have.
• Choose a difference that is true, that customers value and that you can prove. UK advertising rules expect evidence for objective claims.
• Test your statement against three real competitor websites. If you could swap the names, it isn't distinct yet.