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Marketing is already a complicated subject. Between traditional models and countless online options, coming up with a competent strategy can be a challenge.

Marketing in a crowded space only makes things worse. Every dollar spent goes up against your competitors’ equally thought out promotional investments.

If you’re operating in a crowded industry, here are a few tips to help you hone your marketing strategy and improve your advertising efforts.

1. Work on Your Brand

In a crowded space a great sale, a lower price, or even a stellar product won’t keep you in business all on its own. You also need to have a clear identity. If you want to beat out the competition, start by considering your own brand image.

Do you have a clear identity as an organization? This should include a few important things, such as:

• A fleshed-out mission statement that reflects what you want to accomplish as a business.
• A clear vision of how to reach your mission and goals.
• A well-defined set of ethics that your company operates under.

Having these things in place can help you form a solid brand image. It enables you to engage in company-wide corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. It also helps you maintain a consistent voice and tone throughout all of your marketing activities. This can have a synergistic impact on the effectiveness of each campaign that you run.

In other words, having a clear brand image is a cornerstone of marketing success. It gives you a clear blueprint to follow as you make organizational decisions. As Bob Goldwater, founder of the Birth Injury Lawyers Group, puts it, “Your messages have to match your methods.” Goldwater adds that you must focus on building your values into every aspect of your business plan.

2. Review Your USP

Entrepreneur.com defines a unique selling proposition (USP) as “the factor or consideration presented by a seller as the reason that one product or service is different from and better than that of the competition.” 

A clear USP is an essential part of standing out in a crowded marketplace. Your USP is the foundational element of what sets you apart from the competition. 

It doesn’t matter if your USP comes from your product, your customer service, your user experience, or anything else. Regardless, you should always know what your USP is.

This isn’t a one-time deal, either. If you want to maintain a competitive advantage in a busy marketplace, make sure to revisit your USP on a regular basis. Consider if it’s still relevant to your business, your customers, and your industry. 

If it is, make sure it’s still at the heart of your marketing efforts. If it isn’t, take steps to realign your USP with your customers’ pain points and then have your marketing adapt to your new selling point.

3. Get Creative

Creativity is a vital part of successful marketing. Marketing guru Ed McCabe explained that “creativity is one of the last remaining legal ways of gaining an unfair advantage over the competition.” 

To up the ante even further, creativity receives an additional premium when it takes place in a crowded space. Consider how tech giants like Google and Apple manage to stay ahead of the competition through perpetual innovation.

Of course, novelty doesn’t have to be restricted to cutting-edge industries like tech. When it comes to marketing, you can breathe a fresh dose of creativity into even the most mundane products, businesses, and industries.

Technology is often a catalyst for the best creativity. For instance, social media, email, and websites provide an endless source of marketing opportunities. Often the business that is able to take advantage of potential options like these in the most unique manner is the one that can rise above the white noise and catch the eye of consumers.

One of the best ways to maintain creative control over your marketing is to bring it in-house. Ever since the Great Recession, companies have been consolidating their marketing by bringing it back into their own control. 

For many, this was a cost-cutting move at first. However, they soon discovered that an in-house marketing department doesn’t just reduce overhead. It also provides an exceptional level of control over the tone, message, and overall creativity of the marketing content itself.

4. Maintain a Growth Mindset

A growth mindset is a crucial survival factor for any modern business. Stanford University professor Carol Dweck defines individuals with a growth mindset as those “who believe their talents can be developed (through hard work, good strategies, and input from others.)”

Every aspect of an organization’s operation should be willing to look at change and growth as positives that can give a company an advantage. This includes marketing. 

Just because you have a marketing strategy that worked in the past doesn’t mean it will do so in the future. Even if you managed to get attention, generate leads, or bring in revenue using a certain marketing formula, that doesn’t mean it’s going to remain the best option.

Brands that are fighting for visibility in a crowded space must always be ready to capitalize on growth-related things like change, development, and innovation. This should take place thoughtfully and with structure — i.e. don’t charge ahead without a second thought. Nevertheless, companies that can harness the power of cutting-edge marketing options stand the best chance of staying in the limelight over time.

Marketing is an ever-changing part of any business. Strategies, tools, and objectives change on a regular basis. This can make it difficult to maintain any marketing strategy. If you’re up against stiff competition, things can be even more challenging.

Fortunately, there are ways to overcome a marketing deficit. From powerful branding to maintaining a clear USP, pursuing fresh in-house creativity, and embracing a growth mindset, there are many ways to maintain an edge over the competition. 

The primary factor is taking the time to hone your marketing efforts on a regular basis. So consider the four suggestions above and review your own marketing strategy. From there, figure out where you can make improvements in the name of outshining your competitors and making a lasting impression on your target audience.