Differentiation strategy is not just an array of plans but a difference between the success and failure of your business. It’s not a concept just limited to your product or services. In fact, brands differentiate themselves at every point where customers interact with them such as at the point of purchase, when they no longer need your product, and at the time to dispose of it.
Let’s get into the details of how you can use differentiation as an effective competitive strategy for your business to grow exponentially.
As a small business, you need to identify your market segment precisely, because you can’t be all things to all audiences. If you don’t narrow down your niche market, it will affect your brand message which will be highly diluted and unable to resonate with anyone. With a niche strategy, it becomes easy to build a unique authority that will assist you in attracting a distinct set of customers.
To create a strong separation from your competitors, you can use factors like convenience, speed, education & training, to eliminate risk, quality, and pricing. For instance, people are more aware of saving time rather than money, as convenience stores charge more as compared to regular retail stores.
You need to carefully choose your pricing because a lower price is just like a race to the bottom, it will shrink your profits a lot. Rather, you can focus on the value proposition to convince your customers about the price of your products.
At this stage, you create a suitable business model by incorporating your strategic positioning and market domination. You can take the example of Domino’s Pizza, back in the 1960s they were just a small local business with the simple idea, of delivering a pizza in a lesser amount of time. They choose college students as strategic positioning and speed as the primary market-dominating tool.
When you develop a competitive advantage, it helps you to secure a position in the top players of a specific niche. You become the favorable choice of customers as they come to market to buy the same product because they value the difference that your brand is delivering. It will also affect customer loyalty towards your brand.
Communication is the most significant feature to deliver your brand message. Brands use various means such as advertisements, organizing special events, and packaging boxes for the purpose. When it comes to custom packaging boxes, you can print your brand logo, product description, and brand message in a clearer way.
You need to uncover all opportunities that arise during the consumption chain to position your products or services in ways that your competitors never think of them. It will help you to create a point of difference that will distinguish you from your competitors. For instance, Dominos uses the idea of providing pizza to local college students in a lesser amount of time so the speed becomes a powerful point of difference for the brand.