Competition Is Good But Winning Is Better

Making sure you stand out from new competition

It's called the greatest game to ever take place. A rag tag group who suddenly became the odds on favorites against a balanced group of athletes who had to learn to play as a team. The odds-makers billed it as David vs. Goliath - and the first half played out that way. But the balanced athletes made it a close competition due to their fearless leader. . . . until the final seconds of the game when injuries struck. It looked like "Team David" was going to have to play short-handed. And then, a new player entered the game; Team David made the last-second winning shot and the rest was history.    

Making sure you always have some good marketing in your corner will have you stand out in the marketplace

They made a documentary of this game and called it . .  . . . .  Space Jam. Bill Murray entering the game at the last moment saved Tune Squad. Had he not been there, the Monstars would have faced less competition and probably won.  ​

In a similar manner, the less competition you face in your business marketplace, the better you’ll do. There are many ways for new competition to enter the market; it could be a new company, a company diversifying their product, a company moving into your town, etc. You have to make sure that you can withstand this threat in both your product offering and your marketing. Here are a few ways to do so:

• Differentiate Yourself: Even if your product is similar, you can make sure customers know that yours is superior for one reason or another. Think about a pizza place – they may have the best crust, the most unique toppings, the fastest delivery time, the most authentic pizza, etc. Promoting your 'stand out quality' makes it less likely that someone else will try to go head to head with you.
  
  
• Create Mass Brand Awareness: By doing so, any new company will have to invest so heavily in marketing that they may be dissuaded to go against you. 
  
  [Editor’s Note: In case you didn’t know, Cidewalk is a great way to create this mass brand awareness. Plus, you can create loyal customers by nurturing the email leads you get!]
  
  
• Use Unique Advertising: Not only will this help you stand out among your customers, but will also help deter competition. If the competition knows that you have the best social media / google / mobile / direct mail presence and that they can’t compete against that, they may not even try.
  
  
• Alter Your Pricing Strategy: If you’ve heard about a new competitor entering the market place, alter your pricing strategy in order to gain more of the market share. Developing loyal customers before a company can get off the ground can help keep you in pole position. 
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• Partner With Them: They say a rising tide lifts all boats. Maybe there is plenty of room in the marketplace for another competitor – if you are able to increase demand. Think about a farmer’s market vs. a road side stand. Partnering together with other like companies creates an opportunity to gather more customers together.    

Check back in to see the next 1-2 punch we come out with!

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