As a business owner, you need to be able to make your company stand out from the competition. This is easier said than done, but if you put some time and effort into looking at your business, how it operates, and how you can capitalize on your differentiators, you’ll find generating leads, closing sales, and building your brand is much less difficult than most make it out to be.
Here are some of the most important things you should focus on.
1. Analyze Your Industry’s Landscape
In order to make your business stand out in the industry, you first need to know what the industry is like. When you have a good perspective on your competition, you can start thinking outside the box for new ideas.
It sounds complex, but it isn’t. Look at your competitors and identify what they all have in common and what they use to stand out (if they have anything).
You might need some thorough research to really get a good view of what other businesses are like. Here are some tips on how to start:
- Compile a list of competitors both locally and nationally.
- Compile a list of industry titans, even if they’re not in competition because they’re larger.
- Sign up for their newsletters.
- Analyze them through SEMRush.
- Start a spreadsheet of what they have in common and what they have that differentiates them.
This will give you some basic insight into the other businesses in your industry, what works for them, and ideas that you can make your own. Lastly, these things are all meant to stir up ideas on how to differentiate yourself. Don’t copy and paste something they’re doing into your strategy, because it might not work well for you.
Analyze your competition and let it get your creative juices flowing about what you can do.
2. Focus On Connecting Emotionally
One of the best ways for a business to stand out is to have something that creates an emotional connection. How do you go about making something that will connect with consumers on an emotional level? There are a few tried-and-tested ways of achieving this.
The best is to target certain emotions. Nostalgia is a favorite among marketers because creating the right imagery and content is more than enough to get people reminiscing and relating to your product or service.
Depending on your business niche, you might be able to appeal to some more straightforward emotions like anger, fear, or happiness, but be careful. You don’t want to make your target demographic feel bad, upset, or guilty, but rather you want them to act. You want them to visualize themselves as the hero and making a difference, and connecting with them emotionally is key to that.
3. Work On Your Customer Service
This one is simple, straightforward, and effective – work hard at customer service. A good relationship with consumers is one of the most valuable things a business can have, so much so that the success of your business is reflected by the quality of your customer service. In fact, consumers are increasingly stressing the importance of good customer service. For many, it’s almost as important as the quality of the product or service they’re getting.
To really get a feel of what people think of your service, start listening to customer feedback. Here are some great tips for this are:
- Organize seminars and meetings where you explain your vision to employees and customer service reps.
- Monitor your social media accounts for all customer feedback and respond to it appropriately.
- Display reviews and ratings promptly on your site and on Google.
4. Have a clear company policy
Businesses aren’t always set apart for good reasons. In many cases, they get singled out for negative company policies and bad working conditions. This isn’t something you want your business to be known for. Most employers think that only negative policies are ever brought up when discussing business, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Businesses with ethical practices and good company policies are always brought up in discussions. It’s a staple of good business decision making. A business that respects its workers and allows them to work in the best possible conditions will always get a plus from consumers, especially in today’s interconnected world.
Today’s businesses strive to give their employees and consumers a good impression of the company. This means introducing changes that improve the quality of life of employees and increase the quality of business. To improve some aspects of the business, like privacy, managers need to figure out if the changes go well with company policy and whether or not they’re even legal.
To make changes that are legal and consistently within company policy, businesses need legal and advisory expertise at their side. Finding experts that can better incorporate improvements in areas like privacy and quality of life would help businesses get their main priorities in order. This helps businesses introduce these changes and create a much better impression of their business.
5. Add some personal touches
There’s no organic way to make instantaneous changes to your company. Anything you decide to quickly introduce will almost always start out feeling awkward and forced. If you’re looking at the market and trying to create something out of thin air, it’s going to take a while.
However, this might not be the case if you get a little creative. If you introduce something that you’re already familiar with, you might not run into this problem. Add your own personal touch to the business. It could be something that makes you feel a certain way or something that inspired you personally.
You can add your own touch to your products or the marketing for your products. It doesn’t matter how you utilize it as long as you do utilize it. Add a visual element to the brand that reminds you of the city you started in.
It doesn’t have to be something that every consumer will recognize. Alternatively, you could come up with a slogan of your own, to make it as personal as possible. It’s going to give an authentic touch that sets your business apart.
Final Thoughts
It’s not easy creating a business that can stand out in the current market. Everyone has some idea and coming up with a fresh new approach is tough. Luckily, there are a couple of things you can do to give your business an edge. If you follow some of these ideas, you’re sure to end up with a successful and widespread business.
Featured image credit: Unsplash.com
Alexander Hunkin is an Australian based startup advisor with in-depth experience in growing business. His meaningful and strategic advices have helped in setting and growing many startup companies in Brisbane and Perth. Alexander is also a content creator for different niches. The top ones are business, career, finance and marketing. When he isn’t busy working, you can find him cooking exotic meals, scuba diving and cycling.
