There are almost always firms in your market that are larger and more prominent than yours. The challenge then is distinguishing your business based not on size or flashiness, but through innovative marketing techniques that showcase what makes your firm different.
This was the challenge for many dealers promoting their wares at an antique and estate jewelry exhibition I recently attended—and one vendor, I thought met this challenge very nicely. The hall where the exhibition was taking place was huge, and there were countless pieces of jewelry there. My eyes were drawn to a vendor who had employed a simple but ingenious display-design technique to make its pieces stand out. Next to select items the vendor wanted to draw your eye to, it had placed a small note describing the piece and something interesting or cute about it.
After reading one of the notes, I found myself searching through the rest of the case for others, skimming over otherwise more noticeable pieces and actually looking at the ones with notes next to them. These little, interesting annotations had not only attracted my attention—they had also focused my gaze where the vendor wanted, rather than on the biggest, most glitzy pieces.
In crowded professional-services markets, a smart marketing campaign can do the same.
-By Berbay Principal Sharon Berman
