Who Are You Competing With?

And why that’s a trick question

The world is a noisier place. When it comes to sharing our opinions or marketing our businesses, we have an endless supply of digital platforms at our disposal. While this may have democratized access to customers and created a competitive advantage for incredibly savvy marketers, it’s also cost us dearly. Attracting our most coveted asset, our customer’s attention is more complex than ever before.

The above graph shows a 2021 overview, generated by DOMO, of the transactions, views, downloads, buys, requests, searches, and more that happen online every minute of every day – this is the digital world in a single minute.

DOMO’s overview belays a startling reality.

When it comes to marketing, the term direct competition is no longer meaningful.

Because of that newly democratized access, you are now officially competing with everyone. That’s right: everyone who can potentially distract your customers is your competition.

This doesn’t mean, however, that your customers are unreachable. Keeping their attention, no matter how ephemeral, no matter how noisy and crowded market place might be, is still possible, but you’ll have to follow some guidelines to get there. Consider the following principles to cut through the noise with your brand message:

1. Frequency

It’s hard not to feel repetitive in terms of what we communicate, but the frequency is critical. Depending on the algorithms ruling the platforms you share your brand message on, the frequency might be the key to reaching your audience even just once.

Don’t forget that some of them might hear about you for the first time.

2. Beauty

Regardless of what you put out there, make sure it reflects the aesthetic standard that’s carried your brand here. It’s introductory psychology: we appreciate beauty, and beautiful things are more visible.

3. Relevance

When your audience identifies with your content, they’re engaged.

Putting effort into creating valuable content around your brand pays off, increases your credibility, and holds space for an invaluable dialogue in all the cross-chatter.