10 minute read (worth it, I promise)
If you’ve ever sat down to define your brand messaging and ended up with something vague, uninspiring, or just plain forgettable—you’re not alone.
Most geospatial brands fall into the same trap:
❌ They describe what they do, but not why it matters.
❌ They talk about their solutions, but not their customer’s transformation.
❌ They try to appeal to everyone and end up resonating with no one.
This isn’t just a marketing problem—it’s a positioning problem.
The brands that dominate their space—the ones that feel like an obvious choice—aren’t just selling technology, software, or services. They’re selling a clear transformation.
And if you want to be that brand, you need to tell a better story.
Why Your Brand Messaging Feels Forgettable
Most companies think brand storytelling is about telling their own story.
But your customers don’t care about your history, values, or vision—at least, not at first. They care about themselves.
Great messaging doesn’t start with you—it starts with the internal journey your customer is already on.
Every potential buyer is facing a challenge. They’re in the middle of a story—a hero’s journey—whether they realize it or not.
If you can map out that journey, reflect it back to them with clarity, and show how your brand guides them to success, you’ll become their obvious choice.
How to Map Your Customer’s Hero’s Journey (Step by Step)
To create messaging that resonates, follow this three-part framework:
1️⃣ Step One: Define Their “Before” State (The Problem)
Before your customer even starts looking for a solution, they’re already experiencing a problem—whether they’ve fully recognized it or not.
Your job is to clearly define their current reality, so they feel seen and understood.
Ask yourself:
- What pain points do they deal with daily?
- What inefficiencies are holding them back?
- How is this problem impacting their business or career?
Having a crystal clear understanding of their problem state helps you create (way) more compelling and effective messaging.
Consider the following example of selling GIS as the solution to better infrastructure monitoring:
❌ Poor/generic messaging:
“We provide GIS solutions for asset monitoring.” (too broad, not emotionally compelling)
✅ Compelling messaging that taps into a clearly defined problem:
“Aging infrastructure is failing faster than cities can repair it. But without predictive insights, maintenance teams are always playing catch-up.”
That second version reflects the real-world frustration your audience feels—before you even mention a solution.
💡 Pro tip: Use customer research (interviews, support tickets, LinkedIn comments, competitor reviews) to find the exact words and phrases your audience uses to describe their struggles. The more you mirror their language, the more your messaging will resonate.
2️⃣ Step Two: Identify the “Trigger Moment” (What Forces Them to Act?)
Customers rarely act on mild inconveniences. (Especially in B2B)
They need a catalyst—a trigger where the problem becomes too big to ignore.
If you understand what this trigger looks like, you can better understand the state of mind they are in when seeking out a solution like yours.
To figure out your customers’ potential triggers, ask yourself:
- What makes the problem suddenly urgent?
- What risk or consequence forces them to take action?
- What’s at stake if they don’t solve it?
Consider the following example for utility companies using manual inspections:
❌ Messaging that shows a poor understanding of their triggers:
“We help utilities digitize field inspections.” (meh, why should they care?)
✅ Messaging that taps into the emotional drivers associated with their triggers:
“Last year, 300,000 people lost power because of undetected infrastructure failures. What’s the cost of the next failure?”
By highlighting the breaking point, your message shifts from “this is nice to have” → “we can’t afford to ignore this.”
💡 Pro tip: If you don’t know what the “trigger moment” is for your audience, talk to sales teams. They know exactly what makes a lead go from interested to ready to buy.
3️⃣ Step Three: Paint the “After” State (What Transformation Do They Achieve?)
This is where most brands fall short.
They assume their audience understands the value of their solution—but they don’t.
You need to make the outcome crystal clear. Ask yourself:
- How does life improve after they use your solution?
- What business outcomes do they see?
- What personal wins do they experience?
The answers to these questions will give you a better understanding of the transformation your customers are striving for.
Consider the following example (Geospatial AI for Disaster Response):
❌ Solution-based messaging that ignores the deeper transformation:
“Our AI-powered solution accelerates emergency response times.” (cool, but how? and why should I care?)
✅ Deeper messaging that speaks to the desired transformation:
“What if you could cut emergency response times by 45%—saving lives and millions in damages—by predicting disasters before they strike?”
That second version doesn’t just describe the outcome—it makes it tangible, high-stakes, and emotionally compelling.
💡 Pro tip: Go beyond business benefits and tap into personal wins. Does your solution help them look good to their boss? Reduce stress? Secure a promotion? These are the hidden motivators that drive action.
How to Position Your Brand as the Trusted Guide
Once you know what the three parts of your customers’ hero’s journey look like, you can create effective brand messaging that positions you as the trusted guide.
But this is easier said than done.
Truth be told, I have seldom come across a brand in the geospatial industry who has nailed this.
More often than not, attempts at “guide” type messaging are just thinly veiled sales pitches where brands say they understand their customers’ struggles but do little to actually prove it.
To do a better job, you need to tick the following boxes:
Demonstrate Deep Empathy (Go Beyond Surface-Level Pain Points)
Most brands make the mistake of stopping at obvious pain points.
For example, if you’re a GIS company selling to urban planners, you might say:
❌ “Cities struggle with outdated infrastructure data.”
While technically true, this is too broad and doesn’t connect emotionally.
To position yourself as the trusted guide, you need to go deeper—uncovering not just what the problem is, but what it feels like for your audience on a day-to-day basis.
Here’s how:
1️⃣ Talk to Real Customers – Interviews, surveys, and customer conversations will reveal frustrations and emotions that aren’t obvious from an outsider’s perspective.
2️⃣ Identify the Internal Struggle – What personal stress does this issue cause? How does it impact their credibility, career, or reputation?
3️⃣ Use Their Words, Not Yours – Mirror their frustrations exactly how they describe them. If a GIS analyst says, “I feel like I’m drowning in data but have no insights,” use that phrase verbatim in your messaging.
✅ Example:
“Urban planners today aren’t short on data. They’re drowning in it—without clear insights to drive better city planning. Every day spent wrestling outdated GIS reports means more congestion, delayed projects, and mounting frustration from city officials.”
See the difference? The second example doesn’t just state the problem—it reflects the real, lived experience of the customer.
This builds trust because your audience thinks: “They get it. They understand exactly what I’m going through.”
Establish Authority Without Sounding Self-Centered
Once your audience trusts that you understand their struggle, the next step is showing them you’re the one who can help—without making yourself the Hero.
Here’s how to position your brand as the Guide (without making it all about you):
✅ Lead With Results, Not Features – Instead of listing what your technology does, show what it has achieved for others.
✅ Use “You” More Than “We” – Shift from “We provide…” to “You gain…” or “You unlock…”
✅ Show, Don’t Tell – Rather than simply claiming expertise, use customer success stories, case studies, and data to prove it.
Example of Weak Authority Positioning:
❌ “We provide cutting-edge GIS solutions that enhance infrastructure management.”
(Why should anyone believe you? What does “enhance” even mean?)
Example of Strong Authority Positioning:
✅ “Cities using our predictive GIS models have reduced maintenance costs by 35%—without increasing their field team workload.”
Now, instead of just claiming you can help, you’re proving it with specific results.
💡 Pro tip: Let your customers do the talking. If a major city has already benefited from your solution, quote their success. A case study or testimonial like “Since implementing [Solution], we’ve cut infrastructure failures by 40%”carries far more weight than you saying the same thing yourself.
Speak Like a Trusted Advisor, Not a Sales Rep
A guide doesn’t just sell solutions—they educate, challenge, and inspire.
If all your content is about what you do, you sound like every other vendor. But if your content helps customers think differently, you become an industry authority.
✅ Challenge outdated approaches – Why is the status quo no longer enough?
✅ Provide actionable insights – What practical steps can they take right now to improve their operations—even if they don’t buy from you yet?
✅ Speak directly to their fears and aspirations – What risks do they want to avoid? What industry trends are keeping them up at night?
Example: Instead of writing a blog post titled “Why You Need Better Geospatial Data” (which sounds like a sales pitch)…
✅ Write something like “The Hidden Costs of Bad GIS Data (And How to Fix Them)”—which positions you as an educator first, seller second.
This approach:
1️⃣ Earns trust
2️⃣ Builds credibility
3️⃣ Makes them more likely to turn to you when they’re ready to buy
Proactively Address Objections & Fears
A great guide anticipates what might hold the Hero back and eliminates those doubts upfront.
Think about the biggest hesitations your potential customers have:
❌ “Will this be too expensive?”
❌ “Will this disrupt our existing workflow?”
❌ “Will my team actually adopt this?”
Instead of waiting for objections to come up in sales conversations, tackle them directly in your messaging.
✅ Example:
“Adopting new GIS software doesn’t have to mean disrupting your existing workflow. Our platform integrates seamlessly with the tools you already use—so your team can start seeing results in weeks, not months.”
When you remove friction and proactively answer the unspoken concerns, you make it easier for them to say yes.
Paint a Clear Vision of the Transformation
Every great story ends with transformation. Your audience needs to see themselves as the success story before they’ll take action.
To do this, your messaging should:
✅ Show them their future self – What does success look like with your solution?
✅ Use “Because of that” statements – These help build a logical bridge from problem to solution to transformation.
Example:
🚫 Weak: “Our GIS software helps optimize city planning.” (Generic & forgettable)
✅ Strong:
“Before implementing predictive GIS analytics, this city was dealing with constant infrastructure failures. Because of that, they faced rising maintenance costs, frustrated residents, and political pressure to act. But after leveraging our platform, they cut failures by 40%, saved $5M in emergency repairs, and now have a proactive maintenance strategy that keeps their city running smoothly.”
When you make the transformation tangible, you move beyond selling a product—you’re selling a future they want to be part of.
Bringing It All Together
In short, to position your brand as the trusted guide you need to:
1️⃣ Show deep empathy – Reflect their reality better than anyone else.
2️⃣ Demonstrate authority – Prove results without making it about you.
3️⃣ Educate & challenge – Become a trusted advisor, not just a vendor.
4️⃣ Remove friction – Proactively address objections before they arise.
5️⃣ Paint the transformation – Show them their future success story.
When done well, this approach makes buying from you feel like the natural next step—not a decision that needs to be “sold.”
Because if your audience trusts that you understand them, sees that you helped others like them, and believes that you can get them to their desired outcome—they won’t just choose you.
They won’t even consider anyone else.
Final Thought
Most brands talk about their features. Few help their audience see a better future.
The real competitive advantage isn’t just having a great product.
It’s being the brand your customers trust to guide them forward.
Will that be you?
If the answer is YES and you need help getting there 👉 Contact us