Entrepreneurship has several challenges. In our digital age, many entrepreneurs are feeling the pressure of online marketing more than ever. Customers can buy anything and everything on the internet in a single click and have it delivered.
As an entrepreneur and business owner, your goal is to stay ahead of the game by outsmarting your competitors to increase sales. For anyone trying to start and grow their business, the competition can be fierce. Nevertheless, you can still win. Consider a few pointers to help you gain a competitive edge and grow your business.
Know your Competition
You can’t outsmart your competitors if you don’t know them. One of the first steps is to identify their strengths and weaknesses. This information can help you anticipate their next move.
There are several tools to help you on your quest. For example, you can look at their official website or conduct a Google search to see ads and links to their website(s). Once you know your competitor’s business, you can identify their weaknesses. That will help you improve your product offering to make sure that more customers will choose you over them.
Enhance your Products
Once you have carefully analyzed your competition, market your products. This involves taking a long hard look at what you are selling or promoting. If needed, adjust your product offering to meet your customers’ demands.
You can find an innovative way to deliver the same product or service that meets your clients’ needs. To do that, work collaboratively with your marketing team and develop campaigns to promote your products or services.
Look for More Clients
If one or more of your products sell well in a particular niche, why not try a new one? You can add variations of your product to stimulate its sales, or you can launch a marketing campaign that targets audiences of different ethnicities, or a new demographic, who might embrace your product offering with a minimum amount of alteration.
Offer a New Value
As a business owner or entrepreneur, you might be tempted to lower your products’ prices to increase your market share. However, that can have a detrimental effect on your business. If you sell a product or service, cutting your prices may make you look cheap and inspire others to question your company or brand’s validity and services.
A wise idea to market your product effectively would be to offer a value that customers would find tempting, such as free shipping or a gift with purchase.
Add a Sales Channel
If you are selling your product on a single channel, like a brick-or-mortar store or a website, why not consider adding another channel? Adding another channel gives your customers more purchasing options.
For example, you can advertise your products in catalogues or promote them on high-traffic e-commerce platforms like Amazon, eBay, and Rakuten. You can also attend industry conferences and trade shows to promote your business or brand.
Know your Customers
The market landscape and customers’ choices can change quickly. To stay relevant, you must understand what your customers want. As an entrepreneur, you are closer to your customers than some big brands.
You might have the advantage of knowing a few of your clients by name, or you might periodically check in on them, which can help you gauge their needs effectively. Additionally, you can also choose to conduct surveys to get your customers’ feedback. That will help you remain highly competitive.
Keep up with your Competitors
Keeping up with your competitors is a continuous process. Initially, you might be tempted to delegate the task of competitive analysis, but as an entrepreneur, you are in the best position to act on the information about your competitors.
Analyzing your competitors’ numbers helps you understand their products, sales, and marketing strategies. These numbers are critical in making or breaking your business and include valuable information about anything that could draw customers away from your business. Whichever level of competitive analysis you choose, the insights will be invaluable for the growth of your brand.
Aaron Levinson | Staff Writer