Tag: business competition

Effective Ways to Advertise Your Products to a Niche Audience

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In a world of constant business competition, it is essential to understand how to advertise your products in the most effective way possible. When you are advertising, you want to make sure that you are targeting the right audience so that your ads reach potential customers interested in what you have to offer. 

This blog post will discuss how to advertise your products by focusing on a niche audience effectively.

Study Their Behavior

The best way to advertise your products to a niche audience is by studying their behaviors. This can be done through social media, forums, and blogs relevant or specific to the targeted niche. For example, if you’re targeting an audience of people who like camping gear, then find websites on popular outdoor activities such as hiking and mountaineering. 

Knowing their behavior will help you to advertise the products that would be of interest. They may have specific needs that you can fulfill. So, study their behavior, and provide what they need!

Personalize Your Ads

Personalized ads allow you to target specific groups of people. These audiences are more likely to be interested in your product and convert at a higher rate than an untargeted ad campaign. Targeting is one way that social media advertising can personalize the message, but it’s not limited just to that platform! 

You can also target ads with keywords, and demographics. You may also want to consider OTT digital advertising, a form of video content advertising that helps you engage with a unique audience. 

Knowing who you are targeting will help you create the perfect ad campaign tailored to their needs. For example, if they’re a millennial, then use hashtags related to popular social media apps like Snapchat or Facebook to show them how much fun it is to use your product. If they’re working moms, then show them how easy it is for the kids to play with your toy while she’s cooking dinner.

Use Influencers

Influencer marketing is one of the most effective ways to advertise your products. Influencers have a large following, and they can reach out to their audience with ease, so you’re guaranteed that people will see what you want from them too. 

In addition, if you know influencers who align with your niche or industry, it can be easy to promote your product. For example, if you are a fashion brand, it would make sense to work with people with large followings on social media.

Influencers can be bloggers or Instagrammers and many other types, depending on your niche. You want someone that is an expert in the industry so they can effectively speak about your product. 

The best way to get in contact with influencers is through social media. You can use Instagram’s search bar and type in hashtags, or you could also look for people who are already posting that which aligns with what your company does. 

The different ways of reaching a niche audience are practical and can be used to promote products. Choosing the right approach for your advertisement is crucial to get people who want or need what you’re selling. The more targeted your product is, the better chance it has at success in a niche market.

How to Stop Your Company Being Left in the Dust

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If you’re concerned that the competition seems to be moving faster and achieving more than what your business has been able to achieve so far, you might be concerned about the future. That’s understandable; after all, businesses that stand still eventually tend to get left behind. Here are some of the ways in which you can stop that from happening and keep your business moving in the right direction.

Innovate and Push Boundaries

It’s important to keep on pushing boundaries and attempting to break new ground, even if you’ve already done that many times in the past. As we’ve said, things don’t stand still in business and your company can’t afford to either. Do what you can to push boundaries, move forward and achieve the outcomes you want your business to achieve. 

Listen Closely to Customers

In order for your business to remain sustainable, it has to be meeting the needs of customers. Nothing is more important than them, and that’s why it pays off from your point of view to do what you can to listen to them and their needs. When you understand their needs better, you can tailor your approach accordingly and make sure you’re delivering for them.

Create a Joined Up Social Media Approach

Creating a more joined up approach to social media is a must these days. If you haven’t really mastered social media or what it has to offer companies like yours, it’s probably a good idea to do something to change that at the soonest opportunity. Create a brand style and a brand voice across a range of social media platforms and be sure to do whatever you can to keep engaging people and interacting with your target demographics. 

Use the Right Software Solutions

Using the right software is something else that’ll make your life a lot easier than it might otherwise be. When you have strong software solutions in place, like those provided by Antzman software, you can place your business at the cutting edge and make many of your processes far more efficient and effective than they would be if you stuck to the old ways of doing things.

Offer Something Your Rivals Can’t or Won’t

Finally, you should think about how you can make your business stand out from the companies trying to steal its market share. If there’s something your rival isn’t doing that you feel is of value to your customers, it’s probably a good idea to think about how you can deliver on that thing. If you’re offering something to your customers that your rivals can’t or won’t, you’ll have an advantage and that’s something that can’t be overlooked.

Now that you have a better idea of how to keep your business moving in a more positive direction, all that’s left for you to do is start taking action. When you do that, you’ll quickly realize how important it is to keep moving and not stand still for too long, especially in competitive sectors.

Ensuring A Better Visual Impact Than Any Competing Business

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What, would you say, are the most important measures you can use to dispel competition, or get on top? Providing a better value service to customers? Offering a cheaper product? Answering the phone more quickly? Sure, but that only truly benefits when a customer has taken the time to understand your business and what it offers in the first place.

We can often forget that there are a million little persuasions that take place in the mind of someone looking to utilize a business, some too subtle to even mention, continuously considered by psychologists in the corporate space. However, we are absolutely certain that one of these persuasions, perhaps chief among them, is your visual potential.

Offering an impressive visual output is easy in today’s modern, minimal-typeface, social-media led environment. But it is possible to achieve. And not only that, taking steps to override your competition in this category can help you gain a stronger footing, and perhaps even dominate the marketing space. After all, this is the first battlefield you need to take in order to gain a foothold and progress.

Let’s consider how you do that:

Hire Excellent Production Companies

A brilliant and proven production company can not only help you translate your best marketing writing to the screen, but they can do so in a manner that attracts an audience, provides an emotional response, and encourages engagement. Those are three essential steps to having your marketing remembered. Think of the last video advertisements you can remember. Some might be from last week, some might be from five years ago. Odds are they made you laugh, feel elated, or as if you needed to  check something out due to how cool it seemed. Taking this step can help you refine your marketing speak outside of the stuffy boardroom and apply it to something much more productive.

Update Your Graphic Design

Make sure you’re on top of any graphic design trends necessary to be seen as present and modern. For example, what does your phone app look like on modern smartphones? Is it low-resolution, or overly complex? Could you find a better logo that fits within the app image requirements of the App or Google Play Store? How might this translate to the rest of your branding? Asking these questions will be essential in 2019.

Non-Offensive Advertising

Think of how people view advertising more often these days. Social media timelines, ads before YouTube videos, and a range of other convenient options. Ensure that your ad is not annoying in this space. That it doesn’t dive out at your viewer with aggression, loud noises or blinding colors. Instead, try to use something clever to show said user how they may benefit from letting your ad play out, or by clicking on it. Try and gauge that reaction immediately. If you can do this, your non-offensive advertising will work in the right way from the very first time.

With these tips, you’re sure to offer a better visual marketing output.

Your brand is your business

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Your brand is your business. Get your name out there, have something memorable and that appeals directly to your target audience, or run the risk of falling short and turning customers off what you’ve got to offer.

Getting your branding just right is a difficult endeavor and is as unique as your company, whether you’re a taxi company or sell Personalized Bricks, Pavers & Tiles. There’s only one of you and you need to rise above the rest in a sea of competition.

In this blog, we take a look at why you might need to shake up your branding and take your business to new levels.

You’re Identity Has Shifted

When you started your business you had a firm idea of what that business was going to offer and designed your branding around those specific goods or services. As your business has grown and become more refined, it’s moved away from those original offerings and taken on a different persona.

Yet, your branding has stayed the same and now it’s time to recognize that misalignment needs to be addressed. It’s time to match up your brand to better reflect who you are and your unique place in the market.

Your Competition Is Too Close

As you’ve grown, so has your competition and what the style they’ve adopted is clearly apeing your own. If you fear it’s affecting your customers’ abilities to tell you apart then it’s time to relaunch your style and get going with a fresh look.

Don’t go it alone, get a branding expert on board to give you some expert advice.

You’re Out of Touch

Quite simply the market and your customers have moved on and your style looks distinctly dated. While some companies thrive on the history of their brand, yours just looks old fashioned. The knock-on effect of this is that you won’t find it easy to launch new lines while your business is still associated with an older style of product. 

Dare to be different as you relaunch with a new look but consider keeping elements of your old design to act as an anchor point for your most loyal of customers.

You’re Planning a Price Hike

One of the most effective ways to persuade customers that your new prices are worth paying, is through a brand redesign. Your new look works to convince customers they are getting the latest, freshest product and are, therefore, more likely to pay your higher rates.

Whatever the reason for your re-brand, you need to spend some time researching what your competitors are up to, how they’re positioning themselves in your market and what you need to do to become a stronger competitor.

Get some professional expertise on board to talk you through your options and come up with a brand that reflects the products your sell, the identity you want to promote and the prices you’re selling at.

A fresh look, a great new brand identity and you’re going to be back on the market looking better than ever.

The Importance Of Product Testing And Why Your Business Should Be Doing It

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When it comes to a new product, one of the most important steps throughout the process is product testing. Without it, releasing it to the public or your clients can have serious consequences should something go wrong. And with some big businesses having to recall products because they’re dangerous or faulty can have an impact that some companies can’t recover from. So why is product testing so important?

The Rise In Competition

It’s pretty obvious that competition is only getting tougher as each day goes by. Putting a foot wrong in business is really not an option, especially when you’re competing against others for publicity, sales, and new customers. That’s why it’s important to ensure that your product or service has been tried and tested, so that is near enough perfect for public or client consumption. If you can prove to be more successful than your competition, then it’s going to make it slightly easier for you as a business to grow in success over time. Competition is only growing, and although it’s something you shouldn’t often focus on, it’s good to recognize what others are doing to test out what they sell.

Quality Checks

One way of product testing is to do quality checks. These should a rigorous and high-quality process to confirm that you’ve done everything you can do as a business to make your product or service the best it can be. That way, if anything does backfire or go wrong, you have the physical evidence to lean back on. Most of the time, companies are caught out because they’ve cut corners when it comes to quality checking. Nowadays, it’s just not worth running the risk as the fallout from it can often be hard to come back from.

Take Advantage Of Technology

Technology has certainly come a long way in the last few years thanks to many businesses putting in funding to research and improve systems and softwares across all industries. So when there are self-contained devices like the GPS Simulator, this is a piece of kit that makes trialing and product testing more effective while reducing the amount of time and money too. Thanks to the digital world, we now have a lot more at our fingertips that help us with our research and testing. It cuts down time and man hours massively, and it’s no wonder that the discussion of robots doing more in the future is being discussed more frequently. Not only that but more money is being pumped into developing this technology.

Accelerated Life Testing

Product testing can be applied in a number of ways, depending on what it is your testing. Measuring the effects of aging is a big one because a lot of customers want the longest shelf life for a product, particularly when it’s a physical object. White goods like washing machines or kitchen appliances, in general, are something that’s used on a daily basis, so they have to have a guaranteed lifespan attached to it. Accelerated life testing is something you can do to avoid having to manually test something day in and day out. You subject it to excessive conditions in order to uncover any faults or issues, which you can then fix.

Conduct Focus Group Testing

Product testing can also be used with the customers themselves and is often used with many businesses both old and new. Only so much testing and research can be done in-house. Your customers are the ones who will ultimately be buying and using the product so why not get them to try it out for themselves? Focus groups are great for specific research that relates to your specific demographic of customers. These can be done over the course of quality checking, and it’s a great way of getting that all-important feedback so that you can tailor it as best as you can. This will hopefully lead to more sales when it finally goes out into the market.

When it comes to your customers, safety is the key concern for anything you are putting out to the public, and that’s why product testing is critical to doing all you can to protect your customers and to create a safe product that functions as it should under the normal parameters.

Product testing is extremely important to do as a business, no matter how many products you’ve released. There’s always room for improvement and even though the word perfect may not exist, you can certainly do your best as a business to get as close as you can to perfection.

5 Things That Can Threaten Your Business Growth

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If you have embarked on a growth journey in your business it is important that you pay attention to the details and foolproof your plan, or you will face difficulties and spend all your resources and energy on putting out fires, instead of putting systems in place. Below you will find a few things that can threaten your business growth.

1. Industry Changes

No matter how good your business plan is, and how well it looks on paper, it is crucial that you test it in real conditions and the current market. If you are facing industry changes, or the priorities of your customers, your perfect business idea might fail. It is crucial that you keep an eye on your ideal client and change your approach according to their needs. Doing surveys and market research before launching can be a great way of making your plans bulletproof.

2. Competition

It is not enough to understand what your target market wants; you have to find a way to stand out from the competition and differentiate yourself in the market. You will need to identify a strong USP for your business that you can communicate through your social media and website content. After all, it is not what you sell, but the value you offer than matters to your potential clients. If you fail to research your competition, your offers will get lost in the white noise.

3. Regulations

Regulations are an important factor when it comes to carrying out any type of business. You should ensure that you are aware of the current and pending regulations, so new laws cannot put you out of business. For example, if you are planning on creating a new product, you will have to get it first approved and tested for safety in some industries, or you can be liable for any damage to the customer.

4. Reputation Damage

Many business owners make a mistake when creating a growth plan ignoring their existing customers. If you are planning on managing a rapid growth with success, it is crucial that you maintain the quality of service you are providing for your existing clients and the increase in volume doesn’t cause lower value or accuracy. When your reputation is damaged, you will not only reduce your chances of getting new clients, but your existing customers might leave you, too.

5. Unexpected Expenses

A reputational damage is often followed by financial loss, and if you don’t follow the regulations, you will even face financial penalties. Likewise, failing to deliver health and safety training, or ensuring that your vehicles and drivers are safe on the road can jeopardize your cash flow. Just imagine if one of your drivers was involved in a commercial truck accident and you had to pay compensation for the damage, how would your growth plan suffer?

There are plenty of ways you can ensure that your growth plan is not affected by things that are predictable or preventable. Take precautions and test your strategy on real life business scenarios.

Unexpected Things That Can Derail Business Success

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You’d hope that if you just have a good idea, work hard, and have a pinch of luck, then your business triumph is assured. Alas, this is not the case. While these things will guide you towards success, there’s no guarantee that you’ll experience long-term success. This is because there are many things that can derail your path towards glory. Some of them are within your control, while some are beyond your control. Below, we take a look at a number of somewhat unexpected aspects that can derail your company’s upward trajectory, as well as offer some advice on how you can prevent them from happening and handle them if they do.

Personal Issues

They say you should keep your personal life and professional life separate, but it can’t always happen this way. It can be relatively straightforward to leave your working side at the office, but keeping home problems from interfering with your work? That’s easier said than done. If you’re going through a rough emotional time, then you won’t be able to push through and work extra hard; it’ll be a case of taking care of what needs to be done, and waiting for your energy to return before taking on more tasks. If you have a personal crisis, such as being arrested for a DUI or something, then there’s no way that won’t impact your business in one way or another. The trick is just to limit the damage it can do.

A New Competitor

Everything might be going swimmingly. Business is growing, demand is high, and things are all-around looking rosy. But there’ll soon be a problem if a competitor moves in on your turf. Your profits will take a hit, there’s no doubt about it; but will it be a significant dip, or a manageable one? When a competitor moves in, it’s important to carry on doing what you’ve always done. If people loved you before, they’ll be happy to carry on supporting you even though there’s another option for them. If it’s a giant corporation who has opened up nearby, play up your small local business credentials. People are more likely to support an independent business rather than a big business than they were in the past!

Hiring the Wrong Person

Your staff is the bedrock of your success. You’re an important figure, for sure, but you’re only one person: your staff is a team, and when they all work together well, your business runs smoothly. When they don’t, the good times can be hard to find. While it shouldn’t necessarily be this way, one bad employee can have a hugely detrimental effect on the team’s success. Morale can drop. Communication can break down. As such, it’s important that you’re hiring the right person always. Easier said than done? Maybe, but you can increase your chances of success by developing a robust hiring policy. If you follow the guidelines that you yourself have established, you’ll be less likely to end up with a dud of an employee who brings everyone down.

Staff Leaving Abruptly

Hiring the wrong person can be damaging; losing your best employees can be even worse. You’ll have created a system that depends on your employees delivering their best work. If one or more of them suddenly leave, then it’s going to be difficult to get back up to the standards you were operating at before. There are a few things you can do to reduce the chances of this happening, however. For starters, you can treat your employees well; that means offering them a platform to grow professionally, and paying them well. You can also ask them to give you plenty of notice if they want to leave, so you have time to find a suitable replacement.

The Elements

It’s not just what happens inside your business premises that affects your success; what takes place outside has an impact too. Take the elements. After a heavy rainstorm, you could arrive at work only to discover that the place is flooded. On that day, you won’t be able to work, and you may have lost important documents and infrastructure that were critical to your success. Now, you can’t control the weather, but you can control how you prepare for severe weather. Start by working with waterproofing specialists so that your offices are unaffected by heavy rainfall. You can also keep any important documents and electrical equipment stored away in a waterproof container, especially when you know that there’s a lot of rain on the way.

Suppliers In Difficult

You’re not trying to succeed in business all on your own. You’ll be working with other businesses as you try to build your empire. If one of these companies falls into difficulties and has to stop trading, you could find yourself without the goods and services you need to operate.

Changing Moods

The world is ever in flux. What is current and relevant today could be obsolete in years to come. There really are no guarantees! Your business may be popular now, but what is the world moves on? If some of the world’s biggest corporations can be left behind, then so can your small business. The best way to prepare is to keep an eye on trends, and to not take anything for granted. If it seems like the tide is beginning to turn, then refocus your energies. For this reason, it’s always a good idea to have an open mindset about where you’ll be taking your business, rather than having a clear, unalterable vision.

Final Thoughts

Life is full of surprises; that’s what makes it so exciting. Alas, not all of these surprises can be good. Sometimes, you’ll be hit by something that causes your operations to stutter, or perhaps pause altogether. If you’re unprepared for them and they occur, then don’t panic. It might not be an ideal situation, but keep the bigger picture in mind: this is just a blip on what will hopefully be a long and prosperous journey with your venture.

The Best In The Business: How To Leave The Competition In Your Tracks

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Achieving success in business often boils down to being able to beat the competition. No matter what kind of company you run, you’re always going to encounter rivals who want to poach your existing customers and entice new clients. If you’re eager to be the best in the business, here are some golden rules to follow.

Make sure you have a USP

As a business owner, you’re always going to be competing for trade. There are no industries out there where it’s possible to launch a venture and dominate the market straight away. You have to work hard to attract clients and be able to persuade them that you’re different to every other firm out there. Whether you’re selling a product or you offer services, it’s essential to have a USP. What is that makes you stand out in a crowd? What can you offer that your competitors can’t? Why should potential customers choose you? Perhaps your product works in a different way, or maybe you offer a personalized service that others don’t, for example. Once you’re confident about your USP, up-sell it at every available opportunity. You want people to form a positive association between your USP and your brand.

Move with the times

Business is an ever-evolving field, and to compete, you have to be able to move with the times. Perhaps you have a consulting business, and you need to be familiar with the latest business software, or you own a construction company, and you could invest in more sophisticated equipment such as a trailer with increased belly dump capacity. Maybe you’re the CEO of a clothing chain, and you haven’t yet developed a mobile-friendly site or an app, or perhaps you own a restaurant that doesn’t accept mobile payments or online bookings yet. There are always ways of modernizing the way you work to reduce costs and improve the customer experience. Be prepared to invest in technology and machinery and respond to emerging consumer trends.

Put your customers first

Even if you think you’ve got the most magnificent business idea out there, you’re not going to make it a success if you can’t put your customers first. A customer in a store may love the products, but they might not visit again if the service is poor. An online shopper may want to buy products from you, but if the experience is frustrating or the fees are too high, they may look elsewhere. You have to focus on giving customers what they want, and you can do this by analyzing trends, asking for feedback and providing opportunities to engage with customers and ask them questions. How do shoppers want to be contacted about special offers? What kind of charge do they feel is reasonable for delivery? How do they feel you could improve the service you provide?

If you’re an entrepreneur, you probably dream of running a company that dominates the market. You want people to be aware of your brand and to sing its praises. It’s not easy to beat the competition, but if you can’t do this, you’re not going to reach the top of that tree. Be original, showcase your USP and be prepared to adjust and modify your business plan to stay relevant. Put your customers first, listen to them, and focus on providing the best experience possible.