As a new business entity, you will soon find yourself struggling to find your space among your already well established industry rivals. Competition is fierce in every single sector of business as more and more individuals try their hand at entrepreneurship. Even long established names such as Woolworth’s have struggled to maintain momentum in a highly competitive market and have fallen by the wayside. If a business with this pedigree can struggle in the twenty first century, then your startup most definitely can. To try and mitigate the risk to your business, you need a well honed marketing strategy; something new, unique and edgy. Take a look to see the distinguishing aspects of your marketing strategy that you can create to give you the edge over your competition.
Be Gimmicky
While you don’t want to rely solely on gimmicks to get your message across and to make your brand a household name, you do need some nifty little cues to help make you memorable. For example, if you provide small scale gift experiences and you’ve just added a short helicopter flight to your books, make sure you utilize aerial filming services to show the route of your experience and post it to social media so that it can be shared far and wide. Social media is a massive tool for virtually free advertising so use it for all its worth.
If you are marketing your custom made tee shirts over the airwaves, you need to make sure that people understand your brand and what you are about. Radio isn’t visual like the Internet or TV so you might need a catchy yet annoying jingle that people cannot stop humming, or perhaps a minor celebrity to do the advertising voice over will suffice. Think about how to make your company stick in people’s minds and use it.
Social Media
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram should be your stalwart social media platforms. Each brings their own niche market to your brand. Twitter tends to be a little more professional and high brow. Facebook is seen by the most varied demographic of people. And Instagram tends to be the hipsters visual social media platform of choice. Make sure that you take photographs of your products in action, show off your pitches to large companies and demonstrate how awesome your office workplace is. Whip on an Amaro or Holga filter and a cool image that portrays your brand and your message can be conveyed to thousands of millennials all in one go.
Go To Trade Fairs
While they sound a little 1990s, trade fairs are much more than rows of stalls like they were thirty years ago. Interactive presentations, talks and seminars take place at these functions allowing you to network with fellow professionals and potential customers. Make sure you get in on the action and find a trade show relevant to your business. If you’re part of the dot com revolution, get to the technology fairs and show off your latest software packages and inventions. Appearing to be at the forefront of industry knowledge will inspire confidence in your clientele.
Forget worrying about your competition and concentrate on your own marketing strategy to give you the edge.
