In very crowded markets, your company will get drowned out unless you consciously do something that makes you stand out. You need to do something that makes heads turns. Something that makes people pay attention to you.
There isn’t one set formula that every company should use to stand out. What follows are a series of attributes that stand-out companies tend to share. Implement these in your own company and add your own twist to them to make your business stand head and shoulders out of the crowd.
==> Be Genuine
Most companies try to be bigger or more official than they really are. Companies that are able to let that drop and actually share what’s genuinely going on are often able to garner a lot of trust and loyalty.
Be real about who you are and where your company is at.
==> Cultivate Win/Win
A lot of businesses treat their value propositions as win-lose. They make money, the customer loses money.
Great companies, on the other hand, view their relationship as a co-creative one with their customers. Their customers want solutions and you’re there to help provide that to them.
View your company as win-win and look to cultivate more win-win relationships with customers. Enroll customers in the product design process to help make sure you’re really solving their problems.
==> Do Unusual Promotions
Did you know that Otis, the man who invented the elevator safety mechanism, got his company launched by placing himself inside a giant elevator in public and hacking off two elevator cables with a hatchet?
Unusual promotions garner a lot of attention. Try to come up with shocking or unusual ways of promoting your business.
==> Write with Personality
Companies like Woot and Groupon launched with a successful business model – but they also had something else. They had fantastic writers that had real personality.
People love reading personality-filled bits of content online. If you can get people to write witty, funny or edgy content, there’s a very good chance you’ll stand out.
==> Pick a Niche and Be World-Class at It
Don’t try to be good at everything. Instead, try to be fantastic at just one or two things.
Pick a niche and become the best in that niche. Stand out in that niche, rather than in the broader market.
==> Choose a Corporate Culture
A corporate culture shines through each and every employee. It shines through your website, your copy and everything else about your company.
Consciously craft your corporate culture. Your company will have a culture; it’s your choice whether you consciously craft it or not. Do you want your company to be corporate and bureaucratic? Or fun and entrepreneurial?
These are some of the many ways you can stand out. Pick the ones that resonate with you and implement them in your company.