You know what? Competition is good for you. If you’re the only player in your field, it can be difficult to improve.
I assume that you have competition who are stronger and mightier than you. I also assume that you currently have a similar product to your competitors.
How can you differentiate yourself and stand out when you have the same product as your competitor? That’s what we are going to discuss in this article.
Let me give you an example so you really get what I mean. Google and Bing are both search engines with a very similar user experience. They use almost the same signals to rank websites. We all know that Bing is currently behind Google by many miles. Now, I hope you get the point. Assume that you’re Bing and your competitor is Google. How are you going to get clients over your competitor?
Here are some brilliant ways to do it:
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Make Something Better Than Your Competitors
Your powerful competitor isn’t untouchable. And to say your big competitor has the best product possible is a myth. In fact, we’ve witnessed this happen many times before.
Myspace was one of the most visited sites on the web, and the biggest social site before Facebook. Today, do you hear the name “Myspace?” How can a social site so big like Myspace go down without notice?
It’s because Facebook does it better than Myspace. That’s why Facebook is the third most visited site in the world. And it’s also the biggest social site with over 1.59 billion monthly active users.
It would be wrong to say Facebook offers the best quality possible. Yes, web users can also leave Facebook if there’s a better social site. So, think of something you can do better than your competitors. Do that and you’ll see a lot of customers coming your way.
Make Your Product Easier to Use and Understand
If you can make a client use and understand your product within 2 seconds, then you’ve won!
A lot of products on the web are hard to use and understand. If you want to gain a lot of market share you’ve got to make yours so easy that a 10-year old would understand how to use your product.
Look at Slack, for example, they became successful within a very short time because they have the best user experience. And anyone could use it.
Pay attention to your product and the design. Ask a 10-year old kid to check it out. If the kid can understand the idea within seconds, then you’ve got a good product that can help you win more clients over your competitors.
So, even though your competitor has a similar product, you should make the design of yours easy and cool. Find ways to differentiate using design. Your design is the key here.
Have A Better Customer Service
Customers are the lifeblood of any business. If your current customers are happy with you, there’s a high chance that they will tell their family and friends about your product. This is why you need knowledgeable customer service representatives who can better handle the customers.
Your customer service representatives are the ones who interact with your customers on a daily basis. They have to be putting smiles on the faces of your customers. They have to be polite by getting their complaints fixed within a short time. Your big established competitors may find it difficult to provide better customer service because they have a lot of customers. This is an area you can quickly excel and beat your competitors even though the products are similar.
Customers will always go to companies that treat them right and make them feel special. You should make your company a place where customers want to come knowing that you have talented representatives waiting to help them get any issues resolved. Offering a good customer service also reduces your customer acquisition costs.
Become Charitable
People like to become part of a company that gives back to the community. Being charitable makes your business even more appealing to customers.
United States companies like UPS, Bank of America and State Farm keep their names in the minds of customers due to their generous giving to the public. According to New York Times bestseller Ramit Sethi, he says “sometimes the best way to get ahead is to help others.” Ramit goes ahead to say, “the more generous I started to become, the more successful I became.”
Think about ways your company can be generous. If your competitors are currently generous, think about ways you can take it even further. You need to get your company name in more people’s minds. Being generous can keep you in the limelight. Before you know it, a lot of news outlets are writing about you. This would give you more free publicity.
Use What People Say About Your Competitors to Improve Your Product
With the rise of social media, it’s easy to see what people are saying about your competition. They are two things you’ll see when you follow your competitors on social media:
- You see a thread of discontent about your competitor
- You also see success stories of people who patronized your competitors
You should pay more attention to the first. When you see someone complaining about the usability of your competitor’s website or product, you should focus on making yours better. If it’s a complaint about the installation of your competitor’s app. You should make your app single-click.
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, forums and even search engines are good places you should be watching what people are saying about your competition. Mention and SocialMention are my favorite tools for keeping in touch with what people are saying about my competitors.
Expand Your Offer
To compete with your similar competitors, you might want to improve the quality of your own offer. You are small and nimble while your competitors are heavyweights. You can quickly react to trends and industry changes, but it will take your big competitors some time to react.
Think of some valuable, complementary products you can include in your offering. This will immediately set you apart and make your business more attractive to customers.
It’ll definitely take your competitors a long time to react to your moves because they are too big to make a swift decision. They might even ignore your business altogether. Offering similar products to your competitors isn’t an excuse not to be different. You should find creative ways to compete.
About the Author: Michael Akinlaby is a Content Strategist and Consultant. He’s the founder of RankRain, a company that specializes in digital marketing.
