The square root of differentiation is belief.
Some of the easiest advice to give in marketing is that you need to differentiate.
It’s also some of the hardest advice to follow.
Differentiation is powerful because if you want to be seen as the best at something, by definition, you first need to be seen as being different.
The hard part is answering the question: different how?
What makes this question so difficult to answer is that we all feel safer when we’re doing what everyone else is doing. If our competitors are offering the same services we do, we intellectually understand that it’ll be harder for us to stick out but we also feel validated that we’re in a space with real demand.
This is relieving. And when you’re running a company, relief doesn’t come often or easily. So for many, it’s hard to even want to be different.
But let’s say, you’ve gotten over that and you understand you need to differentiate. On what basis do you decide to go against the grain? How do you decide what is worth doing differently and how do you conceive of different ways to do it?
Option #1. Arbitrary differentiation
One fairly reliable way to find ideas for differentiation is to simply do the exact opposite of what everyone else is doing.
As Charlie Munger would put it, “invert. Always invert.”
Let’s say you’re running a services firm and all your competitors are constantly going on and on about how easy they make things for their customers.
On the face of it, that may seem hard to argue with. But you could conceivably run a message about how you ask your customers the hard questions that no one else will ask them so they can run a smoother operation in the long run.
You could say you advise your clients not to take the easy path, even though you’d get to charge them more along the way. And instead you guide them through their trickiest problems so they don’t have to constantly rely on external help.
You can always find interesting ways to say the opposite of what your competitors are saying. I’d even go so far as to say you should try it. It’s a fun way to find narrative whitespace! I do it for clients all the time. And it works too.
I believe, however, that there is a far more potent way to find the right ideas for differentiation.
Option #2. Zero in on what you really believe.
The real root of lasting differentiation lies somewhere in the pit of your stomach. It’s the things you believed in when you started doing what you do. The things you still believe now. The things you’re sure you’ll still believe five years from now when everything else about you and your company have naturally changed.
What do you believe matters so much that you were willing to take on the ungodly risk of starting a company that does this thing? What do you think is true even when everyone around you professes the exact opposite? What would you prioritize even if you weren’t sure you’d succeed? What excites you so much about this thing that you’ve been able to convince other people to join you?
Feel for the answers to these questions and you’ll know what you want to say that no one else does.
Zero in on those feelings and you’ll know how you want to operate even if you’re the only one working that way.
Notice your beliefs and you’ll realize that differentiation isn’t something you sprinkle on top of your business or mission.
Different is your natural starting point.
The only question is: are you building something based on those beliefs? Or hedging your bets by doing what everyone else is doing?