You’re limited by location when you have a store, office, or shop-type business.
In most cases, only the people living within a touching distance of where you are will likely know about you. Of course, this wouldn’t be a problem if you’re the only one doing what you do. In which case, prospects won’t have a choice but to buy from you. However, when there are competitors, things take a different turn.
Do you find yourself in a competitive brick-and-mortar store environment? Is your brand sinking in a pool of competition?
Below are tactics to help you stand out from the crowd.
7 ways to make your brick and mortar store business stand out
1. Let everything about your brand speak ‘uniqueness’
As a brick-and-mortar store business operating in a competitive environment, your biggest weapon is your uniqueness. In everything your brand does, you have to do it differently from how your competitors are doing theirs.
From product quality to product packaging, branding to advertisements, delivery to customer service, and everything else in between, you have to ensure your business does things differently from the competition.
For example, if others use transparent packaging nylon bags, you have to switch things up and embrace concealed packaging bags instead. If others use third-party delivery companies, you have to buy your own mini truck and customize it in your brand signature to do deliveries.
You can find excellent mini trucks for delivery purposes on sites like Substarinc.com for as low as $5k or less.
2. Put your business on the digital landscape
That you’re operating a land-based business doesn’t mean you cannot take advantage of the internet. It even makes more sense to put yourself on the internet if your competition isn’t there yet.
As you probably know by now, the internet is where most people spend a chunk of their time. By leveraging internet ads, social media ads, website SEO tactics, and local SEO, you can put your business in front of local audiences before your competitors do.
3. Take local listing seriously
The beauty of running a land-based business is the opportunity of appearing in local listings. The most important listing platforms include Google My Business, Yelp, Yahoo, and Bing Business. Each of these tools helps put your business directly in front of local audiences.
Besides these listing platforms, local businesses can also take advantage of magazine appearances, radio jingles, and TV adverts.
Imagine hearing about a dental business on your favorite local TV show; how would you perceive such a brand? Most likely, you’ll rate them higher than other dentist services around you.
4. Cross-promote your brand
Cross-promotion involves two brands teaming up for the purpose of sending prospective customers each other’s way.
When you run a brick-and-mortar store business, you have a lot of opportunities for cross-promoting your brand with other local businesses around. For example, if you’re a construction business, you can team up with local realtors, mortgage companies, insurance houses, or financial firms. As you’ll agree, people who patronize these types of businesses are likely going to be interested in construction services at some point.
Of course, you will have to come up with an enticing partnership deal to make a company want to cross-promote with you.
5. Do what your competitors aren’t doing
Do your competitors close shop on holidays? Don’t be like them; make yourself available even during the holidays.
Do your competitors close for the day around 5 PM? Stay up for longer – maybe till around 6 PM.
Do your competitors sell at a certain price? Slash the price and offer things for less.
Do your competitors wait until the holidays before offering special deals and discounts? Make promotional offers rain on your end every day like it is Christmas.
By and large, identify those things your competitors aren’t doing, and start doing them.
6. Become the town’s choice
Another way to make your brick-and-mortar store business stand out from the crowd is by participating in local events. Be it fundraising, volunteering, nonprofit activities, community development projects, and what have you.
In short, anything at all that will make the local community speak of you in higher regard than your competitors.
7. Be aggressive with referral marketing
Land-based businesses cannot afford to joke with word-of-mouth marketing. It’s the fastest way to get customers in the form of friends and family.
To encourage word-of-mouth marketing, you may need to launch a customer reward program. This will serve to reward customers that refer your business to others.
