Member Article

How do you increase the market share of your company?

Do you know what your current market share is? For all entrepreneurs and business owners, attracting more customers or service users is key to revenue and profit. Ultimately the growth of the business is reliant on its market share. The most obvious way of calculating market share is to measure your company’s sales against total sales for the sector – but there are other metrics that are also worth exploring.

First of all, it is necessary to ascertain how in basic terms your business can gain a bigger part of the market share. Firstly it might be through improving the product or service. There are many ways in which to do this and some will be specific to your business offering. You may be able to add new features to a product or enhance the quality by using new technology. The same goes for service-based businesses. Secondly, it is worth researching expansion into new markets. To do this consider how your product or service sits within your current target audience and the successes and things that haven’t worked so well. Ask yourself what your future business goals are and then fully research your competitor markets including carrying out market research on similar products or services. Market research helps to identify new customers which in turn will help you target and tailor your products or services to attract those potential customers. It is also worth analysing market conditions which affect your product or service as this can reveal untapped markets or growth opportunities you may not have explored. Then identify one target market to focus on.

The third consideration to build on a bigger market share is to create a strong brand image and positive customer experience. To do this differentiate your offerings from competitors by highlighting unique features or benefits that your product or service offers. This can help attract customers who are looking for something specific and highlighting those features or benefits will set your brand apart from others in the market. This will help to attract more customers therefore increasing market share. Once you have cemented your brand image and highlighted what sets your product or service apart from your competitors, then a marketing strategy is key to getting that product or service out to your existing target customer base as well as expanding your new customer base. Your marketing strategy should consider public relations, social media, award entry, content, including white papers, blogs and first-person pieces, SEO, email marketing and events.

Improving the overall customer experience can also lead to gaining market share and is something every entrepreneur should be keeping tabs on at consistent intervals. As mentioned above this could involve investing in better technology, offering more personalised interactions, or providing top-class service during every part of the customer journey.

A physical way of gaining market share reasonably quickly is to acquire other companies or form strategic partnerships with other companies that have a similar offering. This is probably not something that a fledgling company would be able to achieve straight off the bat. However, it is worth building a business with this in mind. Always be aware of who your competitors are, what their market share is and what their customer base looks like in relation to yours. If you are looking to acquire companies to build your market share then it is worth taking advice and doing your due diligence. It is also not something that happens quickly and there are many hoops to jump through. However, it will grow your customer base and by proxy your business and market share. Acquisitions bring new resources, customers, and market presence to help a business grow.

Overall, gaining market share involves staying aware of the market and being proactive in adapting strategies to meet customer needs and stand out among competitors.

This article was written by Peter Boolkah, an award winning global business coach with over 20 years helping businesses of all sizes to scale up and grow.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lucy Hood .