WRITTEN BY LOUISE SANSOM

“Comparison is the thief of joy,” as the saying goes, and it can be painful to see your competitors striding ahead in areas where you know your business could be better.

While in general we’d encourage focusing on your strengths, it is worth noting that paying attention to the competition can also be a valuable tool for identifying areas for improvement, or, as we like to think of them, ‘opportunities for growth’. By understanding your weaknesses, you can develop strategies to address them and gain a competitive edge over the market.

Pain point: Competitors having a stronger market presence or valuable skill

Solution: Identify areas for improvement and gain competitive advantage

How to gain a competitive edge by improving your weaknesses:

Asses the competition

Who are your main competitors? What are they doing well? What could they be doing better? Conduct analysis to study their products, get familiar with their campaigns, see where they’re excelling and where they’re falling short. Look for the areas where you can level up, and gaps in the market you can fill.

Identify areas for improvement

Create a space for honest customer feedback. No one knows your product better than your existing users, and no one will be more familiar with its pain points and shortcomings. This feedback is your direct line to revealing your opportunities for growth.

Strengthen your unique selling point (USP) 

Avoid engineering your product to be more similar to your competitors’ – theirs already exists! Celebrate your differences, while looking for the areas that are open for innovation and improvement. Offer the features and products that they’ve missed, or simplify the areas that are over-complicated.

Analyse your metrics

Crunch the numbers to reveal areas that could be performing better. Which of your campaigns haven’t quite hit the mark? What does your sales data and website traffic reveal? Look at refining audience targeting, messaging and broadcasting channels. Try new tactics and approaches, then analyse the metrics again.

Stay up-to-date on trends

Be aware of the up-and-coming trends in your industry. Monitor areas of growth and look out for organic ways to keep your business moving in-line with changing customer wants and needs.

Evaluate the customer journey

Take some time to walk through the entire customer journey of your product. From discovery to sign-up, onboarding, product use, engagement, and retention; identify any points of friction, and see what can be streamlined.

Continually evaluating your business and identifying areas for improvement is essential for success. By improving your weaknesses, you can gain a competitive edge, attract new customers, increase customer loyalty, and increase your profits.

Need an objective eye to help uncover your business’s opportunities for growth? Or want to workshop some creative solutions? Book a short discovery call with our team and let’s see what we find. hello@fabcomm.co.uk