4 ways to help your small business stand out from the big competition
The big brands absolutely have a leg up on the little guys. They have far larger pockets for product development, customer service, and, of course, marketing. It’s enough to make small businesses feel like they don’t even have a chance — but that’s the furthest thing from the truth. People are increasingly looking elsewhere for brands that can help them achieve their wants and desires. There’s a market for small businesses at every price point, and you can indeed compete with the big names by using these top four methods to help you stand out:
1. Send handwritten notes
Handwritten notes are so rare today that they’re automatically a treat, even if they come from a business. In fact, they’re so rare and bring such delight that handwritten notes typically have a 99% open rate. Adding a little handwritten note can really help humanize your business and make it feel authentic and engaging. In fact, it’s a must for small businesses.
As you grow, however, you’ll start to run out of time to add those hyper-personalized notes yourself. That’s okay. You can send thank you cards for business automatically. You can create the note or have your personalisation tools create it for you. All you need to then do is send that note to a robot that writes it all out with a pen.
2. Host or attend events
Small businesses have a limited footprint. What this means is that you either have an entirely digital presence or a single physical store. You can always extend your reach online, yes, but that doesn’t help you nearly as much as getting in front of someone and winning them over with your business and your customer service.
That’s why, regardless of whether you’re an eCommerce brand or a brick-and-mortar store, you’ll want to attend or host events. Host events at your store to celebrate new product lines, your business’s birthday, and so on. These events bring people in the door and get news media talking about you. If this isn’t in the cards, then try at least to bring your business out into the world at markets. It’s hard to trust a digital brand selling anything because you can’t see, touch, or try the product in question. Selling at a market can help boost the proof of concept, increase sales, and spread the word.
3. Give back
You’re a small business, which means you’re in a unique opportunity to really help and boost your local community. You can organise volunteer days with your employees, sponsor good causes, and so much more. Being out there in your community is how you can really garner goodwill and make yourself into a local household name. People respond to these types of efforts, and, as a bonus, what you do to give back can actually boost the local economy.
4. Be authentic
You can really showcase how authentic and real your brand is by bringing people behind the scenes. Let them know who you and your team are, what working behind the scenes is like, and what you’re doing to actively respond to customers’ ideas, complaints, and even needs. You have a unique opportunity to manage relationships on a personal scale that your big-name competitors could never do, so take advantage of it!
