# Website ICP-Fit — Messaging and Positioning Reference *Part of the Website ICP-Fit skill: https://wavect.io/.well-known/agent-skills/website-icp-fit/SKILL.md* Schwartz awareness levels, StoryBrand, April Dunford positioning, copywriting quality, and SEO messaging alignment. ## Eugene Schwartz's 5 Levels of Customer Awareness This is the most important framework for website messaging. The correct message depends entirely on where the visitor is in their awareness journey. Sending the wrong message to the wrong awareness level is the most common reason technically correct copy fails to convert. | Level | What the visitor knows | Correct message | |---|---|---| | **Unaware** | Does not know they have the problem | Provocative question or story that names the pain they have not yet articulated | | **Problem-aware** | Knows the pain, not looking for solutions | Validate the problem first. Cost of inaction. Naming effect. | | **Solution-aware** | Knows solutions exist, evaluating categories | Why your category beats alternatives. Category education. | | **Product-aware** | Knows your product exists, considering it | Differentiation, proof, objection handling, risk reduction | | **Most aware** | Ready to buy, looking for the best offer | Friction reduction, offer clarity, urgency, guarantee | **The critical mistake:** Most B2B SaaS homepages are written for a Product-aware visitor ("See why 500+ companies choose [Product]") but the majority of organic traffic is Problem-aware or Solution-aware. They arrive not knowing what you do — and leave because you assumed they already did. **How to diagnose the mismatch:** - If the headline names the product before naming the problem: written for Product-aware, but most visitors are not. - If the hero section leads with a feature list: written for Solution-aware at best; will not convert Problem-aware visitors. - If there is no education about why the problem matters: the page assumes the visitor has already done the work of justifying the problem — most have not. **ICP awareness mapping:** Ask: "When my ICP arrives from [channel], what do they already know?" - Organic search (problem keyword): Problem-aware — start with the problem - Organic search (product keyword): Product-aware — start with differentiation - Social media (cold): Unaware or Problem-aware — start with the pain story - Referral from existing customer: Most aware — reduce friction to purchase - Outbound email click: Problem-aware — the email did the awareness work; land on proof Different traffic sources may need different landing pages. A homepage trying to serve all sources simultaneously will convert none of them well. --- ## The StoryBrand Framework — Is the Visitor the Hero? Donald Miller's StoryBrand (SB7) framework exposes the most common website mistake: the company positions itself as the hero of the story instead of the customer. **The 7-part story structure your website must follow:** 1. **Character** — A hero (your customer) who wants something 2. **Problem** — An external problem, an internal frustration, and a philosophical "why it matters" 3. **Guide** — Your brand appears as a guide (Yoda, not Luke) with empathy and authority 4. **Plan** — A simple 3-step plan that shows how easy it is to succeed 5. **Call to Action** — A direct call to transact, and a transitional call to stay engaged 6. **Avoiding Failure** — What does the customer lose if they do not act? 7. **Success** — What does life look like after the problem is solved? **The guide positioning test:** Read the homepage copy and count: - How many times does "we/our/us" appear? - How many times does "you/your" appear? A ratio above 1:1 (we > you) means the company is centering itself as the hero. The visitor does not care about your company. They care about their problem. Every "we" that is not followed by a benefit to the reader is self-indulgence. **The three problem levels (must all appear):** - External: the practical problem ("Managing spreadsheets takes 4 hours per week") - Internal: the emotional frustration ("You feel like you are always behind") - Philosophical: the injustice ("Manual work is beneath a CFO's time") Most websites address only the external problem. The internal and philosophical levels are what create emotional resonance — and emotional resonance is what creates clicks. --- ## Positioning Clarity — April Dunford's "Obviously Awesome" A positioned product makes it immediately obvious: 1. Who it is for 2. What category it belongs to (the set of alternatives) 3. What makes it different in a way that matters to the ICP 4. What the proof is **The positioning statement embedded in the hero section:** ``` For [ICP] Who [has this specific problem/trigger] [Product name] is a [category] That [unique differentiator] Unlike [alternative/status quo] We [specific proof or mechanism] ``` **The category trap:** If you invented a new category, your Problem-aware visitors do not know they should be looking for your category. You must first acknowledge the category they know ("alternative to spreadsheets") before you can introduce the new category ("revenue intelligence"). **How to audit positioning:** 1. Can you extract the above positioning statement from the homepage? If not, the positioning is not explicit enough to be understood at scroll speed. 2. Does the homepage name a specific alternative or status quo? If not, the visitor cannot understand "different from what." 3. Does the unique differentiator appear in the H1 or directly beneath it? If it is below the fold, most visitors will never see it. **The "so what?" test — apply to every headline:** Read the headline. Ask "so what?" once. The answer should be obvious benefit language. If you must ask "so what?" twice, the headline is too abstract. ``` "AI-powered revenue intelligence platform" So what? → [not answered] So what? → [not answered] FAIL — visitor cannot extract a benefit "See exactly which deals will close this quarter — 3 weeks before your CRM does" So what? → "I can prepare earlier and hit quota" PASS — one "so what?" reaches a clear benefit ``` --- ## Copywriting Quality — Headline, Subhead, Body, Micro-Copy ### The Headline (H1) The H1 is the highest-value real estate on any page. It must do one thing: make the ICP believe the rest of the page is worth reading. **The 4 U formula (Robert Bly, John Caples):** A strong headline is: - **Useful** — offers a clear benefit to the reader - **Urgent** — implies timing or stakes - **Unique** — different from what they have heard before - **Ultra-specific** — uses numbers, specifics, or named outcomes ``` Weak: "Grow your business with better analytics" — Useful? Vague. Urgent? No. Unique? No. Specific? No. FAIL Strong: "Know which ad is filling your pipeline 14 days before Google does" — Useful? Yes (earlier data). Urgent? Yes (14 days). Unique? Yes. Specific? Yes. PASS ``` **Audience-specific language test:** Would a non-ICP person find this headline appealing? If yes, it is not specific enough. A headline for a Head of Sales at a 50-person B2B startup should make a CMO at an enterprise feel like "this is not for me." That is not a failure. That is correct positioning. ### The Subhead The subhead must do the job the headline cannot do alone: provide the mechanism or the "how." Headline = outcome. Subhead = mechanism or specific audience. ``` Headline: "Close deals faster without adding headcount" Subhead: "For B2B sales teams of 5–20 reps who are losing deals to follow-up speed" ``` If the subhead just repeats the headline in different words, it is wasted. If the subhead introduces a new concept the headline did not set up, it creates confusion. Subhead = one additional piece of information that earns the scroll. ### Body Copy — The Forbidden Phrases List Flag every instance of these phrases. They are positioning-free and belong in no ICP-targeted copy: | Forbidden phrase | Why it fails | Replace with | |---|---|---| | "Best-in-class" | Unverifiable, used by every competitor | Specific metric: "Ranked #1 in G2 for [category] 3 years running" | | "End-to-end solution" | Means nothing to a buyer | Name the specific workflow it covers | | "Seamlessly integrates" | Every SaaS claims this | "Native sync with [Tool] — no CSV exports" | | "Empower your team" | Empty activation language | Describe what the team actually does differently | | "Future-proof" | Fear-based vagueness | Explain the specific risk being addressed | | "Holistic approach" | Consulting speak | Describe the actual methodology | | "Leverage [technology]" | Feature-first, not benefit-first | Lead with the outcome the technology enables | ### Micro-Copy — The Hidden Conversion Layer Micro-copy (button labels, form field labels, error messages, tooltips, helper text under CTAs) is the most underinvested copywriting surface. It has the highest conversion leverage per word. **CTA button copy audit:** - "Submit" → 0% differentiation, feels like work - "Get Started" → slightly better but generic - "Start Free Trial" → functional but still generic - "Get My Revenue Report" → outcome-specific, first person, high conversion The principle: button copy should complete the sentence "I want to ___." "I want to submit" → never. "I want to get my revenue report" → yes. **Under-CTA copy (the trust line):** The single line directly beneath the primary CTA is the highest-leverage trust copywriting surface. It should eliminate the single most likely objection. ``` [Get Started Free] No credit card required. Cancel any time. → Eliminates financial commitment anxiety [Book a Demo] 30 minutes. No sales pressure. Get your questions answered. → Eliminates the "I don't want to be sold to" objection ``` --- ## SEO Messaging Alignment The words in ``, `<meta description>`, and `<h1>` are the first copy the ICP sees in search results — before they arrive on the page. **The search snippet audit:** ```html <!-- Misaligned: brand-first, no ICP signal --> <title>Acme Corp — The Future of Revenue Intelligence Revenue Forecasting for B2B SaaS Teams | Acme ``` The meta description is free advertising in search results. It should contain: - The primary benefit (not the product name) - A social proof signal (user count, metric, recognition) - A CTA verb If the `` is the company name followed by a tagline that does not contain a keyword the ICP would search for, organic search traffic from the ICP is being lost at the search result — before the visitor ever arrives.