How to Get Your Business to Stand Out

In today’s digital world, it becomes more and more difficult to stand out against other businesses. A big reason why the internet is such a competitive place for businesses is that everyone generally uses the same marketing strategies. With social media, paid advertisements and sponsorships and all the other strategies out there, everyone is doing the same thing which has become a constant battle to see who’s business stands out the most. If you find yourself blending in with other businesses online, we have some unconventional marketing strategies that will help your business to stand out.
4 Unconventional Marketing Strategies
Be Transparent to Hook Your Audience
The best (and sometimes worst) thing about the internet is your audience can use it to learn as much information as possible about your business. General information about your business is no longer enough. Consumers today want to know how much your service costs, how long it takes and what kind of reviews the business has. The thing about consumers today is they want all the information they need, the moment they need it.
There are two ways to deal with customers that need the information. You can continue to hide all the information until customers fill out a form or you can be upfront and be transparent with your audience. Being transparent is not only beneficial to your customers but to yourself, too. Instead of having dozens of customers contact you for information, they have access to it whenever it’s needed, so you can focus your time on other important parts of your business.
Many businesses choose not to put the pricing of their services out there. By being more transparent with price, you will set yourself apart from competitors. When customers are interested in your business, they want to know what to expect when working with you. By sharing how you work and achieve great results, potential customers will have much more confidence in your capabilities. You also want to be transparent in performance. If you state that you “increase leads” share the data to back it up. Your audience will want to know what results they can expect and when.
Transform Branding Events into Lead-Generation Opportunities
As a business, having a brand is essential when it comes to how to stand out against your competitors. A brand is what turns your business into a reputable service or product. However, building a brand doesn’t bring any monetary value. Have you ever considered how you can change this to bring in more money to your business?
Social media is the number one way to build your brand. Through consistent posts, followers will begin to recognize your business and share it with their followers. With social media, you can turn your followers into leads. Several businesses have started to see the opportunity social media has when it comes to lead generation. By including a link for your followers to click, they can simply visit your site that will prompt them to purchase your product or service. And boom! Just like that, your branding strategy on social media has also turned into a lead!
Whether you speak at conferences or just attend an event, you can not only grow your brand but get some leads too. You don’t have to ask people to fill out forms, you can do something as simple as handing out business cards and swapping emails, that way they can sign up for your newsletters.
Become Active in a Community
There may be a community you are interested in joining or maybe you don’t have one in mind but want to start building your own, communities are ignored by businesses. There are a few benefits of communities which it is why shouldn’t be overlooked. Communities can promote your brand, become a source for talent and a source for referrals. There are two types of communities that can be helpful to your business. There are formal communities where you come together and meet at events, and then there are informal communities where you come together online through a hashtag or some sort of online communities. For a community to have a maximum effect on your business, utilize both informal and formal communities.
So how do you be a part of a community? Begin to contribute to it! By consistently engaging, you will become an active member and as a result, grow your business. When engaging with the community, be aware of the voice you are using and avoid sounding too promotional, it could hurt your brand down the road. When communicating to others in the community, keep in mind your goal is to be informative, available and helpful.
Create Content for your Audience
Before you create any content, consider the types of clients you want to attract. Once you have a target audience in mind, create the content that will appeal to them. By doing so, your business can show off its creative skills and your knowledge in the industry. With this content, you can also create your own community. With high-quality content and a platform for people to use to discuss the content, you will notice how easy it is to build a community. A popular way to do so is through a blog. A blog is a designated place for you to post content and allows people to post comments and form a community based upon your content. Once again, always be sure to keep your audience in mind when creating content.
Getting your business to stand out is a challenge. While everyone uses the same marketing strategy, it’s hard to set yourself out against your competitors. If you begin to use these unconventional marketing strategies, you will find it easier to stand out and begin to attract more customers.
To learn more about marketing strategies and how you can stand out against your competitors, contact an expert at Joseph Studios.