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No matter what industry you are in, your business will have competitors. Your business success relies on your ability to set yourself apart from the pack to gain customers who choose to work with YOU and not others.
In today’s blog post, we’re sharing our top 6 tips for setting yourself apart from the competition.
1. Know Your Competitors
Do you know who your top competitors are? If you don’t, how will you set yourself apart from them? Do some research into your competitors, browse their websites, and compare their offerings to your own.
Once you have the intel on your competitors, you can assess what you could provide that they don’t and set yourself apart from them this way. Maybe it’s free shipping, or a guaranteed 24-hour turnaround time?
Make sure to highlight your unique value-adds on your website and social media so that your business becomes known for these things you provide that your competition doesn’t!
2. Highlight Your Value
Your value is not what you can do for your customer or client. They know what you can do – that’s why they came to you in the first place. Whether you develop websites, sell cookies or service cars – your competition does this as well.
Highlighting your VALUE is talking about:
- What problems you solve
- How your products/service will help your clients meet their objectives or accomplish their goals
- Your unique selling points that your competition might not have (e.g. free delivery, 24/7 customer support, discount after the first product purchased etc.)
Focusing on your value will show your target market how you differ from the competition and motivate them to choose your business above others that offer the same service.
3. Make Your Website Do The Talking
Your website is one of the most valuable assets for your business, so if it’s not bringing you customers, it’s time to do some updates!
Your website should show your target market how you stand out from the competition by:
- Showcasing your products/services
- Highlighting your Value
- Showing who you are
- Speaking to your Niche
- Displaying testimonials, customer reviews and case studies
If you’re not currently showcasing any testimonials from previous clients, it is something you should seriously consider doing. Utilize the compliments and recommendations from your previous projects as these highlight all the advantages of working with you AND how you differ from your competitors.
We’ve also written 2 very handy blog posts on adding value to your website:
4. Social Media
It’s easy to post on social media – that’s why everyone is doing it! Approach your social media strategy with clear goals in mind.
Ask yourself:
- Who am I talking to?
- What am I trying to achieve? (e.g. sales, engagement, lead generation)
- Which social media platforms are best for my target market?
- What can I do to resonate with my customers?
- What do my competitors post on social media?
Once you’ve answered these questions, you will have a better idea of what your social media strategy should look like. Your social media presence should be on-brand, consistent and engaging so that you become instantly recognizable by your posts, setting your business apart from the competition.
Check out these posts with some helpful tips on:
- Writing for Facebook Marketing: READ HERE
- Ways to Ensure Brand Consistency on Social Media: READ HERE
- Free Social Media Marketing Tools for Your Small Business: READ HERE
5. Choose a Niche
We get it, you want to gain as many customers and projects as possible to make your business successful. So why would you limit any potential opportunities by specializing?
Part of setting yourself up as an expert in your field is to focus on a specific area of your industry. Compare, for example, a car servicing business who advertises as “We service all cars” vs “We specialize in servicing Ford”. If you’re a Ford owner, which business would you choose? It’s human nature to go with the person who seems to have the most expertise in a specific area.
So, if you really want to set yourself apart from the competition, focus on a niche within your industry and become an expert at it! This will start attracting the most relevant potential clients and make you stand out from the jacks-of-all-trade that are competing with you for projects!
6. Hire a Designer
A lot of what sets businesses apart from others is in the branding. It’s the way you portray yourself to your target market that will give them their first impressions of whether they want to do business with you or not.
The reality is that clients want to see updated, modern brands on social media and the internet. It could be detrimental to your business if you’re branding and website is outdated (websites that are difficult to navigate and not mobile-friendly are a big no-no).
Your branding should be a unique, relevant portrayal of your business. This will make you easily recognizable and set you apart from your competitors! And hey, we know some designers who can help you with that 😉
Standing out from the competition is critical to your company’s success. So, we hope that today’s post has given you some ideas of where to begin in evaluating your business to do just that!
We love helping businesses grow! So, if you need help with graphic design, web design or social media marketing, feel free to email us at marketing@designerneeded.com.
