The importance of competition and How to stand out of it? 

Healthy competition keeps us on our toes and increases our drive for success. Today, we’ll explore how to identify what makes a business stand out online, why you should be checking out your competitors, and what tools can help you get ahead of the game.

Let’s start with this question: what makes you stand out?

Imagine you own a basketball gear shop. What would make your brand distinct compared to other sports shops selling basketball equipment?

Maybe your shop’s exterior is painted in bright red, or you have an eye-catching window display, or perhaps you’ve even hired someone to shoot some hoops outside to grab people’s attention as they walk by.

As a physical store you need to stand out. The same is true in digital. When we identify what makes us different from the competition online, we call that our Unique Selling Point, or USP.

A Unique Selling Point is a clear statement that describes the benefits you offer, how you might solve your customer’s needs, and what distinguishes you from the competition.

4 key questions to ask yourself when defining your USP are:

• who is my target audience?

• who are my competitors?

• what problems does my target audience have?, and

• how can I solve them?

Once you ask these questions, you can piece together a concise statement that incorporates the answers. Here are a few pointers to remember.

Speak in a human voice. Be as natural and relatable as you can and remember, you are trying to attract people, not robots.

Shout about it. Your USP should be displayed on your website, social media, and other marketing materials. A good USP won't appeal to everyone, but that’s ok. Build a USP that is tailored and speaks directly to your target audience.

Other things to consider while working on your USP are your strengths and weaknesses. To do this, use a SWOT analysis, which will help ensure business decisions are well informed. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

Ask yourself:

• what is it we’re good at? These are your strengths

• what can we do better? These are your weaknesses

• how can we grow, change and improve? These are your opportunities

• what is happening or could happen, both internally and externally, that might affect us negatively? Those are the threats.

While constructing your USP, it’s a good idea to check what the competition is up to. When starting a competitor analysis, make sure to utilise the free tools available online. Start with search engines, which can offer the most immediate answers.

Simply search for your key terms and make note of:

• who appears in the top results on search engines for your product or service

• which keywords appear on their website, that is, what words are they using in the page titles on their website, and

• what messaging they use on their social media.

Another way to stay up to date with what competitors are doing is through signing up to alerts systems. Free tools like Google Alerts show you who is talking about certain topics online, so they help you keep your finger on the pulse. Try setting up alerts for key products or services, as well as your own business and competitor names. You’ll then receive notifications when the terms you enter are discussed online, and be able to see how your business or the business you work for compares.

Let’s take a look at how these tips can be applied to help you stand out online:

So what makes you different online? Use the tips from this lesson to find out what your competition is doing, and use a SWOT analysis to identify what makes you stand out.

Let's look at the importance of customer behaviour

Customers are the key to success, which is why understanding and nurturing them is so important. Here we’ll look at the importance of customer touchpoints, how to use them to map the journey customers take online, as well as how improving the customer experience can help you achieve your goals.

So how can you make a customer’s experience better? Let’s start by explaining customer touchpoints and why they’re important. A touchpoint is any stage when a customer, or potential customer, comes into contact with a business.

Touchpoints are used a lot in offline business, particularly in retail. They can be receipts, bags, signage, customer service counters, and many other points along the way. Online, they can be a valuable way for businesses to build brand loyalty and trust. When a customer encounters a touchpoint multiple times, such as online ads, this provides consistent value and creates ongoing positive associations with a brand.

While people don’t all look and think the same, the way they buy things, and the touchpoints they interact with, have many similarities. To understand online user behaviour, you need to establish what those touchpoints are and where they take place.

To identify them, try mapping the journey a customer takes. Once you know the steps they take to get to you, you can plan how to impress them at every stage. Imagine a marathon - once you know the route, you can plan in strategic points to rest, drink, or top up your energy levels. The purchase journey is the same - knowing the route gives you an understanding of exactly how you need to implement a strategic online approach.

Because there are so many potential interaction points, figuring out the journey may seem overwhelming at first. To make it easier, try putting yourself in the customer’s shoes.

Ask yourself:

• where do I go when I need answers?

• where do I normally spot new brands or businesses?

• what helps me make a purchase decision? and

• do I see a brand again after I’ve made the purchase?

Another option is to ask customers directly about the route they took to find you. A simple face-to-face or online survey can break this journey down step-by-step, making it clearer and easier to visualise.

Once you understand the route a customer takes, it’s all about making sure the relevant touchpoints chosen are effective in drawing people in. If you have a website, does it tell a potential customer what they want to know whilst keeping existing customers interested? The more value a site has to someone, the more likely it is they will want to return to it.

Social media is another great tool to develop touchpoints and can help give a business character and a personal feel. Remember your customers are real people - so connect with them in a way that’s relatable and engaging.

Once your touchpoints are set up, remember to regularly review how they’re performing. For example, if your product or service is suddenly becoming popular with a new audience, like teens, you may need to make adjustments to your touchpoints, so that they resonate directly with that age-group.

To wrap up, here are some quick reminders to help you work on your own touchpoints:

• think about the journey you take as a customer when you buy something, and apply this information to your business scenario

• if you can, talk to customers to get real-world info on the touchpoints they encounter

• analyse touchpoint performance and optimise your message if required, so that the customer’s needs always come first.