3 Ways to Stand Out in a Saturated Market

VisibilityBranding

Sep 16

Written By brandmerry

3 Ways to Stand Out in a Saturated Market

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

Does it feel like everyone is talking about the same thing? Do you wonder how you stand out in a saturated and crowded market? I’m sharing three ways to stand out in your marketing, attract your dream clients and own your space online.Read more here…

The saturated market.
The crowded marketplace.

If you’re anything like me, in my first year of business, you probably felt (or feel) that there are a lot of people talking about the same thing as you!

Maybe you’ve looked around at your competition and felt like a tiny fish in a big sea of successful entrepreneurs.

You might see someone post something similar to you and get more engagement and question if you’re doing anything right.

I see this happen the most in the niching down process, typically in the very beginning, when we're like, “Alright, what is it? What’s my market? What do I call myself? What’s my title? Who do I want to work with? How will I introduce myself?”

This feeling can also come up when you're creating an offer.

I see entrepreneurs who really get wrapped up in the fact that somebody already has this offer that they want to create.

The reality is there are a lot of offers out there, but just because someone has a similar offer doesn’t mean they teach it in the same way as you will, or serve the same audience.

What I’m trying to say is no matter what stage of business you’re in you’re most likely going to experience this feeling that there isn’t space for you.

So today, I want to share three ways to stand out!

A SATURATED MARKET

Having done this for four years, I have seen this fear of fitting in or this fear of not being able to stand out, keep women that I have been in programs with from building successful businesses and I've watched it keep my students from it as well.

Because the reality is, this isn't a strategy thing.

If you don't believe that you have space in your industry if you don't believe that you belong here, that you can be successful in your niche that you can attract the people that you want to attract - it won't matter what new cool strategy or course or thing that you implement.

So you have to believe that there is space for you.
Because there is space for you.

I mean, statistically, there are a lot of people in the world. There are so many people that need your services, that need your products, that need your offerings, that haven't found their person yet, haven't found their brand, yet.

This happens to me daily, I get messages from women that say, “I've been looking for branding advice. I've been all over the internet, and I haven't found somebody that resonated with me. And then I found your website.”

This is why it’s so important to show up and own your space, even if there are a lot of people!

It’s not about the people already doing the work, they don’t dictate your success!

YOU DO and so does your marketing!

3 WAYS TO STAND OUT IN A SATURATED AND CROWDED MARKET

1. IDENTIFY AND OWN YOUR STORY

There are so many reasons why I love story work and incorporating storytelling into your marketing, but one of the reasons it’s so powerful is what it gives you.

Identifying and owning your story allows you to tap into who you are, what makes you different, what you value, your mission and ALL of this is what sets you apart from others.

Owning these parts of your story and incorporating them into every aspect of your business, especially marketing, which is essentially where you want to stand out is key.

At the beginning of my business, storytelling was all I had.

I’d share stories as they happened, as I built my business, as I made mistakes.

I’d share more of who I was to build trust with my growing community and it worked.

I’ve said it many times but the thing that separates you from someone with a similar audience, similar offer is your story. This is why the first module in my program Roadmap to Freedom is all about your story and niche.

If there's one thing that sets you apart from somebody else in your niche, somebody else in your industry, it's your specific experiences.

It's the things that have happened to you, for you in your life, the journey that you've been led on because no two people have the same story.

And yet so many entrepreneurs miss out on this golden opportunity to share their story as a way to separate themselves from the “competition.”

The beautiful thing about your story is it’s already inside of you, you don’t need to do anything special to start sharing it, except take the time to identify the key pieces that are relatable to your audience.

2. IDENTIFY YOUR AUTHENTIC VOICE

86 percent of consumers say authenticity is important when deciding what brands they like and support. (Stackla, 2019)

People want to buy from authentic and transparent brands more now than ever before.

Why? Because the market is crowded.

We think the markets are crowded as the one selling, think about what your ideal customer thinks as the one who is purchasing?

They start looking for something to solve their problem and then they have all of these options and they're trying to figure out who to choose.

Who do you think they're going to be pulled to?

The person that is going to solve their problem of course, but more specifically the person who seems relatable, trustworthy and authentic, right?

I was having a conversation with a Roadmap to Freedom client the other day on our group call and she was expressing this feeling of not standing out, of just contributing to the noise.

We chatted about her methods, framework and ultimately who she was.

Finally, I said, “Why did you decide to work with me?”

She and the other ladies rattled off a bunch of reasons why each of them decided to invest in my brand and program, each of them saying something different.

That’s because it’s not one thing that gets everyone on board; it's the combination of you owning your story and sharing your authentic voice with the world and your ideal customers picking up on the pieces that resonate most with them.

It comes from understanding your story, but it also comes with time.

You're going to step into your authenticity, the more that you show up and create content.

The more that you show up, the more those pieces of your personality will start to shine.

When I started my business, I was doing live video from the very beginning.

I’d read all kinds of resources that told me how to say hi, when to make the pitch, how to prepare, how to write my script, what lighting and background to use.

And every time I’d feel like something was off and not ME.

I started to worry less about the script and the background and started showing up when I was inspired. I’d go live in the car, on walks, with a kid on my lap, whatever I needed to show up for my community and not worry about what it “looked” like.

This style still serves me today! I know I have something to share, I’m excited and I let that speak for itself and my audience doesn’t need a perfect background with perfect lighting to get what they need from it.

Is it for everyone?
Nope.
But it’s for my people and ideal customer.

One of the best things that you can do in finding your authentic voice and finding your authenticity is to show up consistently, find the quirks and things that make you...you.

But consistently showing up you’ll start to see what people are responding to and you’ll give more of that.

When I would live stream with Cal, all my mompreneurs loved it, so I kept going. Something I was scared would make me look less than professional, ended up being one of my greatest assets.

3. FILL THE GAP IN THE MARKET

One of the best things you can do in a crowded market is to fill the gaps.

If you see everyone is talking about the same thing and doing the same thing, how can you offer an industry disrupt?

If you see people are asking for something and it’s not getting delivered, how can you create something for them?

For example, branding. That's my specialty, and there are a lot of people who teach branding, it’s a very big market.

When I first started teaching branding, I was trying to do all the things that everyone else was doing, and what I felt so many people needed based on the offers currently in the market.

But there was this group of people who are talking specifically about personal branding. They wanted to know how to show up, how to share their story, how to be the face of the brand.

So in 2019, I created You! Branded, a course specifically centered around personal branding and helping female entrepreneurs build their personal brand. I filled the gap and owned the space.

When I knew I wanted to revamp my program Roadmap to Freedom, I started to think about the industry and all the people who have programs and courses supporting new and aspiring entrepreneurs in building their business.

I thought about the gaps, specifically the marketing gaps, where people were tired of showing up in Facebook Groups or relying on social media to grow their new business, so I filled the gap.

Roadmap to Freedom offers support with SEO, Pinterest, just to name a few that serve the business owners who are looking for a more streamlined and simple approach to marketing.

So it doesn't mean that your course, program or your offer has to be completely different. It's finding those little holes and filling them.

Filling in the gap gives you the marketing advantage.

So when you're thinking about your offer, your system or how you solve the problem for your audience, think about the gaps.

Are there any gaps in your industry that you feel confident in filling? Because it will pay off.

Then if you can communicate to them, why this gap is there, and how you fill it, even better!

CONCLUSION

What’s so cool about focusing on these three pieces first is that they're already inside of you.

Take the time to identify them, find the gaps and share your authenticity with others and then add in all the fun marketing strategies (because there are a lot)!

Inside my program, Roadmap to Freedom I teach female entrepreneurs how to set this strong foundation for their business, own their story and authenticity and build a revenue-generating business around it.

Roadmap to Freedom is a live 90-day program for the new and aspiring female entrepreneur who is ready to simplify the process of building an online business that allows her to make money on her terms and create a life of abundant experiences and impact.

And doors are opening on October 18, 2020.

If you’re interested in learning more about Roadmap to Freedom and joining the waitlist, where you’ll be the first to know about special bonuses, including 1:1 coaching from me, you can visit brandmerry.com/freedom.

Branding and Business Coach | Michelle Knight of Brandmerry

P.S. Take the NEW Business Roadmap Quiz. Discover your next three strategic business moves and customized business roadmap at brandmerry.com/roadmap.

WATCH MONDAYS WITH MICHELLE EPISODE 27: STANDING OUT IN A SATURATED AND CROWDED MARKET, BELOW

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