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Copy Kit Template

This is a COPY-KIT.md file. It owns how we talk about the product: the positioning, the pillars, the wedge, the proof, and the boilerplate every customer-facing surface lifts from. It is the single source; the sales deck, the website, the README, and launch posts read from it rather than each inventing their own version.

Every block traces upward. A pillar traces to a named product-spec outcome; a proof point traces to a Job Spec Prove-it line; the wedge traces to the alternative you beat named in Today’s alternatives; the voice traces to the personas and the job story. See guides/positioning-and-messaging.md for how each trace-back works.

If this file conflicts with the spec, the spec wins and this gets fixed. The copy is downstream. When a claim here can no longer be sourced to an outcome, an alternative, or a Prove-it, cut it.

Voice note. Plain and direct. No hype, no superlatives you cannot prove, no em-dashes. Say what the product deliberately does not do; the honest non-goal is more persuasive than one more claim.

Positioning statement

Section titled “Positioning statement”

The fill-in block from the method guide. unlike is the wedge (the real alternative, not a strawman); because is the one differentiator that makes the wedge hold. If because restates the benefit, keep working.

For        <target customer: who hires the job, from the personas>
with       <a need: the struggling moment, from the Job Spec>
our        <product name>
is a       <category: the market shelf a buyer already understands>
that       <key benefit: the outcome you promise, in the customer's words>
unlike     <the alternative they use today, from Today's alternatives>
because    <the differentiator: why you beat that alternative>

Tagline

Section titled “Tagline”

Five to eight words. The pillar you lead with, compressed. It should be testable against a buyer’s own day, not a mood.

Standfirst

Section titled “Standfirst”

The elevator version: one or two sentences a person could say out loud in a hallway. The job, the outcome, and the wedge, in plain language. This is what a buyer repeats to a colleague, so it has to survive being said from memory.

What it is

Section titled “What it is”

The plain description, no positioning spin: what the product actually is and what it does, at the altitude a new buyer needs to place it on a shelf. Two to three sentences.

The pillars

Section titled “The pillars”

Two to four pillars, no more. Each is a product-spec outcome said in the customer’s language, and each names the outcome slug it traces to. A pillar with no outcome behind it is a feature you are trying to sell; cut it.

Pillar 1:

Section titled “Pillar 1: ”
  • The claim: <the outcome said to a buyer, in their words>.
  • Traces to: <outcome-slug> from the product spec (inherits its Signal).

Pillar 2:

Section titled “Pillar 2: ”
  • The claim: <…>.
  • Traces to: <outcome-slug>.

Pillar 3:

Section titled “Pillar 3: ”
  • The claim: <…>.
  • Traces to: <outcome-slug>.

Add or remove pillars to match the product spec’s outcomes. One pillar per outcome is the natural shape.

The wedge

Section titled “The wedge”

How the product is different, stated against the alternative you beat. Read Today’s alternatives across the Job Specs, name the common alternative the buyer lives with now, and say plainly why the product removes it. Name the switching cost too: you are beating the alternative plus the cost of leaving it. This is the sharpest line in the kit.

  • The alternative you beat: <the phone call, the spreadsheet, the rival tool, or non-consumption>.
  • Why we win: <the one differentiator, sourced to a requirement or an outcome>.
  • The switching cost we clear: <what makes the alternative sticky, and how the product overcomes it>.

Proof points

Section titled “Proof points”

Each proof point is a Job Spec Prove-it scenario said as an outcome claim. Because Prove-it lines are UAT-verified at the outcome level, a proof point drawn from them is a promise the product is built to keep. Cite the theme the scenario proves; do not fabricate a statistic to dress it up.

  • — traces to <job-spec Prove-it scenario>.
  • — traces to <job-spec Prove-it scenario>.

Example (Tempo): “Book across sites without leaving the product to confirm” traces to the “Book across locations, availability screen” Prove-it line, UAT-verified against the no-stale-free-slot invariant.

Social hooks and post openers

Section titled “Social hooks and post openers”

Opening lines for launch posts and social. Each still traces to a pillar or the wedge; a hook is a pillar with a sharper first sentence, not a new claim. Keep them concrete: lead with the struggling moment, not an announcement.

  • <hook / opener>
  • <hook / opener>
  • <hook / opener>

Boilerplate

Section titled “Boilerplate”

The one-paragraph “about” that goes at the foot of a post, a press note, or a partner page. Plain, factual, no superlatives. The category, who it is for, the outcome it delivers, in three or four sentences a stranger could quote without checking with you.

Evidence discipline

Section titled “Evidence discipline”

How claims are backed, so the kit stays honest as it travels.

  • Cite the theme, not a fabricated stat. If a number is not in a spec’s Signal or a Job Links file, do not invent one for the copy. Name the outcome the theme delivers instead.
  • Do not overclaim. A claim the product cannot prove at the outcome level is a claim that gets you caught in a demo. If it is not in a Prove-it, it is not a proof point.
  • Say the non-goal. Name what the product deliberately does not do (straight from the Job Spec’s Won’t list). It builds trust and pre-empts the objection.
Section titled “Related”