Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Many of today's products and services are so similar to eachother that the only difference is in their marketing. Companies tryto woo new customers with jingles, special effects, gimmicks,freebies and sales. Although these marketing devices can help, aserious guerrilla knows there are other marketing weapons with farmore potency.
The most important of these are competitive advantages. If yourwidget doubles a company's profits, grows hair on bald heads orattracts lifelong partners, you don't have to use gimmicks, andjingles will just get in the way of clarity. Just the truth will dovery nicely, thank you.
Perhaps you have a plethora of competitive advantages. The onlyones that can be translated into instant profits for your companyare the marketable ones. A new kind of fabricating material, unlessit is a dramatic advancement with dazzling benefits, will probablyonly bore your prospects.
The idea is to identify your marketable competitive advantages,then concentrate heavily on those. If you don't have anymarketable competitive advantages, know that a savvy guerrilladiscovers them or creates them.
The most fertile area for creating a new competitive advantageis service. There are gobs of automobile detailers in my area. Allof them charge about the same price and do about the same job. Butwhy did I pick P&H Class Details to detail my car? Because theymake house calls.
I didn't have to waste one second of my precious timeattending to the details of detailing. Instead, I made a phonecall, and P&H took over from there. I was impressed by theircompetitive advantage--though they didn't even mention thatadvantage back when they started in business. Reason: Theydidn't offer it then. But they surveyed the competitive scene,then invented and advertised it. That's exactly what I'mrecommending you do.
See what your competitors are offering. Patronize them if youcan. Keep an eagle eye out for areas in which you can surpass them,especially in service. Perhaps you can offer faster delivery,on-site service, gift wrapping, more frequent follow-up,maintenance for a period of time, installation, a longer guarantee,training, shipping . . . the possibilities are virtuallyendless.
A customer questionnaire will turn up many nifty areas uponwhich you can concentrate. Ask why people patronize the businessesthey do. Ask what the ideal business would offer. Ask what theylike best about your company. Pay close attention to the answersbecause some might be pointing directly at the competitiveadvantages you could offer.
Does it cost much to offer a competitive advantage? Nope. Ittakes brainpower, time, energy and imagination, but it is not amatter of money. And that is precisely why guerrillas score so manybull's eyes--using the brute force of a brilliant competitiveedge to negate the need for a huge budget.
Maybe you already have a competitive advantage that is not yetmarketed as such. The important thing for you to do is to identifyor create your own competitive advantage, then let it propel you tovictory.
To find your competitive advantage, make a list of the benefitsyou offer. Of those benefits, many are being offered by yourcompetition as well. But which do you offer that they do not? Thoseare your edges. Which of those are most important to yourprospects? Once you have identified those competitive advantages,you've got a ticket to ride--all the way to the bank.
10 Steps To Boost Direct-Mail Profits
1. Decide exactly who your target audience is.
2. Determine what action you want the reader to take.
3. Create an outer envelope or other packaging to entice peopleto open it and study the contents.
4. Come up with an offer your prospects can't ignore.
5. Write a headline and a postscript that compel prospects toread the letter.
6. Explain the results your offer will deliver.
7. Make it irresistible to take action right now.
8. Don't forget to follow up--either by mail or phone.
9. Track your results, and adjust your strategy accordingly.
10. Consider bolstering your direct mail with e-mail, fax orFedEx.
Contact Source
Jay Conrad Levinson is author of the internationallyacclaimed Guerrilla Marketing series of books and co-founder ofGuerrilla Marketing International. For information on GuerrillaMarketing products and services, contact Guerrilla MarketingInternational, P.O. Box 1336, Mill Valley, CA 94942; call (800)748-6444; or e-mail GMIntl@aol.com.
