How to Stand Out in a Crowded Agency Market
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If you’re a business owner like me, you’ve no doubt noticed that many of your competitors market themselves and promote their services in a strikingly similar manner. You probably follow yourself, proudly announcing your product line, sharing your mission and values, and sharing your customer testimonials … like everyone else in your industry.
To some degree, message redundancy and company offering overlap is inevitable in any given market; after all, a tennis pro shop does what a tennis pro shop does, a pet shop sells what a pet shop sells, and a nail salon works on nails. So how do you convince your potential customer base that you are NO like everyone else in your industry and that you deserve a chance at their business?
What I have found in my 15+ years as a homeowner public relations agency is that I have to constantly differentiate myself on selected parameters and target areas if I want to earn my share of the pie. And this differentiation requires constant and diligent attention.
In today’s overcrowded marketplace, every single entrepreneur-owned business has to find a way to grab the spotlight. Here are five ways to make my PR firm shine.
1. Build true thought leadership
Many PR and marketing agencies help their clients follow the paths for it thought leadership. Much less spend time laying out theirs.
By “thought leadership,” I mean much more than posting the occasional blog or compiling a comprehensive FAQ page on your website. I mean positioning yourself as a trusted expert in your field who readily shares new insights, market trends, and industry-specific perspectives that will help other business leaders make informed decisions.
Basically, you want your target audience to reach out you when they’re looking for guidance and knowledge, and you can build that kind of prestige through:
- Booking speaking engagements (make sure they’re recorded and then post them on YouTube!)
- Hosting free webinars
- Creating instructional videos that you publish on your channels
- Creating educational social media content
- Writing or contributing to research papers
- Volunteering for expert panels
When you think like a thought leader, you become a trusted resource and not just another service provider. And when potential clients are looking for valuable industry knowledge, they’ll come looking for you!
2. Develop clear niche expertise
There’s a time to paint with broad brushes…and there’s a time to deviate from that approach. A review of other PR agency websites reveals that my field as a whole makes almost the same promises, using the same keywords: media coverage, strategic campaigns, brand awareness, reputation management.
The challenge for me is not just to prove that I am good at public relations; I’m finding meaningful ways to show that same audience that my agency is not typical, but exceptional.
So instead of trying to appeal to everyone, I focus my efforts on connecting with a select few through the vehicle of SPECIALIZED. My firm doesn’t just offer brand management; we offer a specialist arm in crisis communications. Although we can serve any sector, we zero in on what we know best: hospitality, food and beverage, small business start-up and lifestyle brands. And while I certainly serve all the normative items on the PR menu, I also extend higher-level options to clients who want more customization: (a) white label service, where we do all the work for a given client without putting our name on it (so you get all the credit, but we give you all the support you need); and (b) white-glove service, where we can go “above and beyond” the basics as a customer desires, with personalized à la carte products.
This particular expertise not only creates a competitive advantage, but also strengthens media relations as we strengthen relationships with journalists and media outlets that also specialize in certain industries.
3. Increasing the founder’s visibility
Guess who jumps on planes, microphones for podcasts, signs up for conferences, and regularly shows up for featured media profiles? Me. And I would advise you to do the same to get your name out there.
Clients hire people before they hire companies. Putting my face into my business as often as I can, I humanize my business I cultivate recognition and trust. I attract reputation management clients by successfully projecting my reputation.
Founders can generate and maintain visibility joining industry associations, chairing committees, doing media interviews, publishing articles and getting involved in community initiatives. When you do this, you become an extension of the company’s brand. You become known as an influential leader with useful lessons and industry observations to impart. This creates much stronger connections than just company branding.
4. Create proprietary processes
My business runs on creativity, but my operations must run on consistency. As my firm has grown over the years, I have developed and adopted proprietary strategic planning processes, frameworks, methodologies and systems. And, surprisingly, what began as a drive toward efficiency became another mode of differentiation.
My clients appreciate finding that we have a structured model to achieve the results they seek, as opposed to simply looking for opportunities as they arise. They notice the systematic materials we use to learn about the inner workings of their businesses and the goals they hired us to achieve. They are impressed when we provide them with workflows, elaborate visuals and step-by-step plans that describe exactly what we will do on their behalf.
Prospects want to see more than what you’re selling them. They want proof that you have met client expectations in the past, that you have a high retention rate based on skills and talent, and that their engagement will be managed with proven experience and expertise.
When you can tell customers processes and procedures you have in place to accomplish their objectives, they feel comforted by your attention to detail and confident in your ability to meet their needs.
5. Focus on measurable results
Perhaps the most important differentiator in any market is the ability to produce desired business results.
In my industry, clients are no longer satisfied with just media placements and impressions. They want to see measurable returns on their investment—things like conversion rates, UVMs, brand mentions, number of clicks and backlinks, follower growth, volume of social shares, and other KPIs—and they also want to be clear about how all billable time spent on their accounts supports their short-term and long-term organizational goals.
It is sometimes difficult to capture positive impacts in terms of numbers, for intangibles such as increased brand awareness, improved reputation or a well-executed crisis intervention; but my focus must still remain providing measurements because that is what the current market demands.
Consequently, businesses that prioritize data analysis and reporting tools will have an advantage over those that do not. When customer-facing service industries like mine set clear, agreed-upon goals, track meaningful metrics, and effectively communicate results, they help customers see their service as a smart investment rather than an expense.
Rising to the top of your field
Over the years, I have learned this differentiation it rarely comes from having a longer list of services than my competitors. Rather, it comes from demonstrating extraordinary value in a few key areas that matter most to customers.
To stand out in your field, create an identity that sets you apart from the crowd so that your target audience begins to recognize you as an authority and look to you as an exemplary provider. The above steps, along with your unique skill set, all contribute to securing a stronger market position. From that position, you can transform your business from just another agency to a trusted strategic partner that would be very hard to replace.
If you’re a business owner like me, you’ve no doubt noticed that many of your competitors market themselves and promote their services in a strikingly similar manner. You probably follow yourself, proudly announcing your product line, sharing your mission and values, and sharing your customer testimonials … like everyone else in your industry.
To some degree, message redundancy and company offering overlap is inevitable in any given market; after all, a tennis pro shop does what a tennis pro shop does, a pet shop sells what a pet shop sells, and a nail salon works on nails. So how do you convince your potential customer base that you are NO like everyone else in your industry and that you deserve a chance at their business?
What I have found in my 15+ years as a homeowner public relations agency is that I have to constantly differentiate myself on selected parameters and target areas if I want to earn my share of the pie. And this differentiation requires constant and diligent attention.
