Small Businesses in Competition Against Big Corporations
Small businesses entering an industry that has giants are quite similar to people moving into a new city and looking for a new place to live, or finding a new job in the process. Simply put, it’s stressful and daunting.
However, small businesses looking for their niche have a lot of long-term benefits when they take the time to find their niche. Additionally, there are plenty of marketing strategies that small businesses can employ when entering an industry that already has big-brand names in it, and finds a lot of success along the way.
Narrow the Niche
When choosing a particular market, small businesses have to narrow down their niche as much as possible, and after that, expand when they start growing. These businesses have to concentrate on the basic consumers to get some quick sales and grow their revenue.
A great example of this is the beginnings of Red Bull, when the co-founder didn’t have a specific market for his drink yet, before deciding on marketing specifically to students, through events, social media challenges, and many other marketing campaigns. This way, Red Bull managed to build a following, increase its growth, and skyrocket its sales, while building a specific brand in this market niche.
Choose an Angle
Businesses enter a specific market because they provide a solution for an issue that consumers have. However, to succeed in this endeavor, these businesses need to have a competitive angle and do their best to market that angle. Because getting customers is best done with good storytelling. Having a good angle, which is the story, is a great way to show customers why a particular business is better than its competitors.
An example of this is how IKEA always showcases the ability to provide consumers with great furniture at affordable prices. This angle is always reflected in all of the marketing campaigns.
Customer Service
The great thing about small businesses is that they can directly interact with their customers, without the customers having to communicate with customer service employees. This way, businesses can create a space where they deliver great experiences and exceed their customers’ expectations.
The advantage of small businesses to respond to any inquiries or emails, solve customer complaints and send them handwritten “thank you” notes means that these customers are going to have a great time interacting with the business, which ultimately leads to marketing the business through word of mouth, that leads to even more customers for the business, as well as positive reviews and attention on social media platforms.
This is why small businesses need to focus on great customer service and build strong relationships with their customers, instead of looking for ways to combat the big competitors and get more customers redirected from the big brands to the smaller ones.
