At CompuGift we can help you promote your small business in many low cost ways!
I am not afraid of my larger competitors. These industry dinosaurs are much too slow and no longer in touch with the industry that made them. They are also too expensive which is why so many have now ceased trading or are in financial difficulties. Your larger competitors may still have massive marketing budgets and 500 more employees than you but they are slow, too expensive and so 1990! If you want to beat them you need to be faster, less expensive and smarter than they are. In this article I will show you 3 ways you can compete with your big competitors and win.
Be Creative
You will never beat your larger competitors by trying to out spend them. Let them out bid you for the top spot on the search engines. Recent studies have shown that 66% of people do not click on these pay for click ads and banners when searching anyway.
No, you need to be smarter to win. Creating exceptional content through niche market article marketing, blogging, podcasts and/or videos will show your customers that you are an expert within your niche. Ensure that the content you release is education and about your niche and not about you and your company.
You may not be able to out spend your competitors but you can be more creative than they are and offer your target customers good information rather than the ‘Me me me’ flashy banner ads they will be throwing at them.
Be Faster
Your larger competitors have so much more to think about than you do such as whether Fridays should be dress down days or if they should schedule a meeting to discuss what their next meeting should be about.
Use this to your advantage. Being small means you can move with the trends much faster than your dinosaur competitors. If you see a trend or have a great idea that could change your industry then do it! Follow what is being said about you and/or your industry through social media sites and of course Google Alerts.
Move fast and make a difference within you niche while you larger competitors are still discussing who should bring what to the company picnic.
Be Less Expensive
I always find it funny, almost laughably so, when I attend industry events – in may case it is the promotional merchandise industry. So often the topic of discussion is that smaller businesses are undercutting the larger promotional gifts suppliers making it impossible for them to compete. Even some of the key manufacturers and trade suppliers are complaining about this industry undercutting claiming that it somehow devalues their products.
You do not have the same overheads as they do so use this to your advantage!
To those who complain, may I now say loud and clear – WAKE UP GUYS! Small businesses should not be led by larger competitors but visa-versa. This type of competition is just beginning. Down size or get left behind.
In the old days the larger companies set industry prices through their millions of printed catalogues they sent out in the masses. Ten years ago it was the small businesses that could not compete with the larger businesses who had sales staff on the road and their own monthly printed catalogues. Now, the shoe is on the other foot.
Make your larger competitors compete with your lower online prices and watch them panic. It is both fun and very profitable.
Posted by Dan Toombs
Tags: Promoting small business