How to Stand Out from Competitors
In a world where every business wants to be No.1, it’s difficult to know how to stand out from competitors. Creating your own identity when your competitors are trying to do the same is challenging, but not an impossible mission.
Knowing how to stand out from competitors is one of the biggest challenges that small businesses face.
Consumers have infinite choices – they can seek local stores, small businesses or national corporations to find exactly what they’re looking for. This makes it all the more difficult for businesses to boost their sales, ROI and their bottom line. With so many options, businesses need to look at possible ways to catch consumer’s eyes.
We’ll be exploring the top ways you can stand out from competitors, take a look and see what strategies you could implement to come out on top.
Besides from the obvious … like a new product / service, competitive prices, discounts and marketing, here’s how a business really grasp the attention of their audience.
1. Delivering an Exceptional Service
You don’t need to be offering a completely unique product to stand out from the crowd.
Customer services goes a long way – according to Bain & Company businesses that deliver better customer experiences obtain revenues between 4% and 8% above their market.
Every customer has an expectation of good customer service – no matter the industry or size of a business. Delayed responses, unhelpful answers and little support can heavily influence consumer’s perceptions of you.
Don’t forget about reviews – the greater your reviews, the greater your reputation.
2. Accept Fault and Admit Blunders
Think about your own experiences. Have you ever had an issue with a business that has gone unresolved? Did you return? Probably not.
Bad experiences spread like wildfire – think about posts you see on Facebook where businesses are named and shamed for not owning up to mistakes.
The important thing is to correct them – you don’t want to be known as the dodgy company who never admits blame. If you’re known for handling situations well, and resolving them fairly, then you’re certain to stand out from competitors due to transparency.
3. Focus on a Niche
It’s impossible to be able to cater to everybody – no matter how much you think you can.
Altering your business model to meet the needs of different markets just isn’t time or cost effective. This is why it’s so important to identify your target market and not deviate from them – businesses need to know how they’re marketing to and how to reach them.
This is more for service-based businesses. For example, it’s easy for a restaurant to offer a range of dishes to cater for different taste buds. But it’s much more effective for a small law firm to focus on one type of law – like personal injury or family.
4. Doing Good Deeds
Being an active member of society is always a good way to get attention, whilst giving back too.
Maybe support a charity, hold an event or create a relationship with a non-profit organisation.
This can be done on local efforts too – perhaps sponsoring a children’s football team or taking part in charity events.
What Else?
Of course – you have popular marketing methods like social media marketing and email campaigns to stand out from the crowd. But consider our 4 innovative suggestions and see how they work for you.
Standing out from competitors is no simple or fast task. It’s becoming more and more challenging as more businesses seek their own ways to be different.
Digital marketing goes a long way in standing out from the crowd, use our blog posts to get started:
- – A Beginner’s Guide to Facebook Paid Ads
- – Would a Social Media Influencer Help Your Business?
- – Welcome to Pinterest’s Promoted Pins
- – How to Run a Successful Social Media Campaign
- – Getting Started with Chatbots
- – How to Get Your Sales Emails Noticed
- – A Beginner’s Guide to SMS Marketing
- Using GIFS for Business
Why not check out our Digital Marketing Terms Glossary?
About the author:
Marie Harwood is a Digital Marketing Assistant at Different Gravy Digital, Hale, Cheshire.
Different Gravy Digital are a full service Digital Marketing Agency operating in the Hospitality & Leisure, Financial Services, Legal & Property sectors. Products and services range from; 3D & 360° Tours, Website Design & Build, Social Media, Video Production, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Content Creation, Email Marketing, Online Feedback / Review Systems and Paid Advertising (Google, Bing and Social Media).
Contact Details:
marie@differentgravydigital.co.uk
0161 706 000
120a Ashley Road, Hale, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 2UN