If you can, yes, but it may be short-lived.
We may be your favorite marketing gurus, but we’re probably not your only ones. And we’re probably not the only ones hitting you up with this familiar bit of advice: “You’ve got to differentiate yourself from the competition.”
Which is, generally speaking, true. But within generalizations hide a minefield of caveats and exceptions. To whit: what if you’re engaged in one of the countless industries where differentiation is well-nigh impossible?
Within several blocks from
the office in which we toil, there are several full-service mechanics to be found. While they’re in no way identical, the differences between their prices, services offered, guarantees, etc. are narrow enough to be almost unquantifiable. Clearly, their customers are choosing them for some other reason than, “This mechanic is utterly unlike all the rest.”
Similarly, even those companies that do have the ability differentiate themselves, certainly don’t have the ability to sustain that advantage forever. Success inspires copying. And copying erodes differentiation.
Some businesses choose to tilt at windmills, by way of fighting that. Their lawsuits and cease-and-desist attempts might, if they’re lucky, scare off the most skittish of copiers. But there are always less-skittish competitors lined up to take their place.
So differentiation, while often important, can’t be seen as a viable tactic for everyone, nor a long-term strategy for anyone. The solution, as always, is to be the best at knowing your business. Know where and how differentiation is possible — and know, likewise, if and when it’s not.
If you can differentiate yourself, do so. But do so with the knowledge that it’s a short-term proposition at best. If it’s not possible, or if it’s run its course, find other sustainable competitive advantages that keep you in the forefront of your customer’s consciousness.
Competition is challenging. It’s among the few true zero-sum games that real life throws at us. With stakes that high, it’s just good business sense to rely on a toolbox’s worth of advantages, rather than cliched, one-size-fits-all ideas.
The C4:
- Differentiation is a marketing buzzword. There, we said it. It does make sense for some of our clients — maybe even a lot of our clients. But like most buzz-concepts, it’s over-used and over-relied upon. It’s time to correct that.
- Because, let’s face it, differentiation isn’t possible for everyone. There are products and services — commodities, mostly — that will bear little differentiation in the marketplace. To try to force it upon them looks absurd. Do not look absurd in the eyes of your customers.
- But maybe you don’t sell commodities, and maybe you’re well positioned to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Great! By all means, do so. But every dollar you make from that strategy is a dollar’s worth of incentive for your competitors to copy you. Differences don’t last, is what we’re saying.
- What’s the solution? There isn’t a single solution, and that’s precisely the point. Differentiation might be a useful marketing tool for you. Then again, it might not be. All we can tell you at this point is there are a slew of strategies and tactics that are right for you. Walk through our door, sit down and talk with us, and we’ll discover your unique story, together.
