A larger market share will make you
more likely to be around in the future.

We’ve all been taught from an early age that sharing is good. But if you’re in business, you should ask…

How much market share are you giving your competition?

How many competitors do you have for your different products and services? How do your potential customers decide who to give their business to? What makes customers willing to switch?

Odds are very good, whatever you are selling, you have more competition than in the recent past. Consumers have more choices and options than ever before. And they are more apt to switch if they believe that another business or product has something better to offer them. And if you do something (in their minds, at least) to tick them off, they have many ways to damage your reputation, whether intentionally or not.

Today’s business managers have to recognize savvy customers and work with them to build trust and loyalties. A good understanding of the marketplace and their customers is necessary to take it a step further and create a “buzz”. You get that buzz when you give customers something that they feel really adds value – something that sets you apart from your competition. How many times have you heard about a new restaurant or new product from other people who were excited about their “find”?

[box type=”note” size=”large” style=”rounded” border=”full”]You can gain market share by improving your web content. Start with some thoughtful analysis. Learn how the medium can be used to add real value for your target audience. Be eager to earn that market share by working with your website visitors, not against them. If you don’t take action to earn your market share, you’re just serving it to your competition on a platter.[/box]

You can create a buzz about your offerings if you have a website. Sure, there are also other ways to do it. And just having a website is no guarantee of creating a buzz or increased market share. But a website can be your 24/7 representative to communicate your value. But you’re in trouble if your website just says, “We’re here. Come and figure out what we offer that’s better than anyone else. – Or maybe we just offer more of the same.”[quote style=”boxed” float=”right”]You may be inadvertently giving away market share if you let your competitors out-shine you on the internet.[/quote]

Seriously. That’s basically what many websites essentially say. If your website doesn’t make your added value very clear, then you’re just giving more market share to the competition. If your website itself doesn’t offer added value – why should prospects go any further in their relationship with you?

What do I mean when I talk about having a website that adds value? Here’s an exercise to that can be worthwhile. [unordered_list style=”green-dot”]

• Go back and look at a website that you’ve spent some time with recently. Did it entertain you? Did you learn something while visiting it? Did you see something you’ll eventually share  with someone else? Did it take pain out of some process? Did it save you time or money? Did it show you how to do something differently or better? Will it send you a potentially helpful notice or reminder by email? Did it give you a different perspective on something? (Any “yes” responses to these are examples of adding value.)
• Now look at a website that you looked at recently but quickly dismissed as not worth spending more time with. Was it unclear about what was being offered? Or who would have a need for what was offered? Did it look like it was going to make you work hard to find anything of value? Was it not clearly organized? Did it make assumptions about what you know or did it talk down to you? Is it hard to read? Uninteresting? (Any “yes” answers to these are examples of NOT adding value. Or even subtracting value.)
• If you have a website – Take an objective look at your site.  (Note: It’s hard to be objective so it would help to get a second opinion.) Ask the same above questions about your website as if you were a potential customer who just encountered this website. You could even ask current or potential customers to help you with this.
• If you do not have a website – Go through the questions but think about what you could offer online that would add value for your website visitors. What would you do to attract visitors, make them stick around, come back for more, share with others, and do business with you?[/unordered_list]

Hopefully, if you’ve followed these steps, I have you thinking more analytically about some things that make websites successful. But it’s quite possible that you might be stumped in coming up with ways to add value. You may be too close to your own area of expertise. Unless you’re also an expert in web content development, it can be a real challenge for subject matter experts like you to know where to start. Luckily, our consulting services can give you a jump start on generating content that has real impact.

Contact us to learn more about how we can help you with content that can get you more market share.