When economic times are tough, it’s more important than ever to take steps that allow your small business to stand out from your competitors. Here are five tips to help differentiate any small business:
1. Focus on your target market
When it comes to your ideal customer base, the more specific you can be about your customer base, the better. Being able to accurately describe your target market will give potential customers the opportunity to identify with your business. For example, if you can narrow your potential customer base from “high school students” to “high school students who play sports,” you will not only be able to create more accurate marketing campaigns, but you will also inform those students that your product was specifically made. for them. This will lead to greater long-term customer retention.
2. Do something different
Pick five of your competitors and take a look at their marketing strategies. Do you see any commonalities? If so, this could be the perfect opportunity to differentiate yourself by taking what you know about your competitors and doing something different. For example, if all of your competitors are using a medium to promote your product, such as billboards or television commercials, you may want to take the opportunity to use online marketing or radio advertising. It could be the case that your product is exposed to a new potential customer base that your competitors have not yet reached.
3. Keep a good blog
Not enough can be said about how useful it can be to supplement your business website with a good blog. On the one hand, it gives your customers the opportunity to see what’s new in your business. But other than that, keeping your blogs constantly updated sends a signal to search engines like Google that your website has relevant and current information. And, simply put, search engines love relevant information. Therefore, blogs kill two birds with one stone; keep your customers interested in your product while improving your search engine rankings.
4. Be bilingual
A common flaw of many small businesses is that they do not provide methods for communicating with their non-English speaking clientele. In an increasingly globalized world, not having multilingual speakers in your business could seriously slow down your business. Don’t just look for bilingual or multilingual employees, but also consider adding pages to your company website written in other languages. Doing so is sure to grow and diversify your customer base.
5. Make something viral
The masters of online marketing have already seen their profits skyrocket after creating content that goes viral. It could be a fun jingle in a commercial, an infographic that becomes the talk of blogs and forums on the Internet, or a cute video that you host online and spread quickly. Websites like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and other similar sites have changed the way customers view businesses and how they market their products. Simply put, viral content creation is arguably one of the most effective marketing strategies of the 21st century.