Marketing fundamentals for a small business is no different than a fortune 500 company

One of the most critical parts of any marketing plan is to determine your company’s competitive advantage.   Many small business owners simply take the approach of running an ad in the newspaper, radio, or television that merely tells of an upcoming sale or what they have to offer.   This is one of the main reasons that most marketing campaigns simply are a waste of your money with very little results.

If you are going to advertise you really need to know where you stand in relation to your competitors.   If one of your competitors is selling cars much cheaper than you are, you are not going to be very successful advertising that you are the cheapest in town!    Your customers will discover that you are not the cheapest and will probably become more loyal to your competition.

On the other hand, if your competitor sells the same product (cars) cheaper, but makes people “special order” to get the car they want, you now have a competitive advantage.    Your dealership has a much larger selection and you carry the various colors that someone can actually drive one home that day without having to wait a week to get the car in.   Your people are much better trained and are much more professional than the other guy.

So the real question is, “Why would you advertise price when your competitive advantages revolve around the knowledgeable staff and your wide variety of inventory?”

The business should be advertising their strengths in relation to their competitor.    Consumers are not dumb.   In fact, consumers are now using much more information to make purchasing decisions than ever before.   They may know more about the car that they want than the salesperson!

Another reason to advertise what you are good at is that consumers today are making reviews on everything.   For example, if your dealership advertises that they are the lowest price anywhere but your competitor is always $50/month cheaper on the same vehicles, you are probably going to have some reviews that state customers’ dissatisfaction with your promise to them.    On the other hand, if you advertise that you have the most professional, knowledgeable helpers with the best selection of vehicles (and it’s true), you will probably receive some good reviews from satisfied customers.

With the explosion of Facebook, more and more people are making comments on everything.    You simply must know where you stand in the marketplace and advertise your strengths.   If you advertise your competitive advantage, you may actually start getting some help from all the Facebook users who will be telling their friends how happy they are!

So to summarize – do some digging.   Ask some people what comes to mind when they think of your business.   Ask some current customers and also ask your employees.   You may be surprised what you find out.   Once you find your competitive advantage, make sure you key your advertising/marketing message around it – you will certainly be more successful!

If you want a free guide to help you with this process, simply click here.