Hi there! 👋
Last week was nothing short of crazy, in the best way possible. I had the chance to attend my very first conference, and to top it all off, it was in Vegas. ✨
From networking with inspiring people to soaking up new ideas (and maybe a little bit of too much shopping), it was an experience I’ll never forget.
I’m still catching my breath from all the energy, lessons, and late nights that came with the trip, but that’s what makes it so exciting. And now, I get to take you along for the ride by sharing a newsletter that is very much inspired by the conversations I had on my trip.
So, let’s dive into today’s newsletter:
This week’s newsletter is brought to you by Syncly.
Customer feedback is everywhere: support tickets, reviews, surveys, tweets, TikToks… but if you can’t see the full picture, you can’t act on it.
That’s where Syncly comes in. Syncly unifies feedback from every channel and uses AI-powered tagging and dashboards to turn messy conversations into actionable insights. Imagine being able to:
Spot exactly what’s driving customer complaints or product love.
Ask questions like you would with ChatGPT and get real, data-backed answers.
Align your marketing, product, and CX teams on what customers actually want.
Brands like Kimberly-Clark, Brita, and Buldak Ramen rely on Syncly to move faster and stay closer to their customers.
Want to see how Syncly can help you?
Have you ever read a brand’s website or seen an ad and thought, “Wow. That’s exactly how I feel”?
It’s not magic. It’s not coincidence. It’s Customer-Led Positioning.
Customer-Led Positioning is the practice of building your brand voice around the exact words your customers use. Instead of guessing, you’re extracting phrases directly from interviews, reviews, and conversations.
It’s one of the simplest but most powerful ways to stand out, connect, and convert in a noisy, fast-paced market.
This week, we looked into why messaging built around customer language performs so well, and how you can tap into the same strategy to make your brand feel magnetic.
Here’s how:
1. The Brands You Love Are Listening
There’s a reason certain brands feel like they speak directly to you. It’s because they actually do. And not just in tone, but in words. The very same words you’ve used to describe your problems, your goals, and your ideal outcome.
Brands like Airbnb, Duolingo, and Shopify didn’t create their messaging in a vacuum. They mined reviews, analyzed support conversations, hosted interviews, and pulled exact phrases from these sources into their copy.
This approach is called Customer-Led Positioning, and it flips traditional advertising on its head. Instead of guessing what messaging will resonate, you let your customers tell you, then use their exact words to craft copy that feels tailor-made.
Takeaway: Positioning built on assumptions creates distance. Positioning built on customer language builds trust.
2. Why This Works (Psychology + Conversion)
Let’s talk about why customer-led language isn’t just a nice to have but a real conversion driver.
Here’s what happens when people read copy that mirrors their own language:
They feel seen and understood.
Their trust increases.
They believe you understand their problem, and can solve it.
This emotional recognition creates what psychologists call the mirror effect. When a person recognizes themselves in your messaging, they’re more likely to believe you’re the right fit. And that makes them far more likely to buy.
In fact, research from behavioral economics shows that people are more influenced by language that reflects their current internal state than by abstract promises or benefits.
So when your ad says, “Tired of switching between five different tools to do one job?”, and that’s exactly what the customer is feeling, it triggers an instant sense of alignment.
Takeaway: When customers see themselves in your words, they see your product as the obvious solution.
3. It’s Not Just About Marketing, It Aligns Your Whole Organization
Customer-Led Positioning doesn’t just benefit marketing. It helps your entire company speak the same language.
Here’s why that matters:
Sales teams close faster when they use messaging customers already resonate with.
Product teams prioritize better when they understand how users talk about pain points.
Customer success and support can tailor communication more effectively.
When everyone from marketing to sales to product is working from the same source of truth, meaning your customer’s words, you create consistency and alignment across the entire customer journey.
No more miscommunication. No more brand voice whiplash. Just a unified, clear experience from the very first touchpoint and beyond.
Takeaway: Internal alignment leads to external clarity. That starts with listening.
4. How to Start (Even If You Have Zero Data Right Now)
If this is your first time thinking about Customer-Led Positioning, don’t worry. Getting started is easier than you think.
Here’s a simple framework to begin using customer language to fuel your messaging:
Step 1: Gather Raw Voice-of-Customer Data
Listen to 5-10 recent sales calls, demo recordings, or support conversations. If you don’t have recordings, start with public sources:
Product reviews
Reddit or Quora threads
Testimonials
Survey responses
Step 2: Highlight Emotionally Charged Language
You’re looking for phrases that reflect frustrations, desires, comparisons, or “aha!” moments. These phrases are gold. They reveal the real emotional drivers behind purchase decisions.
Some examples are:
“I just wanted something that worked right out of the box.”
“It felt like I was piecing together five different tools.”
“We finally stopped losing deals once we implemented this.”
Step 3: Build a Swipe File of Phrases
Create a spreadsheet or a Notion page where you collect all the best quotes and snippets. Label them by category: pain points, desired outcomes, objections, product love, etc.
Step 4: Plug and Play
Take those exact phrases and use them in:
Landing pages
Ads and email headlines
Sales scripts
Social media copy
Onboarding flows
Pro tip: Don’t edit the phrases or tweak the language. Leave the phrases raw and conversational. That’s what makes them feel real and powerful.
Example: If your customer says, “I don’t want to spend 6 hours setting this up,” your headline could be: “Set up in minutes, not hours.”
5. The Result? A Brand That Feels Like a Friend
When your copy uses the words your customers actually use, it creates a sense of familiarity. It stops sounding like “marketing”. It starts sounding like a conversation.
And in 2025, where AI-generated content is everywhere, authenticity stands out. The brands that connect will be the ones that feel human, and customer-led messaging is one of the easiest ways to do that.
One of our favorite examples is Notion. Their positioning evolved over time based on how real users described it: "your second brain”, “all-in-one workspace”, “notes that talk to each other”. Those phrases didn’t come from a branding agency. They came from the community.
Takeaway: Great copy doesn’t come from creativity alone. It comes from listening.
What This Means For You:
Ready to start speaking the language that sells? Here’s your quick checklist:
Listen to your customers: in reviews, interviews, calls, and support tickets.
Highlight emotional and specific language (pain points, goals, outcomes).
Use those exact words in your marketing, sales, and product messaging.
Create a living swipe file that your whole team can access.
Refresh your messaging regularly based on evolving customer input.
Customer-Led Positioning isn’t just a one-time tactic. It’s a long-term habit. And the more you use your customers’ words, the more powerful your brand becomes.
And that’s a wrap on our second edition!
Have a great example of CLG in action? Or want help applying this framework to your team? Just hit reply, I’d love to hear from you. ✨I’d love to feature real, personal stories in a future issue.
And if this helped you think differently about how you position your brand, would you forward it to a teammate or a friend? The more we center the customer, the better we grow.
Also, don’t forget to share your conference or Vegas tips. I would really appreciate them!
Talk soon,
Marian💚
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