How To Gain A Competitive Advantage In A Crowded Marketplace

Why do some companies perform better than others although they are providing the same products and services? Why does one company become a household name and the other isn’t even mentioned in conversation? A handful of business owners have mastered the art of gaining a competitive advantage in their industry. Entrepreneurs are often afraid to start a new venture because the market is saturated. There are several strategies that one can use to stand out such as providing value, responding to customer reviews, and keeping in contact with customers. You can gain more insight into how to gain a competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace.

Provide Value: Providing value is also about ensuring customers are satisfied after purchasing a product or service from a brand. There are several ways that this can be accomplished, including sending informative newsletters, giving customers access to your blog posts and providing free eBooks. In this way, the relationship becomes transactional, they are purchasing from you, but by offering free information, they are getting more than they have paid for. In this way, they are more likely to return when they need something your company provides.

Respond to Customer Reviews: Whether a customer posts a positive or a negative review, always make sure that a team member responds. All review platforms have this capability, and acknowledging a positive review shows that you appreciate the time and effort they put into writing a review about your company. Additionally, it encourages the customer to write another one if they use your services again. Responding to a negative review gives you the chance to apologize and show other customers that you have attempted to make things write.

Keep in Contact With Your Customers: Without your customers, you would have no business; therefore, it is important that you show them they are valued. One way of doing this is to keep in contact with them. In this way, they don’t feel as if you’ve taken their money and abandoned them, but they feel as if they are a part of the community. There are several ways that you can keep in contact with your customers including:

Email Updates: The most convenient and effective way to keep in contact with your customers is through email. You can send long form messages with your latest blog posts, newsletters, and products and services. When a major disruption occurs in a certain geographical area that your customers are focused in such as a hurricane, you can send messages to show your support.

Direct Mail: Despite the growth in technology over the last decade, not everyone is tech savvy and there is still a percentage of your customer base who prefer to open direct mail instead of an email.

Social Media: Social media is probably the easiest way to keep in contact with your customers, but it is not the most effective. First, social media posts are not personal so your customers are less likely to feel as if you are communicating with them directly. Second, although billions of people have social media accounts, not everyone checks them all the time. And finally, platforms such as Instagram often only show your posts to ten percent of your followers.

Text Messages: Sending your customers short pieces of information through text messages is a great way to keep in touch, and they are more likely to read the message.

Keep up With Your Industry: In 2004, Blockbusters was the largest DVD rental company in the world. In 2010, they went bankrupt. Why? Because a company called Netflix were paying attention to the direction the industry was going and developed a better model. They were the world’s leading online entertainment platform for over two decades. In the second quarter of 2022, almost 1.2 million subscribers closed their accounts. There are several reasons for this, including an increase in subscription price, the company appears to be investing in quantity and not quality as many users are complaining that their shows are not the best. Finally, there are several other streaming services such as Apple TV, Amazon Prime and ESPN providing better value for money. It appears that Netflix made the same mistake as Blockbusters and potentially became too comfortable with being a leader in the industry, and now they are scrambling to rectify the situation. If you want to gain a competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace, keep up with what is occurring in your industry and make changes when necessary.

Gaining a competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace is possible, but it takes hard work and dedication. Your brand may not become an industry leader overnight, but with persistence, it will can soon become a force to be reckoned with.