14 Steps on How to Make Your Business Stand Out

2) Use Local Listings to Stand Out

Local listings can help new businesses stand out from all the other companies online. Local listings help new businesses show up in maps and search results. Managing local listings effectively positions a business in results such as Apple Maps and Google Maps.

Companies should ensure that their local online listings include the most accurate address, contact number, hours of operation, and more. Unfortunately, many small businesses do not update this information, so when a business pays attention to details such as this, they can separate themselves from the competition.

The top listings include Bing Business, Yelp, and Google My Business. If an entrepreneur’s company is not yet listed, they can add their businesses to these sites online for no charge. As they browse the local listings, entrepreneurs may notice that many companies have incorrect or outdated listings. By posting and continually updating their listings, businesses can improve their Google rank and be more accessible to possible customers.

After completing all listings, business owners can optimize their listings with videos, pictures, brand details, and reviews. Keeping reviews updated—especially positive ones—can boost a business’s reputation and make it easier to stand out.

3) Invest in Search Engine Optimization

Known as SEO, search engine optimization means ensuring that your website and overall online presence include specific keywords that customers seek. Successful businesses that stand out from the rest typically use a comprehensive SEO strategy. This ensures that the company will stand out in local search results.

When companies optimize their online presence, they include onsite factors such as content, the site’s backend, and offsite aspects such as reviews and local listings. This process will help the business to rise to the top of the search results of prospective customers.

4) Monitor Online Reviews

Customer reviews are essential for any business. Most prospective customers use reviews as a tool that helps them decide if a new company is worth their time and money. Since customers trust online reviews, new businesses depend on their worth. While a series of excellent reviews will drive more business, even a few poor reviews will keep customers away.

New businesses should target the sites where customers leave reviews for local businesses, including theirs. Usually, these sites are included in the company’s top listings, such as Yelp. In addition, entrepreneurs can set up Google alerts to highlight these reviews as they come on.

Additionally, a personal touch is vital here. The businesses that stand out and succeed respond to all their reviewers, whether the review is negative or positive. Replying to a positive review furthers the reach of the business and lets other readers know that they read and respond. While not as enjoyable, responding to negative reviews shows customers that the company is willing to listen and improve its services. While enterprises should not edit reviews, they can make sure to organize them and keep them current. Online reviews, in many ways, have become one of the foundations of a successful business that distinguishes itself from the rest.

5) Feature Excellent Customer Service

Most entrepreneurs know that exceptional customer service is a cornerstone of all successful companies. However, when entrepreneurs survey their competitors, they notice that not all companies offer excellent service around the clock. Customers pay more for personable customer service and the support it provides, and this is one aspect that can quickly help a business stand out from the rest.

As the business establishes itself, entrepreneurs should document what customer issues arise and what strategies help to alleviate them. Handling complaints responsibly and not taking negative feedback personally is also essential for everyone involved in the company. When a business places its customers first, the customers do not merely notice—they tell their friends.

6) Hold Offbeat Sales

Most businesses celebrate the holidays with promotions, capitalizing on customer demand with lower prices. Of course, ideas such as this are shared among most companies because they work. However, planning intelligent sales on some of our lesser-known holidays can create more of a unique buzz. From Getting to Know the Customers Day to Taco Day, new, unfamiliar holidays can be made based on the calendar, the industry, or the business. Then, simply find some more “random” holidays, such as Ice Cream Month, and run a promotion.

New customers enjoy special sales and being “in the know” about a deal their friends and families are unaware of. While everyone knows about Black Friday, not everyone knows about National Brownie Sundae Day or Beach Day.

7) Utilize Original Promotion Ideas

Many businesses run 25% or “limited time” 50% off sales. But a new company can set itself apart with a 27% discount or a “Wednesday Half-Price” sale. In addition, when an entrepreneur does something as simple as including a free t-shirt or sticker pack with a purchase, it can be enough to differentiate the business from others.

Utilizing creative thinking when it comes to promotions and sales is an idea that can help a new company stand out.

8) Hold Contests on Social Media

Here is another idea for entrepreneurs who want an edge on the competition: hold contests on social media channels. Simple, well-organized contests can help create more followers, growing the brand’s customer base.

Contests can be spontaneous, but this may work best if they follow a weekly or monthly schedule or are linked to specific holidays. Plus, businesses should make the contests interactive, using their voices to show customers that they are also paying attention and having fun.

9) Create a Loyalty Program for Customers

When customers feel a sense of loyalty to a business, it inspires them not only to choose to buy from the company once but keep coming back. Entrepreneurs in charge of new businesses can create loyalty programs that do two things: build a strong connection with customers and differentiate the company from its competitors.

Customer loyalty programs do not have to be complicated, either. They can consist of stamp cards with discounts or incentives for specific numbers of purchases. Or devise a new loyalty program and make the business stand out.

10) Stay Current on Social Media

Nowadays, most businesses use social media to update their customer base and provide new information about the brand. However, social media platforms are constantly offering new updates and tools. These developments, from Instagram Stories and Reels to Facebook Live, provide new ways to contact customers.

This category may offer seasoned entrepreneurs and business owners a chance to see what their younger employees can do. The younger generation is masters of social media in all its forms, and they are probably already aware of what the competition is doing and how they can stop it. Therefore, new social media features are an excellent way to distinguish a company from the competition.

11) Be Community Minded

Strong community support can mean the difference between a successful new business and a company mired in mediocrity. Becoming rooted in the community is essential for businesses that do not only want to survive amid a crowded landscape but seek to stand out.

Engaging with the local community does not have to be overly time-consuming or challenging. Participating in or sponsoring local events or encouraging employees to volunteer with local organizations are two ways for a company to get involved. Some businesses even create new community events. If the event is successful, new customers and more brand loyalty are almost guaranteed. When it becomes clear that a company is not only out for profits but cares about the community, everyone tends to notice.

12) Highlight the Company’s Local Connections and Origin

It is a proven fact that customers gravitate towards local businesses instead of big-box stores and national retailers, and this support is only increasing. Unfortunately, many new companies ignore that highlighting their local roots can win over customers. Business owners should make sure that their websites and other promotional materials spell out that they are a local brand with locally grown roots.

13) Tell An Appealing Story

Interesting stories, both familiar and unorthodox, appeal to all of us. Every company has a story about its start and its brand. Memorable stories help construct emotional connections with consumers and help businesses stand out.

From Tom’s Shoes to Bombas’ socks, brands with clear, understandable stories rise above the competition. New business owners should take the time to work on telling their brand’s story because it will be worth it in the end when business booms.

14) Educate the Audience

Businesses rise based on industry expertise, and this sense of knowledge can set companies apart. For example, intelligent business leaders appoint employees to share content such as videos, Q & As, and blogs featuring industry know-how.

These posts show prospective customers that the business is an informed leader in the industry, building an even more solid reputation for knowledge and expertise. Through educating their customers and audience, entrepreneurs and their businesses become known as experts in the field. This distinction will make the brand stand out from the competition.

A Company that Stands Out

When a business continually evolves, it usually finds a way to stand out amid a crowded field of new and old companies. These strategies should help entrepreneurs and their new ventures emerge as competent experts in the field.