Think of your largest competitors. The ones who dominate the industry that you're in.
Write 3 of those competitors down on a piece of paper.
Now do some research and answer the following questions:
- What are they doing differently?
Hint: Chances are that they have well-established sales and marketing processes, especially if they have the largest market share. - What exactly makes them different?
Hint: They probably avoid jargon or platitudes. (If they do use platitudes, then you’re in luck. It’s very easy to beat them) - How did they establish themselves as an authority?
Hint: By staying current and accessible with their customers and using multiple touch-points to reach them.
Learn how you can conduct your competitive analysis here.
When I ask these questions to business owners, they often fall short of a good answer, typically giving the following excuses::
- Competitor X has been in this industry for a long time
- Competitor X must have a large budget and sizeable clientele.
The reason why both of these answers are excuses is because:
a.) Being in the industry for a long time does not matter and
b.) Marketing is an investment, not an expense. You just need to know how to spend it wisely to get the best return.
Then what prevents companies from getting the big accounts? Procrastination and uncertainty.
If you want to keep up with and more importantly, beat your competition, you need to be both proactive and reactive.
For example, this fast-paced world of new technologies and innovation is advancing the way users interact with brands and businesses are increasingly falling behind. Leveraging new technologies will help you connect and engage with your customers, giving you a competitive edge.
Now let’s talk about the uncertainty or lack of confidence that the investment in available technologies will yield any results.
If businesses don’t adapt to the ever-changing demands of their consumers, one thing is for sure- they won’t survive.
In order to survive, you need to keep up with the technological advancements. Take Freshbooks for example. They are far ahead of their competitors because they stay on top of these changes and leverage technical capabilities.
Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not saying you need to adopt all new technologies as they’re released to the market. But I am saying that leveraging new technologies will help you stay ahead of your competition while also meeting the demands of your consumers.
Think of a strategy that will seamlessly embrace digital media and establish your authority in a digital world where you don’t need expensive tradeshows to do that.
I’ll give you an example. A client of mine in the signage industry established their authority by creating case studies of key accounts and sharing those stories via their LinkedIn company page, personal profile, website, and email marketing (marketing automation). They didn’t need to do anything too crazy to accomplish this. All they needed was a strategic implementation of digital marketing.
The result? Higher quality of leads. Who would Walmart want to hire do to their signage? One that has experience with companies of that size. Why would they put their reputation at risk by not working with someone who is considered an authority in their niche? The client beat the price factor when it comes to closing the deal.
Now I have a question for you. Are you procrastinating?
Let me know if this is the case and we can work together to beat the crap out of your competitors. We'll show them that they aren't the only guys in town who know the nuances of digital marketing.
To sweeten the deal, I have a 3-month money back guarantee. Get in touch with one of us at Analytico and we money-back will get back to you with more details.