Owning a small business and wanting to match up to the big brands? It might sound difficult, but it is not impossible. With some effort and determination, even small businesses can carve out a competitive edge.
Undoubtedly, large businesses can attract a better workforce and have enough finance and infrastructure at their disposal. But, on the other hand, small businesses have their own strengths, like having a quick turnaround for product innovation and decision making. Small businesses might have fewer employees and limited resources, but they are quicker in terms of innovation, adapting to the latest trends, and changing with consumer demands. On the contrary, for large enterprises, it's harder and time-consuming to make decisions like integrating a new technology or introducing a different product line. A lot of approvals and other voices need to be considered.
Wait, this article is not about pros and cons of small businesses and big brands. Although small businesses have so many advantages, every small business owner still aims to expand, grow, and take their business to the new heights and match up to the big brands.
Well, there are several ways that, if followed, can help small businesses to match up to the big brands. Let’s have a look at those ways when blended together can make a winning strategy for small businesses aiming to compete with big brands.
Businesses that are early adopters of the latest technologies like AI & machine learning, blockchain, IoT, AR/VR, etc., helps them to gain a competitive advantage over other businesses.
But, how?
Integrating the latest technologies leads to flawlessness and improves productivity and effectiveness within operations and productions. It helps you build faster, smarter, and automated solutions that can enable you to save time, reduce costs, and streamline workflows, which ultimately leads to improved revenue generation and profitability.
For example, if you are looking forward to getting a mobile app built for your business, look for the best mobile app development companies that are early adopters of the latest technologies so that your small business is perceived to be innovative, forward-thinking, and ahead of the curve.
A company is made up of people. So, being a small business, if you want to grow and compete with the big brands, your employees should be your strength and not your weakness. Hiring qualified and hardworking people is significant to the success of any size of business, whether small, medium, or large, as this aspect directly impacts the quality and performance of products and services, organizational culture, reputation, and long-term sustainability.
In this internet age, the right way to reach out to target audiences is through search engines and social media platforms. If you are not prioritizing on digital marketing, then you might be missing out on many sales opportunities as most of the people now search for products and services online.
Make sure that you consult the right digital marketing agency for SEO and social media optimization services, as it can help you market your products and services online and help you gain competitive advantage over big brands.
Trying to beat the big brands in your industry? You can win only if you have something different to offer. Consumers these days can pay you more if you have something unique to sell. Offering the same products or services as your competitors, even if your price is lower, cannot make a big difference. On the contrary, offering unique products and services at a higher price can bring you more business.
Rod Sides (leader of retail and distribution practice at Deloitte) said that “Uniqueness is what everybody is chasing.”
Whether it is about products, services, or experiences, if you focus on delivering something unique, your business is definitely going to be successful in terms of revenue generation, reputation, and global expansion.
Ensuring flawless customer service is significant to keep your customers happy and delighted. Whether it requires to hiring more customer service agents or integrating advanced CRM software in your processes, you need to make sure that every customer of yours has a great experience while dealing with your business.
Flawless customer service directly impacts the reputation that your business generates over time and can help you match up to the big brands.
When it comes to dealing with startups or small businesses, consumers are likely to have low trust levels until and unless they have tried and tested. In that case, it becomes important for businesses to pay attention to their online reputation.
If you are a startup or small business owner, you need to make sure that you collect customer reviews and feedback and display them on your website, search engines, and social media platforms. This can help you build trust for your business in the minds of your customers leading to better sales and revenue generation.
Whether you are providing products or services, you need to make sure that your business website and mobile application are delivering required information to your customers enabling them to deal with your company seamlessly.
Besides that, make sure that your digital platforms are doorways to your customers and therefore, should be aesthetically appealing to attract your customers, and easily navigable to keep them engaged with your business for a long time. User-friendly business websites and applications are likely to help your business succeed in terms of loyal customers and consistent revenue growth.
Staying tuned to market trends is important for small businesses to know consumer preferences, emerging competitors, and new technologies, which help them to deliver up-to-date and quality products and services.
Moreover, being informed about economic shifts, industry disruptions, and regulatory changes enables small businesses to mitigate risks even before they arise, rather than implementing damage control measures.
So, whether it is about positive or negative transformations in the overall market, it is important for small businesses to keep a watch on its trends to keep themselves relevant and competitive to the big brands.
The customer base can change over the years, so it becomes significant to refine the target audience consistently. With changing consumer preferences, there are chances you need to narrow down or expand your target audience.
To run a recession-proof business, you must design your marketing strategies based on the size and nature of your target audience, regardless of how they change.
For example, chocolate companies that once targeted only children now also market their products to teenagers and elderly couples. This was possible due to thorough market research, which helped these companies raise their profit standards.
Rewarding your loyal customers would be the best strategy that you can follow to grow your business and keep up with the big brands. You might have noticed that big brands often offer heavy discounts to their loyal customers to keep them engaged with their business. You can also offer some discounts or freebies to your loyal customers to enable repetitive purchases. Also, you can start a loyalty program wherein the customers are given points for every purchase, and they can redeem those points on their next purchase.
Rewarding your loyal customers can not only increase sales but also enables you to gain high ratings and feedbacks which in turn can help you attract new customers leading to business growth.
Hence, the keys to match up to the big brands is embracing new technologies, trends, and marketing tactics. In this digital era, there is something new coming everyday and to be on toes becomes the only option for small businesses if they want to grow and compete with big brands.
Embracing new technologies, trends, and marketing tactics helps small businesses deliver high-quality products and services, build stronger customer relationships, and leave a long-lasting impact. Finally, the success of business these days is not measured by the number of people working there, or its huge infrastructure. Even a small business can reach new heights if it executes smart marketing strategies, adopts new technologies, stays consistent, and keeps on updating its processes and policies.