Most businesses are like teenagers. They say they want to be different. They say that they want to be able to express themselves and want to stand out in from the crowd. If you have teenagers or have interacted with teenagers, most do the exact opposite. They dress alike, the follow the crowd when it comes to music and places to hang out. If you have ever dropped off or picked up a teenager at high
Image by Petra Bensted
school, you know what I mean. They all are wearing the same thing, sweat pants, sweatshirts and if they are female Ugg’s; males Timm’s
They are afraid to say or do anything that might make them different for fear they will be talked about. If someone is being bullied, they won’t speak out for fear that they to will be bullied or they won’t raise their hand in class for fear that someone might see them as smart.
As teenagers reach their 20’s and 30’s, they understand that being themselves, doing what makes them feel good about themselves helps them attract better people, get better jobs and ultimately helps them succeed in life.
Business owners always ask me what is the most important thing in marketing. I respond being able to tell a potential client what makes them different than the competition. This is also the thing that most businesses are the worst at.
This is where the comparisons to a teenager comes in. Business owners look at what their competition is doing for marketing and they mimic it. The idea here is that if it works for the competition, then it will work for them. It will make them popular. If my website looks like my competition, people will visit my site. Nothing could be further from the truth.
While working with a client, we were assessing what changes needed to be made to help them stand out and looking at their competition. The funny thing is, the website home pages for everyone in their industry all said the same things. They talked about their knowledge, the length of time in business and the products that they sold. We went to work on the content and when we focused on solving their client’s problems and not about how great they are, and within a few weeks of the change, they were actually generating leads, people were filling out requests for contact and actually picking up the phone and calling them!
It takes breaking away from the crowd, understanding what makes your business different from the crowd to make your marketing work. By truly showing a potential client how you solve their problem differently, you stand out in the crowd. Look at ways to make yourself truly different and your business will grow!
As always, if you need help trying to figure this out, we are here to help. Make this year be your best year ever!
