Standing out in a crowded niche market requires a focused strategy. You can position yourself as the obvious first choice by understanding your competitors and clients. Here are fundamental ways to outperform your direct competition:
1. Identify competitor strategies to reveal opportunities.
Look at your competitors for insight into where you can improve and differentiate:
- Websites: Examine design, tone, content, SEO efforts, etc., and evaluate if their approach reveals opportunities for you to improve.
- Marketing campaigns/Social media: Explore their marketing strategies and activity on major social media platforms to see if there are gaps you can fill.
2. Build relationships through exceptional customer experience.
Provide excellent customer service at every touchpoint, which begins before consumers even become clients:
- Follow-up: Respond promptly to queries — within hours, not days – and provide proactive support with clients to ensure their satisfaction.
- Reviews: Check competitor reviews to gauge how well they support clients and assess if there is room to provide better service.
3. Focus relentlessly on delivering more value.
Consistently deliver more value to customers than they can get elsewhere:
- Enhanced benefits: Help customers achieve better outcomes and offer additional benefits which none of your competitors match.
- Personalized attention: Tailor solutions and services to each client’s specific needs.
4. Improve marketing and pricing.
Continually improving marketing strategies and testing different pricing models will boost your visibility and appeal:
- Marketing: Use referral programs to incentivize existing customers to refer new ones.
- Pricing: Test different promotions, such as limited-time discounts, free trials, bundled offerings, etc.; compare competitive offerings to your own and make adjustments to improve appeal.
The core strategies that set you apart in customers’ minds revolve around delivering a superior experience and more value at every touchpoint. Focus your business and marketing on those two factors for the best results.
Source: Murali Nethi, Entrepreneur Leadership Network Contributor; CEO & Founder of Snapblooms