RSS Ray's Online Marketing Blog

How to differentiate your company from your competitors by using the right marketing message.

By RSS Ray

There are very few industries where the product or service is so unique that there is only ONE place or company to get it from. There may be a few, but the list is very short.

For the rest of us, competition from businesses that supply similar products and services is part of our daily business lives. The more popular the product or service, the more competition there is. Sometimes this is geographically dictated; where I live in the desert southwest, there are literally hundreds of swimming pool builders and air conditioning companies to choose from, but very few places that sell skiing or snow removal equipment. In the northern parts of the country, I’m sure the opposite is true.

So in the face of all this competition, how can you grow your business? You must learn to differentiate your company and communicate those differences to your target market.

As an internet marketing and SEO consultant, the most common thing I encounter working with companies that want to sell more at higher margins is that they fail to differentiate themselves from others in ways that customers are willing to pay for. Even the businesses that try often go about it the wrong way and fail. The end result of this is that consumers think about your product or service as a commodity, and when that happens, lowest price becomes the overriding concern. That is the worst thing that can happen if you want to grow your business and produce higher margins.

Here is one of the essential truths about lowest price businesses:

If you try to promote your business by lowest price, you will go broke; there is always someone who will sell for less. You cannot make sufficient margins with a lowest price strategy to pay your bills and stay in business.

So we, as marketers and business owners need to help customers see distinct differences in our businesses to grow sales, and sell at higher margins. There is a formal term for this, it’s called “points of differentiation” and understanding this is key to being able to make prospects and customers choose you over all of your competitors.

Knowing how to do this is crucial. Companies that make an attempt to differentiate themselves from others often do so in ways that will never accomplish that objective. As an example, they use terms like…..

• Family owned and operated
• Fast and friendly service
• Best team in (fill in the blank)
• Your friend in the (fill in the industry)
• Our service is the best

I’m sure there are lots of others you can think of. Just cruise the web or Yellow Pages and you will see as many of these as you want. The problem with these claims is that your competitor can easily say the same things, leaving it up to the subjective opinion of the consumer (or lowest price!!) from which to make his or her buying decision.

The other point is that many of these claims, when you look at them closely are often not true! Especially with businesses that make claims about superior service. This is something that I see often with real estate agents, all of whom claim to give superior service. In fact, they will list your home, sell you a home, market your property, and present you with offers. They do not mow your lawn, do your shopping, or baby sit your kids. They do what every other agent in town does, so claims of superior service are meaningless at best.

Can you imagine this conversation? “Honey, let’s list our home with this agent because she says she gives superior service”. People who want to sell their home want the highest possible price they can get and in the shortest time imaginable. If that agent’s advertising said “I’ll sell your home in thirty days or less at the list price or you can cancel your contract with me and we part friends” they would have a MUCH better chance of getting the business.

Suppose you are in the air conditioning business. On a hot summer day when your customer’s air conditioner doesn’t work, will they be motivated to call you because you are family owned and operated or will they call you because you promise total home comfort TODAY, or they don’t pay you a penny?

This shows you that when you market your business, you need to talk about how you solve problems and fill needs better than anyone else. Think about what your customer is looking for when they go on the internet to find your product or service. Understanding what they want or need, supported by performance guarantees and testimonials, free trials, or free consumer reports are the ways to provide points of differentiation.

Focus on things that other businesses can’t say ‘me too’ or are not subject to interpretation. These are the ideal things to feature in your marketing if and only if they bring real value that people will pay for.

Here are some examples:

• Same day service, instead of ‘fastest service in the city’
• 30 minutes or less or it’s FREE, instead of ‘fast delivery’
• All our instructors are past PGA tour pros instead of ‘best instructors in town’
• 7000 cars in stock give you the widest selection in the city, instead of ‘see our huge selection of cars and trucks’

There is one other thing to check before you decide to make a claim in your advertising. Can it pass the “I would hope so test”? What is this? It’s when you state the obvious, as in these examples:

When an auto repair shop claims “We have the equipment and training to diagnose and repair all problems” ……. You think, well, I would hope so! That’s what you do, isn’t it?

When and office supply store claims that they have hundreds of the most common office supplies in stock….Well, I would hope so, that’s what your business is about, isn’t it?

If a web design company tells you that they have the training and people to help you have website of your own……Well, I would hope so! That’s what web design companies do, right?

You get the idea; focus on the specifics that differentiate your business keeping in mind how this will affect the decision of the consumer, and avoid all obvious and meaningless things you will see being used by your competitors. You are not your customer; so you must spend time thinking about your business from their prospective and why they should choose you over all the other options including doing nothing at all. Once you have done this and communicate these points of differentiation in all your marketing, you will get more customers, more revenue and profit, and in time dominate your market.

If you need help creating the right marketing communication for your company RSS Ray can help. Contact us today by filling out our privacy assured online form or by calling (877) 837-8803.