Standing out from competitors is tough, whether it’s through utilising unique marketing methods or more precise planning around building customer relationships, you can ensure that your business speaks to the crowd and begins to forge its own route to becoming a market leader. To help you out, here are five unique ways in which you can gain that competitive advantage:
Building A Strong Brand Name
First and foremost, the brand itself is one of the most crucial areas to get right. This is essentially the foundation of your business concept: if you have a strong custom brand, then you are halfway there to getting recognised and assimilated into the market zeitgeist.
If you are struggling with a name — and the bin of ideas is already starting to overfill — then there are plenty of ways to find one without having to eke out all of your brain power. A company name generator can put together a load of brand name ideas, with just a few keywords. These keywords should revolve around the essence of what you want your business to be. Names are important, so make sure to find the perfect one that speaks to you and your business, and it will subsequently speak just as loudly to your customers too.
Utilising New AI Technology
Speaking of new technology, many of the best companies are now utilising AI technology to ease the work process and elevate the customer experience. You will find this in tools like “chatbot”, where customers can speak to an AI-based chatting system to assist them when visiting your website. Businesses like Snapchat are leading the way with AI chatbots, but they can be utilised by any business, so make sure to take advantage early.
As well as this, AI technology can also provide more accurate and useful data in the office, helping you to further understand your customer's needs and save time that would have been spent collecting that data manually. There are many ways that AI technology can improve the workplace, but collecting those metrics could be the defining factor when it comes to understanding the market better than your competitors and putting what you have learned into action.
Going Old School With In-Person Events
As a new business, you will find that forming a strong and loyal customer base is crucial when it comes to gaining a competitive advantage. This is especially true if you are starting a B2B organisation – which generates around 60% to 80% of revenue from existing customers. In order to do this you will need to form meaningful relationships and build your own community.
The best way to do this is through in-person events, where you can get rid of the screens and get to know your customers personally. It may sound a little old school, but understanding why face-to-face customer interaction is so important is critical if you want to form a personal relationship. Putting on events like this will also help to provide transparency in your business and will show your customers that you care about their custom and are eager to get some feedback.
Investing In The Potential Of Virtual Reality
As well as AI, virtual reality is another piece of technology which is beginning to make a few waves in the business world. While it is not quite there yet, there is a lot of potential for VR to elevate the customer experience – allowing them to get hands-on with products without physically touching them – which will make it one of the best ways to reduce a churn rate, while also easing work processes at the same time.
The new Meta Horizon Office, for instance, can unite employees while they’re in the comfort of their own homes, with the potential to elevate employee engagement, well-being and productivity while in – and outside – of the office environment.
Focusing On Web Design
According to a recent study, as many as 70% of Americans did their shopping online in 2022. The landscape of shopping is changing, and more businesses seem to be existing outside of the physical space and essentially moving into the online world. In this way, your website has to be the spiritual hub of your business. This is where a number of customers are going to be learning about you, engaging with you and – hopefully – buying from you.
For this reason, you need to do everything you can to build a solid web platform, with a good portion of your budget having to go on experts who are well-versed in web design and can help to build both your website and your company itself. Your social media platforms must also be well looked after. Make sure they all match the custom branding and provide a way for customers to interact, participate and engage in the content that you are creating. Despite its importance in 2023, this is one of the many stumbling blocks for businesses, so if you focus hard on optimising your online presence, you are going to put yourself in a far better position to develop a competitive advantage and make sure your company reaches its full potential.
As you can see, developing an advantage can be done through both simplicity and innovation. For instance, a strong brand name and an adoption of VR can both do their part to set you apart and ensure your business remains on the map. Your competitors will always be there, so always remember to keep them in your mind with whatever you do,, and always ensure that you take that extra step to not only match them – but go one better.
