Whatever your business does or delivers, it can increasingly feel like you’re not alone – especially as local, national and international competition rises.

And, with everyone claiming to be ‘innovative’ and ‘customer-focused’ with their ‘end-to-end’ or ‘turnkey’ solutions, it can be increasingly hard to stand out!

From the buyer’s perspective, if everything sounds the same, it’s price or familiarity (rather than features or value) which often fuel their decisions.

Fortunately, achieving effective differentiation isn’t about being wildly different – it’s about effectively communicating value to the right people!

So, how do you differentiate your organisation so that it makes a difference to your bottom line?

As B2B marketing experts, we’ve taken a look at some of the most effective tactics…

1. Avoid competing on features alone

Features often appear to be the easiest way to promote what you do.

However, features often provide an inward-looking perspective; detailing the dry attributes of the product or service, rather than how it benefits customers.

Take software solutions. There are many CRM systems which share similar functionality. However, companies like Salesforce or HubSpot don’t compete purely on features. Instead, they focus their messaging on who they’re for and how they provide value to their business.

In B2B sectors, purchasing decision-makers rarely choose the product or service with the longest feature list. Instead, they select the option which is most relevant to their needs and presents the safest choice.

Successfully differentiating your product or service can be best achieved by focusing your messaging on the problem you seek to solve – and explaining how you do it better than your competitors!

2. Understand who (or what) you’re competing against

Within B2B marketing, competition is something which can be misunderstood or taken for granted.

If you provide something which is genuinely essential, then you may face steep competition. Buyers have to choose someone!

However, for many B2B products or services, there are a range of options which may also come into play:

• Do nothing
• Do it themselves/internally
• Put it off
• Break the need down into smaller products or services
• Make other things ‘work’

Differentiation is often assumed to be purely about differences between competing products and services. However, it can often be achieved by understanding the real decision the buyer is making.

If your customers are deciding between a course of action (not just between providers) you can successfully differentiate by better addressing the final outcome they desire.

3. Narrow your audience, don’t broaden it

This can be a particularly difficult tactic for B2B businesses to adopt!

Particularly if facing rising competition or falling sales, the temptation is to broaden your appeal to grab more of the entire market.

However, in terms of differentiation, trying to appeal to everyone can be the quickest way to sound generic and blend into the background!

It is therefore better to ensure the right people feel connected to what you deliver and strong positioning can come from focusing on a specific:

• Industry or sector
• Application of what you provide
• Pain point which customers urgently need to relieve

For example, “We help businesses grow” is broad, generic and can apply to almost any potential customer. “We help multi-location service companies reduce scheduling chaos” is more compelling and magnetic to those it addresses.

If your buyers feel seen and understood by what you deliver, you immediately reduce your competition!

4. Form an opinion about your marketplace

Again, this can be a slightly scary but valuable tactic for B2B businesses and brands.

Differentiation isn’t just about what you sell – it can also be about how you interpret the problem.

It’s often assumed that everyone who seeks out certain product or service sees the same pain point. However, successful differentiation can come simply by approaching a problem from a slightly different angle.

For example:

• “The old way isn’t working anymore”
• “Companies are solving this problem the wrong way”
• “Most tools miss this key issue”

By encouraging customers to rethink their approach, they can become more open to what you deliver.

It is not without risk. However, (going back to the earlier point about narrowing your audience) it may resonate much more powerfully with the audience you are best placed to serve!

5. Make customer experience your competitive advantage

Loyalty, longevity and repeat-business are the desired outcome of most B2B relationships.

Even within businesses, buying decision-makers remember how their purchases felt. So, particularly in a crowded market place, the buying experience can become a critical way to differentiate.

You can stand out through:

• Faster onboarding
• Clearer pricing
• Simpler implementation
• Better support
• Lower perceived risk

Despite the more ‘rational’ buying decisions of businesses, convenience still tends to differentiate a company more than capability.

Developing trust is at the heart of all successful B2B marketing. Two companies can offer the same solution – but the one that feels easier to trust usually get the business!

6. Back up your messaging with proof

As above, trust is everything is B2B sectors!

And perhaps the most powerful way to demonstrate trust is to show it through the relationships you’ve formed, maintained and grown with existing clients.

However, it’s evidence (rather than claims) which can actually help differentiate you from competitors. Instead of simply saying you’re better, you can create content which shows:

• Measurable results
• Before-and-after comparisons
• Customer stories
• Testimonials and case studies
• Real-life insights or data

Proof turns positioning into credibility – and it is credibility which helps close deals in a competitive sector!

How can you be different in a crowded market?

Though we all wish for less competition, crowded markets are actually good news as they prove that there is high demand for what you do.

And, in crowded markets, the companies that succeed aren’t always the best – but they are the most clearly differentiated and understood.

At Full Mix Marketing, we’re a full service B2B marketing agency, specialising in delivering the full mix of strategic, digital and creative marketing for companies and organisations who provide products or services business-to-business (B2B).

Many of our clients are leaders in their field and we help them achieve this through differentiation that appeals directly to their customers.

For more information on how we can help you get more from B2B marketing, click here