Perception: What Does Your Business Look Like to Your Consumers?

Perception is a very integral part of marketing.  What your customers think about, not just your product but your entire business offering, matters a great deal to your business success. This is even more prevalent in an online market place where there are limited opportunities to build any rapport or establish any kind of relationship with your customers. So let’s apply this to AdWords and Search Engine Marketing.

A client once said to me,

“If you’re not the cheapest you just can’t compete!”

If this were the case there would only be one business operating in any industry at any one time with a monopoly over the market. We know this isn’t the case so where are the other opportunities?  The key to competing against the cheapest player is to focus on your competitive advantage.  Why do people buy Chrysler when they can buy a Great Wall for half the price?  It’s still a car; it still gets you from A to B.  The answer is perception.

In the above mentioned case Chrysler is perceived to be of a greater quality and has a level of prestige that Great Wall does not, and as a result, has tapped a different part of the market. This is their competitive advantage! Now, how can this apply to you and your business?

Know what your customers think about your business.  Ask them!  Where do you fit into your market, both online and offline?  How do your products differ from your competitors?  Are you cheaper?  Are you better quality?  Do you appeal to a niche?  These questions are all ones you should know the answer to.  Furthermore, how does your web offering differ from you competitors? Is your website congruent to this competitive advantage? If you’re cheaper does your website communicate that?  If you are better quality, does your website communicate that? If you aren’t sure, ask your customers! The best tool to use is a Perception Map.

(Source: http://www.learnmarketing.net/perceptualmaps.htm)

A Perception Map is a visual tool that is used to determine where your business is situated in relation to your competitors considering two key variables, most notably Quality and Price

This marketing tool will allow you to visualize where you sit in your marketplace and allow you to analyze your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.  With this, you can better target your marketing and get more bang out of your advertising buck!

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