A new business can become competitive by sounding competitive.
A new business must carve out a niche in the market in order to succeed. One way to carve out a niche is to sound competitive in your marketing communications. To accomplish this, examine the five elements of the promotional mix: advertising, publicity, sales promotion, direct marketing and personal selling. Evaluate your use of competitive phrases, buzzwords and customer appeals to see if you have a competitive-sounding message in your promotional mix. The key to sounding competitive is to switch your focus from features of your business to benefits your business can provide to customers.
Instructions
1. Develop a unique selling proposition in your advertising. Focus on three aspects in every marketing message. Find what is unique in your offering, whether it is price, customer service or exclusivity of offerings. Explain what you are selling by describing the outstanding service or product you provide. Develop a proposition - a pitch - that urges the customer to action. This will make your advertising sound competitive.
2. Focus your publicity on differentiation. All of your press releases should emphasize what is different about your business. This is the essence of business news and will help you get more press placements. Media outlets want unique stories about unique businesses. Examine what is special about your business or the latest developments in your company and share your story with the public.
3. Emphasize value in your sales promotions. You must have a strategic plan for promoting specific items. Strive to build a sense in the customer's mind that you offer the highest value and quality. Don't jump from one sale item to another randomly. Instead, build a steady stream of promotions that convey to customers that you are the source of the best products or services for them.
4. Conduct a direct marketing competitive analysis. Before you start mailing to lists of potential customers, look at what your competitors are doing. Examine what kinds of lists they are purchasing. Look at what kind of direct-marketing materials are working. Study the offers for low pricing and free gifts. Choose your competitive approach by using the best of what you see your competitors doing and throwing out what does not work. In addition, add your own ideas to see if you can outperform your competitors with a fresh approach.
5. Emphasize relationships in your personal selling. Become an advisor and confidant rather than a salesperson. If you take on the role of solving your customers' problems rather than merely trying to sell them products, you will have a reputation for authority and effectiveness. This will lead to increased sales and make you sound competitive. In fact, many customers may come to see you as the only source of solutions to their problems.
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