Most people think that a price strategy is one where the business can charge a lower price to its customers and a differentiation strategy as one where a company differentiates it’s self by giving their products unique qualities that customers want and thus charge higher prices.  This however is incorrect, the products do not have to have a unique quality, the customer however has to perceive that the product has a unique quality.  Let’s take for instance, bottled water, you can drink tap water for free or you can go out and buy some brand name bottled water for 2 bucks a 12 ounce bottle.   What that brand name doesn’t tell you is that what it does is just bottle the tap water, yes, it’s the same thing that comes out of the tap:

Differentiation Strategy? Yes!

Unique Superior Product? No!

At Tamian Associates, we advise against using a lower price strategy which we call,  A Walmart Strategy. The reason for this is that if you can get customers by charging a lower price than your competitor, it follows that the customers that you get a customers who will buy stuff for the lower price.  So what happens when someone else figures out how they can undercut YOU on the price?  Yes there are people who will always shop where the lowest price is.  They get what they deserve!

Now for the differentiation strategy you may not need to have a unique, superior product.  You do however need to have a Unique Selling Proposition (USP).  Per Jay Abraham, “ a USP  is that distinct and appealing idea that sets you and your business, or practice, favorably apart from every other generic competitor. The long-term marketing and operational successes that you achieve will, ultimately, be helped or hurt by the USP you decide upon.” 

Back to my earlier “quiz” The answer is one of the most powerful USPs of all time, Winston Tastes Good Like a Cigarette Should.  That slogan was developed over 50 years ago and it hasn’t even been used since the late 60s yet invariably when I walk over to people and say,  Winston tastes good….  They answer, like a cigarette should! In a business using a differentiation strategy you can build customer loyalty.  As those of us who are smokers or ex-smokers know, cigarettes are all the same price, made from tobacco that all grows the same place.  It would be up to the marketers to differentiate each brand.

In traditional marketing, building brand loyalty was a tedious and expensive task.  You had to go to ad agencies, like the one in Mad Men and spend your time and money, or sit back and wait for word of mouth to kick in.  Social Media gives us a quick and simple way to differentiate your business.  At  Tamian Associates, we can work with you to design a strategy for you to make the most out of your marketing with Facebook, Linked-in, Twitter and the many other Social Media tools that are available.  For more info: http://tamianassociates.com/strategy-session-with-jeffrey-levine

While those of us business owners are selling a product or service to our niche market, individuals in our niche market may not yet be in the position to make a purchase. Generally when someone within our target market is in search of answers, they are not looking to make a purchase. Rather, they are looking for information. The more you draw you niche market to your Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter pages the more likely you will increase traffic from your niche to your website.

How doe social media help us as entrepreneurs? Well, as we pointed out early on, social media gives us the capacity to steer targeted traffic to our website. This is because when we post something to our Facebook Page or to a Linked In Group or Twitter feed, the posting is picked up by the Google crawlers and spiders.  When someone searches Google on our specific topic, our postings will show up in the results. Be sure in every posting that you post a link to your website or squeeze page. Thus, if someone perusing around your Facebook page wants to find out more, BINGO they can click on the link to your website.

Furthermore, each link which leads back to your website is a back link. Back links are what tell the search engines that your website is popular, and should be indexed. Thus, providing a link to your website within an article that is along the same theme of your website tells the search engines that your posting is indeed relevant to a particular niche.

Your content itself is how you demonstrate to your niche market that you are an authoritative figure in your industry. Once this is known by your niche, they will refer to your frequently. You will become a trusted figure within your niche, and along with this trust comes a great many benefits. One benefit if referrals, and another is the weight which will be placed on your recommendation. Hence, whenever you recommend a product or service, that recommendation will be trusted, and people will act upon it.

As you may have gathered, I am a very strong advocate for social media marketing for small businesses and entrepreneurs. It can be performed at no or little cost, and has both short-term and long-term benefits I strongly suggest that you take full advantage of Social Media

For a Strategy Session on how you can use social media to market your business, www.tamianassociates.com/Jeffrey_Levine.html

Do Your Homework

The first step in the planning process is to identify possible social media platforms that would benefit your company by specifically reaching your intended target audience. Speak with your current customers and find out what their favorite social media sites are.  Make use of your professional networks and find out which sites they like to use the best and if there are any fan pages or groups that they are a part of.   Don’t forget about your blogging.  Post links to your blogs in your LinkedIn Groups and Facebook Fanpages.  Bookmark them on sites such as Digg, Delicious or StumbleUpon .  Don’t forget to tweet the link to your blog

Practice Time Management

It is important to decide how to spend your time.  Social Media is so vast that you can easily waste hours and hours on activities that get you no results. Develop a schedule.  For instance you can schedule updates for your blog on Monday and Thursdays from 8:00 – 9:00 AM.  Allocate 15 minutes a day to updating your fan page.  By using socialoomph.com you can schedule your tweets or even your status updates to facebook.

Failing to Plan = Planning to Fail

Yes, I know that’s an old saying but neglecting to properly s plan your social media strategy is a common reason why companies often fail to get a good ROI from social media. Thorough planning is essential. Do your homework;  talk with people, and look at industry trends. Select the correct social media to meet your needs and attract attention to your business. Not every entrepreneur has the time or resources to do this.  That is why I suggest Tamian Associates Strategy Session.  With the strategy session, you will find exactly what it is you need to do to best utilize social media.  For more information: http://tamianassociates.com/strategy-session-with-jeffrey-levine .

First, understand your subject matter. DO NOT EVER WRITE ABOUT SOMETHING THAT YOU DON’T FULLY UNDERSTAND. Write about stuff that you are in fact passionate about.  Writing about your business is always a good idea since of course you are passionate about that.  You also have expertise in it, you are the ultimate authority! It is easy for a reader to connect with someone when they know that person is an expert and be sure that it shows up on your blog.

Second, find out what ‘your readers are discussing online. By checking out LinkedIn or Facebook,  you can see what your target audience is about. Knowing this will give you an edge because you can address them directly on up to date issues. Your audience will know that you are staying on top of the issues and as a result they will trust your insights more. What if you were to read a so-called expert who blogs about stuff that was current during the Clinton Administration

Third, be thorough in your research. The surest way to credibility is to blog accurately . Give your readers a little more meat than other bloggers may provide by including good examples, statistics and even case studies. Let your critics and competitors say what they want about you, but never allow them to question your accuracy. If your information is thorough and accurate, having critics is actually a positive because it brings more publicity to your blogs.

Finally use social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn ,Meetup…etc.) to show to your audience with accurate well researched blogs. Provide them with interesting example or case studies about up to date information and you will be on your way to increasing your credibility with your readers (who are all potential clients)  Remember, once you lose credibility it is difficult to gain it back.

Are you ready for your business to explode?  Social Media is the most effective marketing tool available to your business to expand, sometimes 30% or more.  For a thirty minute strategy session.  In this session you will find out:

-          How to never compete for customers again

-          How to train your customers to do business on YOUR Terms

-          The Secret to building value in your business

-          How to buy speed without money.

The link to click is: Social Media Strategy Session