Every day, new small and medium enterprises (SMEs) spring up to satisfy consumer’s needs and demands. In a saturated market, there is a need for competition with new businesses being pioneered. And some of these SMEs either offer or sell the same services and products. The real problem isn’t sameness but the need to be different and stand out as a Nigerian Brand.
To be ahead of the competition, especially in the area of innovation, brands need to implement strategies that can help them stand out in a crowded market. As a Nigerian brand, the key to standing out isn’t imitating your competition but finding one of the best ways to stand out so as to gain brand recognition. Even if the market is saturated, there is always room for a unique business model in a competitive market.
You can’t sell sameness and expect to have customers. As a Nigerian brand in a saturated market your best bet is to tweak your product strategy and differentiation to keep your customers coming.
Here are some of ways you can stand out as a Nigerian Brand:
How to stand out as a Nigerian Brand
1. Unique Selling Point
As a Nigerian brand doing the same thing that nine of ten businesses do, it’s important for you to be creative and figure out the unique selling point of your brand. One of the biggest mistakes SMEs make is copying their competition instead of mapping a selling point while promoting their business. Finding a unique selling point needs a little bit of thinking outside of the box. For example, fintech startups sell the idea of a free transaction fee to their customers unlike traditional banks, it’s a unique selling point which helps them stand out from the normal banking system that requires you to pay a fee for every transfer. A unique selling point sets you apart from your competitors; the problem that your business has to tackle the solution in a way that it’s so much better than your competitors’.
2. Focus on Customer Feedback
It is critical you listen to what your customers are saying as a Nigerian brand. Becoming more interested in customer feedback would help you better improve your service or product. Focus on what your customers are mostly complaining about, not just good reviews about your product and services. Invest in social listening and have your social media team track your brand’s mentions on all your social media platforms. The more effort you make to ensure customer satisfaction, the more you will stand from the competition. Use customer feedback to fix the issues regarding your brand and improve your product.
3. Add Value
Another strategy to stand out in a saturated market and from other businesses is to add value for your customers. You can offer incentives and value-added services which are not part of your original service. These incentives or value-added services can be rewards, frequent buyer programs or home services. Not only does adding extra value attract more customers for you, it strengthens customer retention, which leads to long term growth of your business. If customers perceive more value in the product or service you are offering than your competitors’, they are more likely to purchase from you because you are standing out.
4. Create a Memorable Slogan and Tagline
Create a slogan or tagline that simplifies the essence of your brand. A slogan or tagline is a phrase that speaks your brand identity and personality, and when it’s memorable you get to stand out from other businesses. For example, Nike’s slogan is “Just Do it”, and although these three words have nothing to do with shoes, it’s memorable and conveys the essence of the brand. It motivates and stands Nike out from other shoe brands. When you create a slogan for your business, make sure it conveys positivity, it differentiates your brand from the other brands, explains a key benefit and it’s unforgettable.
5. Your Brand Should Have a Personality
It’s important to determine the personality of your brand. A brand with a personality easily connects with customers and could be what stands you out from other brands. Are you a fun or serious brand? Or accessible or exclusive? Any personality you decide for your brand should be authentic and speak to the target customer. While having a brand personality will help you engage in a true conversation with prospective leads and existing customers, you get to stand out.
6. Offer Excellent Customer Service / Experience
Remember your customers are kings, so treat them like royalty. Your customers always have a high expectation of great service. In this age of social media, when you make customers wait so long or receive poor responses from your customer service representatives, your brand reputation will be at risk and you can hardly stand out. Around 75% of customers state they consider customer service a true test of a company’s competence. As a Nigerian brand, the one thing that can surely set you apart from your competition is how you treat your customers. If a customer has had a bad experience that remains unresolved with your brand, it might be a threat to your brand especially as it can reduce the number of referrals your brand can get or chances of standing out boldly.
7. Build an Online Reputation
Another way to stand out as a Nigerian brand is to stand out is to build an online presence. You need to project your brand reputation online. Apart from delivering information about your brand’s new product, event or to keep your followers updated about your brand’s progress, it’s a great way to stand out by creating exceptional content that blends with the brand and customers can relate to. In this era of digital media, staying off online is the biggest mistake a Nigerian brand can make. Remember out of sight is out of mind.
8. Make Buying Process Seamless
Simplify the buying process and eliminate third parties. By doing this, you reduce time wastage and avoid abandoned carts. Not only that, as a smart strategy, when your business offers easy payment methods like mobile apps, or even a Paystack integration which will ease the customer’s shopping experience and it will ultimately make your brand stand out because of the ease of shopping with your brand.
9. Diversify Your Products /Services
If you are competing in a saturated market, you would have to be fierce. And sometimes standing out requires you to diversify your product or service to capture every part of the market. Find pivots that are closely related to your brand and amplify on them. Always reinvent and adopt new technologies, products and solutions.
10. Offer a Guarantee
Offering a guarantee for your products can boost the confidence of your customers in your products. Adding this extra assurance to your brand messaging shows your customers and prospects that you really care about their satisfaction and can make you stand out.
Conclusion
Standing out from a crowd of other businesses is no easy task but is worth it in the long run. Highlight what makes you different, look out for customers’ needs and demands, find solutions and package them to serve your customers. And overall to gain competitive advantage, ensure that your brand offers high value with its products and services.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I really appreciate your efforts
and I will be waiting for your next write ups thanks
once again.