When the market is crowded, and your products or services look a lot like those being sold by your competitors, how do you stand out? 

As a business owner, you have one key objective – to make a profit through selling your product(s) or service(s).  But unless you’ve invented that elusive cure for the common cold, or you’re offering seats on the first manned spaceship to Mars, it’s likely you will face competition.

How do you stand out?

If you want to stand out from your competitors and avoid getting caught in a never-ending price war, it’s essential to showcase what makes your products or services unique. When offerings are similar, customers will often choose based on price alone. But if you can offer something that your competitors can’t, you give customers a reason to choose you over others.

By highlighting your unique features and benefits, you can create a compelling case for why customers should choose your business. A few examples of good product pages that effectively highlight unique selling points can serve as a helpful guide for creating your own standout product pages. Remember, being unique in one way or another is key to success in a competitive market.

(Coming soon: Who are your competitors)

A barber is a barber is a barber – or is he?

Tom is a barber in a town with several barber shops.   Men wanting a haircut had quite a choice, and with every new barber shop that opened up, Tom’s business was diminishing.

He considered his options.  He knew that price cutting would only hurt him in the long run. He needed to think creatively. There was one positive thing; Tom knew his customers. He talked to them every day as he cut their hair, and knew their likes and dislikes, their interests and passions.

Tom was a big football fan.  He’d been a regional player back-in-the-day and he’d amassed an impressive collection of autographs, trophies, and footballs signed by famous players.  He decided to set up a display of his football memorabilia in his salon.  He added a TV, so he could broadcast live football matches every now and again. Then he freshened up his shop-front branding in line with his new ‘football focus’.

From the day he reopened as Soccer ‘n’ Scissors, he never looked back. People who shared his passion for football came to his barber shop to see his display, talk about football and enjoy watching matches with other clients. His salon caught the attention of passers-by, and existing clients talked about it with their friends. More and more clients came to get their hair cut and enjoy the football banter.

(Coming soon: Understand your customers)

USP: Your Unique Selling Proposition

Your USP is the reason why somebody will buy from you rather than your competition.  It can come from many things, for example:

• Something unique about the product(s) or service(s) you are selling
• Something about the way you sell, or the standard of service you offer
• Partnerships and alliances that provide a unique offering for your customers
• Something extra that you offer your customers, that nobody else can do
• A level of experience, expertise, qualification, skill or specialisation
• Something relating to quality, ease-of-use, availability, or speed of supply
• Something about the way you do business, your philosophy or corporate strategy

Be easy to remember – and easy to recommend

Having a USP makes it easy for your customers to see what makes you different. It makes it easy for them to remember you, and easy for them to recommend you too. Just like your logo or your strapline, it’s a vital part of your brand.

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Would you like to learn more about:

• The power of your brand
• What rebranding could do for you
• How to market your business
• How to find your way in social media

We can help.

How this blog works:

Creative Pixel Agency is a Design Agency based in Essex and London. We offer free and easy to read advice (no jargon) to new or existing companies, looking for help or information on how to handle your brand. For new companies it could be “This is my marketing budget, where to start?” and for existing companies “How can I get there?”.

Don’t hesitate to get in contact with us if you have any questions. We would love to help your business flourish.

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