At the risk of sounding like I’m a little full of myself, I’m going to toot my own horn… but only to make a point.
We had an inquiry from a good-size research firm in the U.K. recently, which was sort of unusual… since I don’t really do anything to try to build business there. So I was a little flattered.
During the introductory portion of the call (gotta love Skype!), my contact said that he reached out to me, “because you’re the most recognized name in marketing & sales in our industry in the UK.” Are you kidding me?! How did that happen?!
Once I came back down to earth, we continued our conversation. But it got me to thinking… how DID he come to make that comment? How did Harpeth Marketing come to be recognized like that… especially in less than a year?
Here’s how I think we got there:
- We picked our target market – the market research industry. No equivocation… no exceptions.
- We have clarity of focus with what we do… we offer a small, focused set of services.
- We ‘prove’ our expertise by sharing our knowledge… in fact, we give it away.
- We’re persistent with our content… we tweet daily, blog weekly, write articles monthly and get the eBooks out quarterly.
- We’re consistent with our marketing (promoting the content – not selling)… email, social media, advertising, industry partners (publications and associations), etc.
It’s a pretty solid and fairly simple recipe for effectively positioning our firm. And evidently, it translates across the big pond!
Now think about your firm…
- Do you have a solid position in the marketplace?
- Do you know what it is?
- Are you clear on what you sell and who you sell to?
- How do you reinforce your position?
- How do you promote it?
- It is consistent in everything you do?
It’s not always easy, but staking out a unique, identifiable and sustainable position – and sticking to it – is a compelling and proven way to build a competitive advantage in the marketplace.