In every industry, there are always competitors.
The more competition there is, the better it is.
Why?
It means you’re in a market with high demand.
But with competition, it also means you need more to compete.
More content.
More people.
More products.
More ads.
Your costs increase as you grow.
What then would be the next best thing you can do?
That would be to stand out from your competitors.
These days when it comes to advertising/marketing…
You’ll see businesses running the same type of ads.
They copy one another.
They state bigger and bolder claims.
They drop bigger discounts.
And most of the advertisers talk about similar benefits.
It’s hard to stand out.
But you must remember we are all different.
We are all unique.
So let me share with you how you can stand out from competition by following this simple framework:
- Tell your story
- Share your discovery
- Show your solution
Tell your story
When selling a product/service, most people start with selling their features.
That’s good, since consumers are usually focused on looking for a solution.
They want to see the best features, the latest technology.
But what if another brand has the same features?
How are you going to attract people to buy from you and not other brands?
The answer is to start with your story.
Your “why”.
I run a music school and we teach many different musical instruments.
There are many other music schools in Singapore.
But why are we different?
Across our website and social media posts, we always make an effort to tell our story.
My co-founder and I started this music school for a simple reason – because we know there are many adults who have always wanted to learn music but never had the opportunity to do so when they were younger.
So that’s our story – we started this to bring the joy of music learning to adults.
We tell our “why”.
This is a concept I learned when I read the book ‘Start With Why’ by Simon Sinek.
He used a concept called ‘The Golden Circle’ to explain this.
When you begin your marketing with your “why”, before even talking about the “what” and the “how”…
You are able to tap into a consumer’s inner brain so that they subconsciously will want to buy from you.
Because when you appeal to people through your own story, it’s not so much about the features anymore.
If they buy into your story, your mission and vision, they will support you wholeheartedly.
Why is Apple one of the biggest companies in the world today?
Because they begin their marketing with “why”.
Their “why” is so strong.
They want to always innovate and never remain status quo.
Their “why” is to constantly be at the forefront of technology.
Apple fanatics buy into that.
That’s why you see year after year, even though the iPhone has pretty much the same features, people still queue overnight to buy it.
However, most brands you see today don’t talk about their “why”.
They talk about their “what” and “how”.
Their features. The latest technology. The flattest TV screen. The quietest fan. The strongest hair dryer.
They don’t talk about their story enough.
That’s why it’s hard to stand out from competition.
To me, one of the most important parts of my website is the “About Us” page.
If you look at TravelClef’s about us page, you can see clearly that I wrote our “why” first followed by our “what” (the products we offer) and our “how” (our methodology).
This is one reason why we have so many loyal customers who continue to support us and buy from us despite the many music schools there are in Singapore.
In fact, this Golden Circle has even helped me turn unhappy customers into strong supporters.
If you read my previous newsletter you would know I created a product called the Flexi Piano Starter Kit where it aims to help beginners learn piano in less than an hour.
Because of the keyboard’s flexibility, the touch of it is very different from a real keyboard/piano as it is made of silicone.
The strong selling point of this product (the portability) is also a complaint many customers have.
We’ve had customers complaining about the touch of the piano being so different from a real piano.
Some demanded a refund.
What did I do to reduce the complaints and the anger they have?
I explained WHY we created this product in the first place.
The reason why we created this product was not to replace a real piano.
It’s to help people fulfil their dreams of learning the piano even if they do not have one.
Or may not have the money to buy a real piano yet.
Our mission is to bring joy of learning music to people through our products.
When I explained it this way, they understood where we were coming from.
I could see a drastic decrease in complaints.
Today we have very little complaints because we put this explanation right on our sales page.
Always start with your story.
Start with your “why” before going into your “what”.
Which brings me to the next point.
Share your discovery. Your “what”.
You created a product because it solves a problem.
You created it because you discovered a better way of doing things.
This is where you share what your product is about.
What makes it different.
What makes it better.
What makes it an easier solution.
When I created our music workshops, I discovered that learning music doesn’t have to necessarily be a weekly commitment.
Adults are mostly busy with work and kids.
So my workshops are always a one-time workshop where they learn how to play in 2 hours.
After the workshop, they get practice videos to practise at home.
No frills. No long term commitments.
People now know your “why” and your “what”.
But do they believe it?
How do they know it’ll work?
That’s when you…
Show your solution. Your “how”.
This is where you share how your product works.
When I tell people I can teach them how to play piano in 2 hours…
They always respond with disbelief.
How am I able to do it?
I teach shapes instead of music theory.
I skip past all the complex and boring theory and go straight into teaching them just one shape that they can use to play many different chords and songs.
That’s my unique mechanism.
That’s how my solution works.
On my sales page, when people read how my method actually works, they believe it.
They believe I can help them achieve their goals of playing piano.
They believe in my passion to spread the joy of learning music, without having to invest a lot of time, using a simple proven method.
This is exactly how I stand out from competition.
I tell my story, I share my discovery and I show my solution.
My about us page, my ads, my product descriptions – all follow this framework.
And this is how you can stand out too.
Tell your story. Your “why”.
Share your discovery. Your “what”.
Show your solution. Your “how”.
