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Winning Market Share in a Tough Economy
| Guest post by: Kris De Leon |
Article Overview: Many business owners are facing the challenge of winning market share in a tough economy. The recession has hurt many businesses, forcing many to shut down as they experienced a rapid decline in sales and market share. With consumers spending less than they have in the past, businesses must now find creative ways not only to increase their sales in the short term, but also implement sustainable practices to ensure long term success.
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Free Download - Winning Market Share in a Tough Economy By Kris De Leon |
Winning Market Share in a Tough Economy
Many business owners are facing the challenge of winning market share
in a tough economy. The recession has hurt many businesses, forcing
many to shut down as they experienced a rapid decline in sales and
market share. With consumers spending less than they have in the past,
businesses must now find creative ways not only to increase their sales
in the short term, but also implement sustainable practices to ensure
long term success.
Here are a few suggestions on how you can start winning market share in this tough economy.
Focus on your niche and ideal customer
Is your business clear on the needs of your niche market? Have you
clearly identified your ideal customer profile? Spend time researching
the needs of your market, along with identifying the needs of your ideal
customer profile. Get to know their interests, purchasing habits, where
they hang out, and what they like to buy. When you know your market
inside-out, you can create and tailor your product or service that is a
direct match to what your market needs, and design an effective
marketing campaign that attracts them to your business.
Provide a strong value proposition
Competition is very stiff in a tough economy. People are often
bombarded with advertising from all directions, so it’s sometimes tough
to differentiate one company’s product or service from another
company’s. With all the noise coming from advertising, it can be easy
for customers to tune these messages out. And if your advertising is
exactly what everyone else in your market is doing, chances are they’ll
tune your message out as well.
Spend time understanding how your company or business differentiates
itself from the competition. What kind of value can your company provide
that sets you apart from your competitors? Why should your customers
care about you instead of another company that offers a similar product
or service? What makes you unique?
Your answers to these questions should speak to your niche market and
ideal customer. In a world where people seem to have shorter attention
spans, prospects and customers will have an easier time remembering you
when you project a clear value proposition that addresses their needs.
Create your own market
Instead of trying to compete aggressively against everyone else to
gain market share, why not create your own market? When Cirque du Solei
first started, they knew they did not want to compete in the circus
market, nor did they want to compete in the theatre market. Both of
these markets were highly competitive and saturated.
Instead, they created something unique and remarkable by integrating
aspects of both the circus and theatre markets. By doing so, they
created a new market, which targeted adults who enjoyed both the stunts
you would find in a circus and the drama you would find in theatre. By
creating this new market, they enjoy a virtually competition-free
market, and they can focus entirely on providing something that is
remarkable for their audience. So get creative, and start thinking of
some under-served market that could use your product or service.
Focus on excellence and deliver at high standards
Take very good care of your current customers, and focus on
delivering results that are above and beyond their expectations. With so
many competing companies offering similar products or services, it’s
easy for a customer to jump ship to a competitor if they encounter a bad
experience with your business. Not only will you potentially lose a
customer, but you also run the risk of these customers telling their
peers about their negative experience.
On the flip side, if you provide excellent service that goes beyond
their expectations, you increase your chances of keeping that person as a
repeat customer. Through positive recommendation to their peers, you
also increase your chances of acquiring new customers through word of
mouth marketing. This won’t cost you a dime.
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Article Tags: beat the competition, generate more business, increase business sales, increase leads and customers, increase profits, thrivine in a tough market, thriving in challenging times, winning market share, winning market share in a tough economy
Referred by: http://www.AndyAcci.com
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About the Author: Kris De Leon RSS for Kris's articles - Visit Kris's website Here are some of the challenges and problems I help solve for entrepreneurs and small business owners: - Help them gain clarity on their target market and ideal customer profile, and making sure their marketing message is crystal clear to them - Help them to drive targeted leads to their online profiles - Help them create an engagement strategy that gets their followers to actively participate, and rave about their business to their network of followers - Help them convert their followers into paying customers, and get their followers to spend with them time and time again. - Help them measure the results of their online marketing and social media campaigns so that their time and money is best spent on activities getting them results Prior to my career in online marketing and social media, I have strong international experience with a solid track record of building businesses in Japan and the U.K. I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2000, and have a strong passion for adventure travel and learning new cultures. I speak business-level Japanese after living over 5 years in Japan, and I am also a certified Scuba Diving Assistant Instructor with PADI. Want to generate more customers and improve your bottom line? Grab your FREE copy of my E-book 5 Steps to Creating a Successful Facebook Marketing Campaign, and learn the proper way to build your fan base and convert them into paying customers. Click here to visit Kris's website   Facebook Marketing Campaign |
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