Your competitive advantage is what sets your business apart from your competitors.

It could be a unique product or service, high-quality customer service, background, expertise, or even your location.

Essentially, your competitive advantage is the reason why your customers keep buying from you and why a lot more are coming.

If you think you lack a competitive advantage or you are unable to identify it, check out these strategies that successful businesses swear by:

1. Start with a SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Through SWOT analysis, you look into the internal and external factors that affect your business.

This way, you can identify areas of your business that are performing well. Such areas are critical success factors that give your business its competitive advantage.

SWOT can have many uses for a business. If you’re specifically concerned about your competitive advantage. you should conduct a side-to-side SWOT comparison between your business and your main competitor.

First, focus on your strengths and compare them with that of your competitors. Your goal is to clarify your unique competitive advantage.

However, be careful with listing down your company’s and competitor’s strengths. Make sure you’re not making dangerous assumptions.

The best way to validate assumptions is to seek input from your target customers. This can be done through surveys or informal conversations with them.

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2. Focus on Reputation

In today’s digital world, a company’s reputation is constantly on the line and visible to anyone everywhere and at any time.

Because customers have great access to information, they can easily associate brands with good or bad things.

Needless to say, reputation management is more important now than ever. It’s your key to win customers over and grow your market.

Here’s an effective approach to maintaining a good business reputation:

Be Transparent.

Being publicly available and accountable is necessary for this highly transparent era of business. Openness makes your business vulnerable, but it also earns the trust and loyalty of your customers.

Be Consistent with the Image you Want to Project.

Engage members from different departments and ensure buy-in from them. Everyone needs to work with a single objective in mind.

Support a Cause.

Times are changing and businesses are getting more sensitive to what’s happening around them. Plus, customers appreciate brands that have a social responsibility.

Whether it’s reducing food waste, promoting sustainable living, or protecting public health, it’s good to have a good cause to be part of.

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3. Define Your Mission & Vision

Your mission statement defines the “why” of your business. If you fail to create a clear mission statement, your overall purpose as a brand can be easily misinterpreted by consumers. Simply put, they won’t know what to expect from you.

Your company vision, on the other hand, determines how your brand will move forward. It describes your business and how your consumers will see your brand in the future.

When trying to determine your vision and mission, it’s important to think of them as collective rather than separate things. This will help you create a consistent overall message.

4. Fulfill Your Customers’ Satisfaction With Clear Messaging

Effective business communication is crucial if you want to succeed and outlast your competitors. You need to have the right messaging for your clients all the time.

Unfortunately, it’s easier said than done. Thankfully, strategies and concepts, such as building a StoryBrand Framework, help you create a clear, concise, and consistent message for your audience.

The StoryBrand Framework is made up of seven core principles that help you clarify your message.

Using this framework, you can:

  • Define what your customers want.
  • Identify customer problems. You need to be able to communicate with your customers to understand what they need.
  • Be the solution to their problem. Focus your messaging on solving your customers’ problems.
  • Create a plan on how you can resolve those problems.
  • Make a powerful call to action.
  • Explain to your customers what happens if their problem isn’t addressed.
  • Envision customer’s success with your help.

By focusing on your customers and understanding what they want and need, you can determine and achieve your competitive advantage.

Final Words

To succeed in business, you’ve got to know your competitive advantage. With the help of these strategies, you can determine what sets you apart from the rest and be able to offer more value to your customers.

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