How to Differentiate Your Brand From its Competitors
Thursday 22nd August
by Beth Perrin
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Brand differentiation is an essential part of marketing. Without it, your business is unlikely to stand out from the crowd - and customers won’t have a reason to choose it over your competitors. In fact, 46% of consumers say they can’t tell the difference between most brand experiences, meaning it’s never been more important to establish a memorable presence for your company. The good news is that there are plenty of ways to differentiate your brand from others in your industry, whether that’s directly via your products and services, or in the ways you choose to represent yourself online and interact with your customers. Keep reading to discover how you can ensure people pick your brand instead of its competitors.
Identify & Celebrate Your USP
First and foremost, your brand needs to have a unique selling point, also known as a unique selling proposition (USP), if you want to set it apart from its competitors. Your USP is something you offer that other brands don’t - a distinctive characteristic or offering that can only be found in your business specifically. This is especially significant for brands in saturated markets where there are lots of different options available to consumers and it’s therefore harder to stand out.
Alternatively, you could branch out even further by creating an entirely new category of product or service that doesn’t yet exist, which will differentiate your brand by taking it out of a crowded market and placing it in its very own niche. The goal of category creation is to identify and fill a key gap in the market, then become known as the leader in that space. Our bespoke Human Insight service is a great example of this, as it’s currently the only sentiment analysis system available that is run by real people, not bots, giving our clients a much more accurate and reliable view of how they’re perceived by the public than traditional AI-based sentiment trackers.
Focus on Product Quality
Enhancing the quality of your products (or the product experience, for non-physical products like software) can also differentiate you from your competitors. This could include:
• Using premium materials and components
• Adding new features that give more value to your customers
• Using sustainable, eco-friendly or fully recyclable materials and manufacturing processes
• Offering a more comprehensive product range than others
• Providing better personalisation/customisation options
Simply put, if you want to differentiate your brand based on product quality, you need to show customers that your products are better than your competitors’. This increases your chances of becoming known for your high standards, which will ultimately help you build a reputation as a desirable brand.
Implement a Customer Loyalty Program
Offering a loyalty scheme that rewards repeat customers for their dedication to your brand is another great way to differentiate yourself from your competitors, as well as showing your biggest fans that you’re truly grateful for their custom. This could involve giving them a discount or freebie after a certain amount of purchases, or early access to new product collections. After implementing a loyalty program, the average order quantity of a business can rise by as much as 319%, and customers who become a member of it will spend 12-18% more each year!
Some satisfied customers may even go a step further and recommend your brand to their peers, which means they have become an advocate. Just like a loyalty program, you can also introduce advocacy incentives, such as a discount off their next purchase if they refer your brand to a specified number of people. Recommendations can also come in the form of reviews on platforms like Google and Tripadvisor, which is why it’s necessary to carry out regular Review Management to ensure you’re acknowledging all of your incoming customer feedback.
Use a Fun Tone of Voice
The tone of voice your brand uses in its marketing messages, social media content and customer responses can also help make it stand out from the rest. Over a third of consumers say that a distinct personality is what makes a brand distinguishable from others, with 40% of them agreeing that memorable content also contributes to brand differentiation - so if you’re currently using a generic language style that doesn’t feel truly representative of your brand and mission, it could be time to give your tone of voice an overhaul.
Language learning app Duolingo is well known online for its quirky, comedic and sometimes sarcastic tone of voice that rarely includes capital letters or punctuation and always stays on top of the latest social media trends and memes, in order to appeal to its largely Gen-Z and younger Millennial demographic.
fluent in yappanese
— Duolingo (@duolingo) August 1, 2024
In contrast, supermarket chain Waitrose uses a warm, calm and friendly tone in its social content to suit its target audience of middle-class, affluent shoppers, and to reflect the quality of its products and the down-to-earth nature of the brand.
This month’s issue of Waitrose Food is here! ☀️
— Waitrose & Partners (@waitrose) July 26, 2024
As we ready for the biggest sporting event of the year, August's issue is packed full of exciting French recipes and tips to help you inject a little joie de vivre into the everyday 📷
Read online now:https://t.co/OnKQph0NP4
Support a Charity or Cause
Did you know that as many as 80% of customers are willing to switch brands for a good cause? That’s right - people are more likely to choose your brand over its competitors if they know that a portion of your profits are going towards a charity or movement they care about. Supporting a charitable cause also helps you communicate your brand values and means people will come to know your brand for more than just its products or services.
Carry out some research to find organisations that are relevant to your business - such as a wildlife charity or animal shelter if you’re in the pet care industry, or a sustainable farming initiative if you’re in the food and drink sector - and reach out to see if they’re interested in starting a partnership. Once you’ve formed a collaboration, be sure to make your customers aware of it and let them know that their purchases will be directly supporting the cause in question.
Price Your Products Competitively
It goes without saying that price is very important to consumers, with 60% of online shoppers worldwide confirming that they look at the price of a product as their very first criterion affecting their buying decision. This is especially true considering the current cost of living crisis, wherein many people can no longer afford items they may have purchased regularly in the past, and might be looking to switch to cheaper brands.
The price you choose to set for your product or service will of course depend on factors such as manufacturing costs and the financial status of your target audience, but if you feel that you’re losing customers to competitors who are offering lower prices for the same quality, it could be a good idea to rethink your pricing strategy.
Sentiment analysis is a great way to find out how people feel about your current prices. Take a look at the topics and keywords that are commonly mentioned in negative comments about your brand - are customers saying that your products are too expensive, or that a competitor offers better value for money?
Create an Attention-Grabbing Visual Identity
The visual elements of your company, such as your logo, colour scheme, website appearance and product packaging can also aid your brand differentiation. PROPER, the maker of both Propercorn and Properchips, manages to stand out within the saturated snacks market thanks to its bright and colourful packaging with different shades for each product flavour, bold text style and eye-catching website layout. The brand’s social media feeds are also full of attention-grabbing imagery featuring vibrant backgrounds and fun product shots that make users want to stop scrolling and learn more.
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Provide Excellent Customer Service
When choosing which brand to buy from, great customer service can make all the difference. 43% of consumers say they’re more likely to buy something from a brand if it offers a positive customer experience and 83% agree that they feel more loyal to brands that respond to and resolve their complaints - so if your business is falling behind in this department, it’s likely that you’re losing customers to your competitors, who may be replying faster, giving more helpful responses, and solving issues more efficiently.
• Offer self-service options such as an FAQ section on your website
• Personalise every interaction
• Add a live chat widget to your website for speedy assistance
• Respond to customer reviews on platforms like Google and Trustpilot
• Build an interactions guide to ensure all of your team members are equipped to handle every type of enquiry
• Carry out regular social listening to make sure you don’t miss any untagged mentions of your brand on social media
• Outsource to an agency like 3sixfive if you don’t have enough time or resources to provide the standard of care your customers deserve!
Summary
In today’s highly competitive business landscape, it’s easy to see why a lack of brand differentiation can make you fall behind. Every day, customers are bombarded with multiple options for every product or service, whether that’s via social media and digital advertising or more traditional marketing methods like billboards and magazines, meaning businesses need to do more now than ever before to make themselves stand out.
If you’re concerned that your brand is fading into the background and failing to grab the attention of your desired audience, we hope you can begin to implement some of the strategies we’ve outlined today in order to transform your business into one that customers choose without question. Don’t forget you can get in touch with our expert team if you’d like to learn more about our services and how we can help!
