Creating software is tough. Making that software profitable is tougher. But perhaps the toughest challenge is dealing with competitive software companies that offer similar products, sometimes for less money.
How are you supposed to deal with aggressive competitors in your software niche? What are the best strategies to overtake them?
Product Differentiation
Your first responsibility is to find a way to differentiate your product and brand. If you’re offering a product that’s similar to others on the market, you’re going to have a hard time convincing consumers to choose your product over another. On the other hand, if your brand or product is uniquely differentiated in a compelling way, it’s going to be easier to convince people to make the switch.
Determining this is going to require some internal contemplation and discussion. Depending on your stage of business development, this could mean initiating research and redrawing your business plan or simply meeting with team leads to generate new ideas. You should focus on the strengths and weaknesses of your own product and the comparative strengths and weaknesses of competing products.
Hiring a custom software developer or bringing in a software consultant could help you. A neutral third party will be able to provide a more objective perspective to your organization, and they may have new ideas for how you can adapt and improve your product.
Here are some of the ways that you can adjust your product or branding to become more differentiated and more competitive:
Target Market Dynamics
If your product is targeting the same market as someone else’s, there’s going to be rivalrous overlap in your outreach. You might find yourself in a better position if you can target an audience that no one else is thinking about, even if it’s only a portion of your total audience. Is there a way to rebrand or reposition your product to better appeal to them? If not, can you gain any kind of advantage by being more relevant or interesting to your shared target audience?
Price
One of the easiest ways to gain a competitive advantage is to slash your prices. If your product does the same thing as another, and it’s equal in quality, a lower price is going to make you the clear favorite in the market. Obviously, there are many factors you’ll need to consider before impulsively adjusting the price of your product. But if you can afford a slightly lower entry price, it could make it easier for you to differentiate your offer.
Core Features
You can also differentiate your product with better or more core features. The exact nature of these features will depend on the nature of your product and the desires and needs of your target audience.
Quality
Don’t forget about the quality of your work. When shopping for software, most people inevitably focus on marketing over substance, in part because they probably won’t get their hands on the software until they get closer to a final decision. Still, it’s important to cultivate a reputation of quality work.
Updates and Long-term Plan
You might be able to position yourself more favorably in the competitive landscape by drawing up plans for better updates and new features to roll out in the future. Producing a long-term roadmap shows not only confidence in your product but also dedication to it. It also gives you, your fans, and prospective customers more things to look forward to.
Support
Another way to differentiate your business, and your product indirectly, is to offer more overall support. Giving clients and users more ways to contact you, providing more information, and generally improving user experience can instantly make you a favorite in even the most competitive fields.
Company Culture and General Branding
It’s also not a bad idea to focus on company culture and your general branding. Depending on your niche, users may be more likely to choose your software product if they respect your principles as a business or feel aligned with you ethically.
Marketing Strategies
Once you have a solid foundation with a perfectly sculpted brand and a uniquely differentiated product, you can begin contesting the positions of your competitors with more effective marketing strategies.
Highlight critical differentiators.
The things that differentiate your business are the most important highlights in your marketing campaign. Figure out what your unique value proposition is and what your key differentiators are. Then put them at the forefront of all your marketing and advertising materials.
Focus on benefits, not features.
You can also differentiate yourself in the field by focusing on benefits, rather than features. Instead of focusing on the qualities of your product, focus on how your product is going to change lives for the better.
Tell stories.
You should frame many of your marketing and advertising materials as stories. Stories are more resonant and more memorable to most people. Talk about how your users’ lives have changed for the better after using your product.
Appeal to niche markets.
Remember who your most important target demographics are and target them very precisely. Your materials should be highly relevant, and you should make those materials available on the most relevant channels. Superior targeting can instantly make your marketing messaging more effective, even in very competitive landscapes.
Mimic and exceed channel selections.
Most businesses rely on a wide range of channels, platforms, and mediums when marketing and advertising themselves. If you want to outdo your competitors, you first need to at least match their presence in most of these areas. Then, you’ll need to find critical opportunities to stand out, such as taking over a platform that one of your competitors underutilized.
Get local.
Another interesting strategy for overtaking rivals and marketing is focusing on local audiences. This allows you to dampen the power of your competitors while still increasing your overall reach.
Practice thought leadership.
Demonstrate why you’re a more competent expert than your top competitors. Practice thought leadership through the creation and cultivation of better content and resources.
Cultivate a stronger reputation.
Similarly, you should focus on cultivating a stronger reputation overall. Writing and submitting positive press releases, doing good things for your community, and earning more excellent reviews and testimonials can all help you in this regard. Building and nurturing a user community can also be impressively helpful in boosting the reputation of your brand.
Experiment aggressively.
Marketing experiments are a consistent path to success because they can lead you toward more successful tactics and guide you away from lesser ones. Experiment aggressively with new strategies, new messaging angles, and new techniques. Use objective metrics to determine which ones are worth keeping and which ones should be tossed. Never get complacent. If you keep moving and adapting, it’s only a matter of time before you exceed any competitor with a stagnant marketing approach.
Finding a way to stay competitive in a hyper-competitive software niche isn’t exactly fun, but it is vital if you want to keep growing your software company sustainably. With a superior, more uniquely defined product, and a robust array of dynamic marketing strategies in play, you’ll be in a much better position to succeed.
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