In markets where competition is rife or even saturated, there is always the issue of differentiating your business and exactly how to stand out from everyone else.

In this blog, I’ll be giving you a few handy tips on how to differentiate your business easily and cost effectively, leaving your brand top of mind in your target markets heads.

More and more these days, same sector businesses get harder and harder to differentiate. You’ll have a different brand and different people within your organisation, but the challenge is that your messages and offering to the market can often be the same. So how do you differentiate your business to knock out the competition or at least become bigger and better than them, when your offering is pretty much the same?

Here are my top 3 Marksman tips for differentiation:
1. No differentiation? Create one!
2. Make sure it’s unique only to your business and can't be copied
3. Make your differentiation as good as a superhero’s

In markets such as accountancy (for example), it is very difficult to distinguish a difference of services, so the answer for me is to create a new differentiator. I’ll give you an example.
If I was running Marksman Accountancy LTD and was up against Engineer Accountancy LTD and Tracker Accountancy LTD, I would need to think of a way for customers to identify a clear difference between us.
So in this case I would look at what the other two muppets are offering and then blow them out of the water by producing something

that is unique to my brand and can not be easily copied.
For example, Marksman Accountancy LTD could create a new accounting standards and ethical code that they apply to every client’s accounts which communicates honesty, integrity and transparency as part of a CSR commitment, resulting in a Marksman seal of approval. This seal, unique only to your business could then represent the high standards of the client’s business and becomes something highly sought after. This is then supported by a full digital marketing campaign (PR, Social Media, Eshots, Networking etc) to ensure that your target market hears about it, and in principle solidifies your position in the market.

If in doubt, consider superhero differentiation. If all the superheroes were in one town (Northampton for example), would everyone know who they are and what their skills/special powers are? Yes! Through strong branding and a clear communication of what that hero’s power is, when people need help, they know who to call.
For example, if the National Lift Tower was on fire, they would call for Superman, probably not Batman (Although to be honest, judging by local opinion, some people may just call their friends over, crack open a few beers and watch the 120m high candle illuminate the sky). If there was a gangland deal going down, you’d want Batman to rock up and say hello.
The point is that we know their differences because its so simple and remarkable.
Make your business the same! If you can’t think of one, we can!