Make the case that customers should buy from you and no one else.
My curiosity has been piqued lately by Bing's "Scroogled" campaign. The premise is that if you're using the Google Shopping product, you're now seeing paid search results, and the advertisers who bid the most come out on top. Vendors who don't pay to participate aren't listed at all, even though they might have a better price or be a better match to your search query. Bing, however, doesn't use paid shopping results, giving you more options to find what you want at the price that works for you.
Bing is doing a great job of directly addressing the competition here. They've drawn attention to an important but oft-forgotten weakness of Google, and shown how their product has strength in this area.
Your Takeaway
As you strategize for 2013, think about your competition. You've researched them and you know more about them than anyone else. What do you wish your customers knew about them? Conversely, what do you wish your customers knew about you? What's the one thing that would bring them to your side every time?
Try some free-writing. Open up a blank document and just write all of this out. Now you have a basis for your next ad campaign.
Pro tip: If you're going to name names in your ads, make sure that what you're saying is factual. Otherwise, you may be subject to a lawsuit. Bing points to Google's own SEC filings and press announcements to back up its story.
Here's the latest "Scroogled" ad from Bing. Happy Holidays!
Does that free-writing exercise I suggested give you the shakes? Let me know, and we can work on it together.
Related Posts
Three Things You Can Do Right Now to Drive Sales
Is Buying from You Just too Difficult?
Showing posts with label competitive analysis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label competitive analysis. Show all posts
Building Your Brand
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| Brand. From Flickr user DentalBen. |
Your company name? Sure.
Your main product? OK.
Your visual identity - your logo and colors? All right.
That's a start.
But the strongest brands mean something. The strongest brands stand for something.
Now it's time for you to decide what your brand stands for.
Here's a simple exercise to get you started - ask yourself these questions:
1) What do you do? This is the core of your brand. Do you make clothes for children, sell organic produce, provide computer repair service, help people plan vacations?
2) How are you different than the competition? This is your value proposition. Are those children's clothes more affordable? Is the produce locally grown? Is the computer service guaranteed? Are the vacations more luxurious? These key differentiators help you articulate the value you offer to your customers.
3) What do you stand for? The very best brands are memorable because they stand for something larger - something bigger than a product or service. Do you believe that great children's clothes help kids stay more active and learn more? Do you believe that locally-grown organic produce is the key to our health and our economy? Do you believe that businesses are hurt by poor IT service? Or do you believe that travel can be a transformative experience that causes people to change the world?
Attempt to answer these questions, and you'll be closer to understanding how to strengthen your brand. These answers should be reflected in all of your communications - from your in-store merchandising to your catalogs, to your web site, PR, and social media.
You'll notice that I didn't say a word here about your logo, colors, or company name. While these things can make a difference to your business, the real difference is defining what stands behind them.
Need help articulating your brand? Drop me a line.
Setting Your Price Without Screwing Yourself
How much should you charge?
This is a hugely important question. How much you charge for your product or service affects everything - how much you profit, how much you're able to pay your employees and vendors, how much you can spend on supplies, marketing, and everything else.
So how do you decide?
First, it's time for some competitive analysis. Once you determine who your major competitors are, do a thorough check of all of their pricing. What do they charge online? Is it different if you call or go into a store?
What does their pricing really include? What should your pricing include?
photo © 2008 Paul Falardeau | more info (via: Wylio)
Some of your competitors probably charge a little more and include some extras. Some charge a little less and use a more a-la-carte plan. These extras should make for happier customers with more loyalty to your brand. This is what's behind L.L. Bean's recent decision to include free shipping on every order. Watch out, though - if you include too many extras, you can't stay in business.
By the same token, price yourself too cheap, and you just can't generate the cashflow to stay solvent (like former apparel retailer Steve and Barry's).
So now what?
Say you do decide to go the L.L. Bean route and include free shipping on every order. Can you really do this? If you're not sure, ask your financial analyst (or hire a financial analyst - it's worth it) to do a full rundown on how much including shipping in every order would really cost you. If you find you can't afford to include shipping on every order, are there certain orders where it's better to include free shipping?
Like maybe for first-time customers, or customers referred by other customers? Or your most loyal customers? Or customers who spend a certain amount? Or even customers ordering your clearance items?
You can do (or have someone do) a financial analysis on each of these scenarios, according to your current order pattern. Then, you'll see what each might cost you.
What about pricing on everything else?
Run the numbers. What can you afford to charge? You'll want to leave room in your regular pricing for a sale, should you need to discount items later to move them. If you're charging far more or far less than the average price, you should have a good idea as to why. Is your product better than others like it and that's why it costs more? Is it handmade? Made in the USA? Environmentally friendly?
When you charge less, customers want to know what that is too.
Oh yes they do. I promise. So why are you charging less? Do you negotiate the best prices from your suppliers? Use super-efficient manufacturing methods? Buy from a variety of vendors so you're always getting the best price? Concentrate on really low overhead?
Finally, always be willing to change.
If your current pricing strategy isn't working, change it. You might find you're not charging enough for some things and too much for others. Keep analyzing and testing until you get to where it works.
Does the thought of a pricing strategy give you the shakes? Let me know, I can help.
This is a hugely important question. How much you charge for your product or service affects everything - how much you profit, how much you're able to pay your employees and vendors, how much you can spend on supplies, marketing, and everything else.
So how do you decide?
First, it's time for some competitive analysis. Once you determine who your major competitors are, do a thorough check of all of their pricing. What do they charge online? Is it different if you call or go into a store?
What does their pricing really include? What should your pricing include?
photo © 2008 Paul Falardeau | more info (via: Wylio)Some of your competitors probably charge a little more and include some extras. Some charge a little less and use a more a-la-carte plan. These extras should make for happier customers with more loyalty to your brand. This is what's behind L.L. Bean's recent decision to include free shipping on every order. Watch out, though - if you include too many extras, you can't stay in business.
By the same token, price yourself too cheap, and you just can't generate the cashflow to stay solvent (like former apparel retailer Steve and Barry's).
So now what?
Say you do decide to go the L.L. Bean route and include free shipping on every order. Can you really do this? If you're not sure, ask your financial analyst (or hire a financial analyst - it's worth it) to do a full rundown on how much including shipping in every order would really cost you. If you find you can't afford to include shipping on every order, are there certain orders where it's better to include free shipping?
Like maybe for first-time customers, or customers referred by other customers? Or your most loyal customers? Or customers who spend a certain amount? Or even customers ordering your clearance items?
You can do (or have someone do) a financial analysis on each of these scenarios, according to your current order pattern. Then, you'll see what each might cost you.
What about pricing on everything else?
Run the numbers. What can you afford to charge? You'll want to leave room in your regular pricing for a sale, should you need to discount items later to move them. If you're charging far more or far less than the average price, you should have a good idea as to why. Is your product better than others like it and that's why it costs more? Is it handmade? Made in the USA? Environmentally friendly?
When you charge less, customers want to know what that is too.
Oh yes they do. I promise. So why are you charging less? Do you negotiate the best prices from your suppliers? Use super-efficient manufacturing methods? Buy from a variety of vendors so you're always getting the best price? Concentrate on really low overhead?
Finally, always be willing to change.
If your current pricing strategy isn't working, change it. You might find you're not charging enough for some things and too much for others. Keep analyzing and testing until you get to where it works.
Does the thought of a pricing strategy give you the shakes? Let me know, I can help.
Kicking Your Customer in the Pants
That's right - The customer always has a choice not to buy anything at all. To close their browser (or leave your store) without buying any shoes, pie, restaurant coupons, or concert tickets. To just leave empty-handed.
This is called customer inertia, and we all dread it.
1. Talk about your product in a way that's relevant. How is your product relevant to your customers' needs today? Don't make people figure this out, tell them!
4. Give the customer a compelling reason to act now - like a limited time special. Don't forget to ask them to opt in for an e-mail reminder so they are notified before the sale's over, and about future promotions. Also consider some kind of offer for people who don't complete their online purchases.
5. Retail store? Greet customers and ask them what they are looking for when they visit you. Then help them find it. Sometimes the customer only has a hazy idea of what they need (like an outfit for a job interview or something pretty for spring) and sometimes they know exactly what they need (a blue sweater, some black pants). Either way, find them what they need and you've got a loyal customer on your hands.
What are you doing to give your customers a kick in the pants? I'd love to hear it.
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| Store with things you need today. Rhodes, Greece Photo: L. Ibraheem |
Last week, in my post about competitive analysis, I mentioned that your biggest competition is the customer's choice not to buy anything at all. I received a few questions about this concept, so let's examine it:
How do you break customer inertia and get your customer to buy something right away? We can't literally kick your customer in the pants - that would be wrong (oh well). But here are a few things you can do to speed things up:
1. Talk about your product in a way that's relevant. How is your product relevant to your customers' needs today? Don't make people figure this out, tell them!
2. Make the decision easy. Simplify how customers find your product on your web site and in your store. Make buying easy - can you cut down the number of clicks? Provide an incentive like free shipping for a minimum purchase amount? Also make it easy to find customer reviews, industry reviews and coverage, and anything else your customer might need to decide now.
3. Make your content sharable. Can you customer send a link to a spouse or other person who might have input on the decision? Make this easy and fast.4. Give the customer a compelling reason to act now - like a limited time special. Don't forget to ask them to opt in for an e-mail reminder so they are notified before the sale's over, and about future promotions. Also consider some kind of offer for people who don't complete their online purchases.
5. Retail store? Greet customers and ask them what they are looking for when they visit you. Then help them find it. Sometimes the customer only has a hazy idea of what they need (like an outfit for a job interview or something pretty for spring) and sometimes they know exactly what they need (a blue sweater, some black pants). Either way, find them what they need and you've got a loyal customer on your hands.
What are you doing to give your customers a kick in the pants? I'd love to hear it.
How to Start Your Competitive Analysis
I promised you last week that I'd write a post about doing competitive analysis, so that we could answer three very important questions.
- Where are you in the competitive space?
- Who are the other players and what do they offer right now?
- How are they getting the word out?
- Don't forget that your customer always has the option not to buy whatever it is you're marketing. This is actually your first, and your largest competitor. You'll have to overcome your customer's resistance to spending money, eating dessert, going shoe-shopping, getting a manicure, etc., etc. Don't worry, I'll cover this in a future post.
- Next it's time to look at where people are buying products similar to yours, as well as products that are different than yours, but solve the same problem. For example, if you sell pies, don't just look to other piemakers. Check out cake bakeries, and any other place people might get dessert - ice cream shops, cupcake trucks, regular restaurants, and the grocery store.
- Look carefully at product offerings by the competitors you've identifed. What's different about your pie? How does it solve the problem of what to eat for dessert better than other pies? What other problems can be solved with pie? Are there better ingredients? Is it handmade? Is it a great value? Is it customizable? Is it more convenient? Also, why is pie a better choice for dessert than cake, ice cream, or anything else?
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