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What Is Product Differentiation?
Product differentiation is a marketing strategy that distinguishes your products from competitors, and helps you stand out from the rest of your competition in the eyes of your target market.
Why Do You Need to be Different?
There are millions of active sellers on Amazon right now – the number of which increases by the minute! While selling on Amazon offers plenty of promise, the ever-popular marketplace continues growing crowded, making it harder for newbie and seasoned sellers alike to enjoy a lucrative business.
Customers these days have a wide variety of options, and the only way to survive in a competitive market is to be different. Your marketing strategies must always emphasize your unique selling proposition – it has to be strong enough to pull new customers into your offer to gain a greater share of the marketplace at the highest possible margin.
Identifying Your Competitive Advantage
Your competitive advantage could come from any of the major departments, including innovation, features, cost, marketing, and customer service. It might also be something completely new – something only you are offering. No matter the case, it’s critical that you identify your competitive edge and market it as soon as you create your Amazon listing.
Know Your Market: Selling Your Strength to the Right Audience
Competitive advantage requires taking a stance. Since you can’t provide everything to everyone, you need to win over a certain group of people. Simply put, allow your target audience to show you the ways in which you can be different from your competitors. Position your brand and highlight the best qualities of the products you offer. The goal is to make endearing promises you intend to keep.
Get familiar with your target audience. Familiarize yourself with their likes, dislikes, qualms with existing products similar to yours, purchase behavior, etc. Be absolutely sure you’re well aware of their needs and that you cater to them.
Product Differentiation 101: Ways to Stand Out from the Competition
There are many ways to differentiate a product on Amazon and develop your unique value proposition (UVP). Here are some ideas:
Great Packaging
First impressions always count. Your product packaging is one of the first things customers see when they search for your product, so make sure to project a positive identity in your product packaging. You may opt to amplify the impression of an eco-friendly option or a high-end label. You can also try something out of the box to catch the attention of your customers.
Origin and Ethical Buying
More than half of the products on Amazon are sourced from China through platforms like Alibaba, Taobao, and AliExpress. While there’s nothing inherently wrong about products made in China, buyers tend to be influenced by the country of origin. In this case, China is known to produce a wide range of items for countless brands; hence, buyers are often concerned about how reliable the finished product could be. For your next product launch, remember to take into consideration where the product is manufactured, as it may be key to your product differentiation.
Moreover, businesses integrating sustainability into their values are immediately more attractive in consumers' eyes, so ethical sourcing makes a difference and can help elevate your brand.
Product Bundling
Competition on Amazon can and will get stiff, so you may benefit from shifting the focus from cost to value. Consider offering value-added strategies like bundling (packaging multiple complementary services or products together and offering them for a single discounted price). Bundles typically give cost savings of around 7–15%, and customers are likely to appreciate this kind of offer if your product bundle makes sense. Give some thought in terms of bundling your products – ensure that you’re offering complementary items and not just anything random.
Size
Another great way to differentiate your product is by size. You can try making your product bigger or smaller compared to the standard size, but always make sure that the size is reasonable for customers to make a purchase. While your product needs to differentiate from competitors, it must be equally as practical.
Touch of Creativity
Try out innovative ideas or new ways to solve a problem. You might also add a touch of fun to your product design – even the most basic product can be elevated by changing its shape or adding one simple feature that doesn’t hurt the overall manufacturing cost. Start by thinking simply about the things you can modify so your product can stand out in the marketplace.
Post-purchase Services
The customer buying process doesn’t just end when a customer purchases your product. If you want to be seen as a professional seller, it’s important that you provide good post-purchase services so customers will keep coming back for more. You can try sending helpful information that will add value to customers’ lives, such as tutorial videos; doing this will also help you avoid attracting negative reviews and complaints.
Personalization
Offering just a bit of extra effort goes a long way. You can differentiate your product by providing a personalization option for customers; this will attract both customers who want to buy something personalized for themselves and those looking for unique gifts.
Competitors’ Weaknesses
Look at your competitors’ customer reviews, determine their weaknesses, and capitalize on them. Address common concerns among customers. Use the insights to gain a competitive advantage, especially in your product’s titles, descriptions, and bullet points.
Listing Optimization
Optimizing product listings is critical to generating more sales on Amazon. The optimization of your listing will provide yet another opportunity to differentiate your offering from the rest. Identifying and adding relevant long-tail keywords and benefits/features will help drive more relevant traffic to your listing. You can also optimize your product listings with enhanced images and text placements in the A+ content and description section. Ultimately, implementing all of these proactive steps will help improve your rank for even more high-traffic keywords on Amazon.
Takeaway
Ready to become an Amazon top-seller? Master product differentiation and bear in mind that you’ll be competing with hundreds – if not thousands – of other sellers. Take the time to think about the ways you can most effectively differentiate your product from the rest of the competition, and choose the strategies most beneficial to your business.
Stop gambling your brand’s future on Amazon – differentiate your product and win big!
Overwhelmed with Amazon marketing strategies? Let us help you optimize your product listings. Book a call with us and let’s discuss what your business needs right now.
