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Today’s consumer suffers no shortage of goods and services. Most businesses can produce far more goods than consumers can buy. This overcapacity results in hyper-competition. To compete, businesses frequently try strategies such as lowering their prices, offering giveaways, or even lowering quality to maintain or grow their market share. These strategies ultimately mean lower margins, lower profits, some failing companies, and more mergers and acquisitions. Marketing is the answer to how to compete at another level other than lowering prices, reducing quality, etc. Marketing is not a short-term selling effort, but a long-term investment. When marketing is done well, it occurs before a company makes any product or enters any market; and it continues long after the sale. Selling a physical product requires a different marketing effort than selling a service that the customer can’t see or touch, however, the common denominator and one of the most important aspects of marketing is your company branding. Consumers are exposed to over 3,000 marketing messages every day between television, radio, billboards, product packaging, direct mail, the Internet, and even the clothing we wear. There are two important questions every business owner should ask themselves: Is my branding clear and consistent enough to cut through the clutter? And, how am I differentiating my brand from my competition? Consistent Branding: • Are you using just one logo and in the same color? • Is the tone of all your communication pieces the same – is it in one voice? • Are you consistent with paper stock – color, texture, and weight? • Do all of your sales and internal documents match your marketing materials? • Do your ads, whether print or radio/TV, reflect the same look, feel, and voice? • Is your signage or vehicle graphics consistent with your other marketing material? You can claim a significant competitive advantage if you just do these simple things. Chances are, many of your competitors are not getting it right and you have a good opportunity to take a leading market position. Differentiation: Most business owners launch into a sales pitch when they are asked about what differentiates their product or service. Some say that they “personally” are what makes their business special. And, many just give a blank stare or mumble something about discounts or service. Dig deep in determining what your business can offer to make it stand out in the crowd. Examine your sales process, your service, your overall business strategy, and even take a bold look at the worst thing about your business. Once you think you’ve finally got it, take a second and turn everything upside down again to see if something else doesn’t rise to the surface. Then, put it all in perspective to see if your competition can easily copy it. Once you think you’ve got it - test your message with an objective and discerning audience representative of your customer base. Branding should be a constant work in motion. You should by all means put your values into your business. If a brand loses its values and stands for nothing in the consumers mind, the brand will have no meaning. If you’re fortunate enough to find an outstanding point of differentiation, chances are it will be the one compelling reasons your customers will love you. It could be as simple as a “no questions” return policy or going an extra step in personal customer service and relationship building. Keep up with your top three competitors weekly to make sure they haven’t trumped you in price, speed, quality, service or whatever your differentiator is. This doesn’t have to be time consuming – check their website or subscribe to their mailing list. If something shifts in your industry or market to affect your position, you want to know about it as soon as possible. If you learn about a competitors’ new product, price, or strategy from a customer, it can not only be embarrassing, it is probably too late. Karen Simmons Info2000 Information Services www.info2000services.com Karen Simmons is a marketing consultant with over 20 year of experience working with the AEC Industry, small business owners, and non-profit organizations. Copyright 2007. All Rights Reserved. Reprint with permission and link only. |
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