Competition has always been, and will always be, a part of marketing. Traditionally, businesses would compete with each other for ad space or air time. While the internet has taken away many of these time and space constraints, the competition is still not fading – but it is changing. In today’s online marketplace, companies have to compete for consumers’ time and attention; and against similar companies trying to earn the same thing.
When you look at all of the content online, from social media sites, to company sites, online games, news, and more, it becomes apparent that vying for that time and attention is becoming increasingly difficult. So how can brands outshine their competitors’ marketing online, along with all the other distractions the internet provides?
1. Identify your buyer personas and target them
Your buyer personas are your brand’s ideal customers. And before you can snag their attention, you need to narrow down who they are. The more narrowly you can define your audience, the better you’ll be able to create highly targeted marketing that appeals directly to them and attracts them to your brand.
Let’s say you’re running a primary care practice and you want to increase your number of new patients. You need to ask yourself who will be attracted to your practice, what their average age is, why they need your practice, and what things they will consider before deciding on a practice.
Researching and answering these types of questions will give you a clearer picture of your buyer personas so you can create highly targeted online marketing that beats out your competitor’s marketing. Many companies make the mistake of not clearly defining these personas. As a result, they wind up with so-so marketing. If your company takes this necessary step, you’ll already be well ahead of the competition.
2. Create relevant, helpful content
Once you’ve outlined your buyer personas, you can use the information you’ve gained to develop a content marketing strategy. This strategy will be the base of all the content you create, from blog posts, to videos and ebooks. Each piece of this content should answer a question, concern, or address an issue your buyer personas are highly interested in.
If it does, and you do it in a way that provides real value to your buyer personas, you’ll position your brand as an industry expert, as well as a brand that actually cares about its consumers. These two things are invaluable when it comes to competing against similar businesses.
Many companies mistakenly create content focused around the benefits and features of their products or services. At certain stages within the marketing process, this type of content is needed. But initially, potential prospects don’t care about features and benefits. They want valuable information that helps them solve their pressing concerns. By creating content that focuses on the consumer, rather than on your brand, you’ll be miles ahead of the competition in gaining consumers’ trust and attention.
3. Make sure your content is seen
Getting found online is such an important piece of the puzzle, yet so many businesses forget about it. They create all of this wonderful, helpful content but their buyer personas can’t find it. And that’s a big problem.
The internet is a big place. Among all of the other company websites, social media, etc, it’s easy for brands to get lost. The good news is you can put your website on the map by developing a strong web presence.
Being active on social media, along with practicing ethical SEO tactics will bolster your online presence and enable consumers to find your brand online much more easily. But you need to be sure you’re using the social media channels your buyer personas use most frequently.
If you put these three inbound marketing tactics in place, your competition won’t stand a chance. Want to learn more ways your brand can outshine the competition? Contact GreenHouse Agency today for a free inbound marketing assessment.
