Smaller brands always have the struggle of competing against the much bigger companies in their industry. This can be a tough fight because small companies do not have the same budget or resources that the household name brands have, which can make it hard to compete. While it will always be a struggle, there are a few effective strategies to try, which will help you to level the playing field and compete with much larger brands. This can be incredibly satisfying and help your company to boost brand awareness and reputation, which will only make you more competitive. Here are a few ideas to try.
- Engage With Your Target Customer
Customer service is actually an area where smaller brands often excel over much larger companies. This is because you can give them the time and attention that they need, which can help your company to succeed and improve your reputation. Simply taking the time to engage and help your customers whether this is in person, on the phone or online will go a long way in helping you to be more competitive.
- Be memorable
Think about big brands such as Nike and McDonalds and think about how they’ve made themselves memorable. Their slogans and jingles come straight to mind right?! Your business should be doing this too, and you can start small by using 1800 numbers to make remembering your number easier for customers and work your way up to jingles and catchphrases.
- Digital Marketing
Every company needs to use digital marketing in today’s internet-driven marketplace but increasing your marketing efforts is a great way to level the playing field and compete with much larger brands. Practices like SEO can increase your visibility online and place you in front of your target customer alongside the bigger brands in your industry. For the best results, digital marketing should always be carried out by an experienced agency from your area, such as a top SEO agency Birmingham.
- Differentiate Yourself
A smart business owner will know how to differentiate their brand from everyone else in the industry. This is intelligent because it helps you to stand out from the crowd while also offering something that the customer cannot get elsewhere. It can be hard to differentiate yourself, but the best approach is to carry out detailed market research to identify gaps in the market and competitor weaknesses. You should carry out research regularly so that you are constantly aware of the state of the market and what your competitors are up to.
- Be Consistent
Although it is important to be different, you must also make sure that you are consistent so that a consumer can rely on your company. All of the biggest brands in any industry will be reliable and consistent but this is an area that much smaller companies struggle with. Set your standards high and take pride in your work each day and you should notice customer retention rates and word-of-mouth marketing impacting your brand (which remains an incredibly powerful and important form of marketing).
Any small business that wants to compete with the bigger brands in their industry should try one or a few of the above strategies. It is hard to compete and survive when you are operating in any industry with huge companies that have the budget and resources to dominate, but there are ways of competing and a smaller company can even top larger businesses in some areas.