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In addition to running The Distilled Brand®, I’m also a coach in a large entrepreneurial group. Last week, I had a discussion with a founder about the copy on their website.

I asked why she felt that way. She told me it was because the site wasn’t converting. She was frustrated, having written and rewritten her copy countless times, and with each rewrite, she was sounding more and more like her competitors.

As we continued chatting, it became clear that she was confusing the triad of marketing strategy fundamentals: messaging, positioning, and copy.

It’s a common challenge, and when they get mixed up, so do your website visitors, readers, and prospects. Heck, it’s even possible for you to get confused yourself.

So, pull up a barstool, and let’s get these three critical parts of your marketing strategy straight.

Why This Matters More Than You Think

As I mentioned, thinking you need better copy is common (and chances are you do), but that doesn’t mean you’ll find the right words through iteration or imitation.

When founders come to me thinking they need help with “better copy,” nine times out of ten, what they need is a better strategy. Specifically, they’ve skipped straight to writing without defining who they want to serve, what they want to say, or what they want to sell.

So, to move forward, they need to take a few steps back because this is where positioning and messaging come in, and no, they are not the same thing. They are complementary and interdependent.

Here’s how messaging, positioning, and copy play together in practice.

Positioning sets the strategic foundation. It answers:

• Who is this for?
• How are you different?
• Why should anyone care?
• What market are you playing in?

Messaging takes your positioning and builds the narrative. It explains:

• Your point of view
• The problem you solve.
• The transformation you offer.
• The beliefs your audience needs to adopt.

Once you’ve defined these key marketing fundamentals, then copy steps in and delivers your message.

Copy is simply the words on the screen that reflect your positioning and messaging. But, if your positioning and messaging aren’t solid, your copy will always fall flat, no matter how well it’s ‘technically’ written (sorry about that grammar police).

What Happens When You Get This Wrong

It’s obvious what happens when your messaging and positioning are wrong, but for fun, let’s say you skip positioning or, like all the other programs out there, you treat messaging like an afterthought. What happens?

Here’s what I see all the time:

Your message lacks clarity. You say too much or nothing meaningful.

Your brand becomes generic. You sound like everyone else in your industry.

You dilute your offer. You can’t explain it clearly, so it doesn’t sound valuable.

You attract the wrong people. Your leads come in confused or, worse, unqualified.

You burn out on rewriting. You tweak and test endlessly, thinking it’s a “copy” issue.

BTW, when you reach the last item and you’re burning out on rewriting, that’s when you start to doubt yourself and your abilities, and your competitor’s copy starts to look as good as the person at the end of the bar after a few too many. Copy Goggles are real, people.

How to Fix It. In the Right Order

When you find yourself drooling over your competitor’s copy, and you want your brand to resonate and convert, you need to unmuddle your positioning, messaging, and copy, then distill, refine, and rewrite them in the correct order.

Step 1: Clarify Your Positioning
Before you write anything, you need answers to:

• What category are you in?
• Who are you competing with?
• What’s the unique edge you bring?
• Why should someone choose you?
• Who exactly are you for and not for?

Think of this as deciding what kind of bar you’re opening; who’s it for, and what’s the experience?

Is it a dive bar?
A craft cocktail lounge?
A speakeasy (my personal preference)?

Step 2: Build a Messaging Strategy
Messaging gives your positioning story and voice. It’s the through line between your brand and your audience’s obstacles (pain points) or objectives (desires).

Start with:

• What’s the transformation your clients experience?
• What’s your story, and how does it intersect with theirs?
• What’s the core belief or truth you want to communicate?

Now, you’re not just building a bar. You’re giving it character.

The story.
The atmosphere.
The reason people come back.

Step 3: Use Copy to Compel
Only after you’ve clarified your positioning and messaging should you focus on the copy. That’s when writing becomes fun again because you’re not guessing.

Your copy will now:

• Reflect your brand voice
• Speak to the right audience
• Support a strong, relevant offer
• Reinforce your positioning at every touchpoint

This is when your site, your socials, and your offers start working together. When that happens, conversations and conversions follow.

The Last Call – Right Things. Right Order.

Key point: your copy (probably) isn’t the problem, but your brand clarity is. When you’re not clear, no one else will be either, which is why the cloudy bottle of vodka is always the last one picked. Here’s what to do next:

Get clear on your positioning. Define your category, target audience, and unique selling point.

Separate messaging from copy. Messaging is the story, and copy is how you tell it.

Test your messaging. If your audience doesn’t “get it,” rewrite the message, not just the words.

Audit your content. Does everything align with your core positioning?

Don’t DIY the fix. If you’re too close to your work (hint: you probably are), consider getting outside eyes, like maybe The Brand Messaging System™.️

Clarity sells. Confusion doesn’t. If your business isn’t attracting or converting, stop rewriting and start realigning.

And if you want help creating a brand messaging system that works for you, join The Brand Messaging System program.

With all the templates, frameworks, and community, you need to find the clarity you’ve been missing. Plus, with my support through one-on-one sessions, we’ll determine exactly what to say, how to say it, and to whom.