In a world where everyone is the same how do you stand out from the crowd?
In our industry, we work with a lot of B2B businesses who operate in similar markets and who struggle to differentiate themselves from their competitors.
At the very worst, we see them copy each other.
Whether that be their visual style, content strategy, website copy or even brand identity (logos, colour palette or visual assets like illustration style, or video).
This may not be an immediate problem (it could be just around the corner), but ask yourself if it was your business, would you really want another business looking or sounding identical to yourself?
In this blog, we want to show you the importance of differentiating your business and the perils of getting it wrong.
Don’t follow suit
Imagine a world where every business is the same and has no distinctive qualities or services. It happens more often than you’d expect, particularly in some sectors.
A lack of differentiation is a terrible thing.
How can customers understand why they should choose you over a competitor? Looking or sounding just like a competitor in your sector is at best confusing to your customer and at worst, makes you both look stupid. How does a customer know who’s copying who?
We also like to use energy companies as an example. If you visit different energy company websites, it’s hard to tell who is who when all their websites look the same. Then along came Bulb who ‘shook-up’ the energy sector, with their bold branding and exceptional customer service.
Great branding embodies your culture, values, and vision. It captures who you truly are.
Be you, be unique
Finding what makes your business unique, especially in a sector where everyone is delivering the same service, requires you to look in on oneself.
Dig deep into your:
• Value Proposition and vision
• Background and Heritage
• Your people, style and ways of working
• Target Audience Objectives and Challenges
• Company values and culture
• TOV (tone of voice) and messaging
Create a brand identity that resonates with your audience and reflects your personal identity. Take a moment to reflect where you are now and where you want to be. This takes a little honesty but by doing this you will be able to find what makes you uniquely different to your competitors.
Let your expertise shine through
Your customers need to see you as the expert in your field.
Your expertise should be visible across all your content including social, blog posts, books, videos, training days and other digital assets you may have.
By positioning yourself as an expert, your audience will come to you looking for answers. They will expect you to know what works and ultimately what doesn’t, which means your capability for generating better ideas is at optimum levels.
The customers who approach you have sought you out because they are facing a problem that they believe you can solve.
Trust your process
You’ve built something up from the ground, have a solid customer base who enjoy working with you, and an established business.
Recognising these achievements can be difficult when faced with adversity such as emerging competitors, a downturn in the economy or any other hiccups along the way.
Each new challenge creates another opportunity to reinforce your mission and demonstrate your values. By having a strong inner belief in trusting the process and being confident in your business practices, you are showcasing your tenacity. Your competitive advantage.
Turn this into powerful content that speaks with authenticity.
Show your community who you are and what you stand for and help them with their challenges by creating amazing content, building relationships, and supporting them.
You have the power
Business is cyclical. You may feel you’re yet to define the strategy that helps people understand what makes you, YOU, and why they should work with you over your competitors. Equally, you may be at a crossroads, where you’re thinking about how to build on your heritage and take the next step in your business journey. We’ve got a series of articles here that will help guide you through these difficult decisions.
We’re experts at helping businesses fully understand their strategy and help bring their ideas to life. So, if you find yourself at a crossroads, wondering which way to take your business, let us be the ones to get you to your right destination.
Get in touch here.
