Competitive advantage ultimately comes down to two questions. How are you different? And does anyone care? In order to stand out from our competitors we need to be different, we don’t necessarily need to be dramatically different, but different enough to cause a potential customer to pick you over your competitor.
If your difference is not relevant enough to your potential customer, then it will not have an effect. If you sell blue widgets which are used on an internal structure which is not seen, and everyone else sells green widgets, your difference will have no effect on the marketplace. If you sell blue widgets which are ideal for a blue structure and everyone else sells green widgets, your difference is relevant. At this point you have a competitive advantage.
The strength of your business model is often on how durable your competitive advantage is. How long will it take your rivals to catch up with you? How long before other widget makers work out how to make blue widgets as well?
These questions are an essential part of understanding your competitive advantage. Telling your customers about your competitive advantage is successful and strategic marketing. Often companies outperform their rivals in certain areas but fail to point this out to their potential customers. Good marketing will ensure that you both understand your competitive advantage, and give you the tools to tell your potential customers about it.
At Aardvark Marketing we can help you to understand your competitive advantage and work with you to turn that competitive advantage into a strategic marketing plan. We have worked with hundreds of different businesses across different industries and sectors. You can build a coherent marketing plan to keep you ahead of your competitors using our marketing manager package.
Click on the image below to watch the video and learn more about competitive advantage.
