Market share is a huge deal when measuring how well a company is doing. It tells you where you stand against your competitors. Increasing your market share is essential to make your business more agile in a competitive industry. In fact, companies with less than 10% market share see an average ROI of 9%, but gaining just 10% points can boost ROI by 5 points, making it clear that increasing market share directly impacts profitability.
It takes a bit of creativity and flexibility to be a company where your products are easily recognized. Luckily, we have these effective strategies here to help you learn how to increase market share. These are some of the best tactics successful companies are using, and this will give you the insights you will need for your business.
Why is Market Share Important?
Market share is simply an essential part of the market that your company controls. You can figure it out by dividing your sales by the total sales in your industry over a specific period. Once you know your market share, it gives you a clearer idea of where you stand compared to your competitors, and this can help you see exactly where you need to step up your game.
Growing your market share can give you an edge. For starters, the bigger your share, the more advantage you have with your suppliers. Ordering in bulk means you can negotiate better prices, which increases your buying power. As your market share grows, you'll also start benefiting from economies of scale, where your production costs per unit go down, making your operations more efficient.
How to Increase Market Share: Identify Competitors
Conducting competitor research is the first step towards growing your market share. Identifying them enables you to assess potential clients, comprehend the market, and build a base of loyal customers, which can increase your profits by 25% to 95%. You can position your company more successfully by keeping a careful eye on what your competitors are doing. Here’s how you can identify your competitors:
1. Use Demographic and Geographic Filters
One way to identify competitors is by narrowing down businesses that serve demographics and regions similar to yours. If you run a local coffee shop in your area, you'd want to look at other cafes targeting young professionals or remote workers in the same premises who would likely become your loyal customers.
This insight helps you discover potential threats or missed opportunities. For example, maybe there’s a neighborhood underserved by cafes. You can open a new branch or offer delivery services in your local area to attract more customers and increase your market share.
2. Analyze Competitor Products and Services
Take a close look at what your competitors are offering. If you’re in the tech industry and your competitor has launched a software feature that’s gaining a lot of attention, you should analyze what makes it so appealing. Maybe they offer better customer support or more user-friendly interfaces.
You can spot these strengths and work on differentiating your product. You can perhaps add new features or enhance the user experience to win over customers who feel underserved by the current options being served by your competitors.
3. Analyze Competitor Pricing and Sales Models
Pricing can make or break a customer's decision. Let’s say you’re running an online clothing store, and your competitor recently introduced a subscription box model with discounted prices for loyal customers. If that’s attracting more buyers, you might consider launching a similar service or offering exclusive discounts for repeat customers.
Adjusting your pricing model and offering them pricing through tiers, loyalty rewards, or bundling products can elevate your reputation as a company and help you expand your market share.
4. Utilize Competitor Analysis Tools
Competitor analysis tools can give you a leg up when you're looking to refine your product strategy. Tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs allow you to see which products are driving traffic to your competitors’ websites and which keywords they’re using to attract buyers. If you're selling skincare products and notice your competitor is getting tons of traffic from “organic face cream,” you can also use it as well so your product descriptions and SEO target that same market.
These tools also show which of your products are getting backlinks or mentions, giving you insight into what's connecting with your customers. You can use this data to know which ones customers look up often in the search engine and grab a bigger share of the market.
How to Increase Market Share: 5 Strategies to Boost Productivity
Aside from knowing your competitors, it's essential to evaluate your current operations and identify opportunities for improvement closely. Boosting productivity is a direct path to increasing your market share. Here are a few ways to ramp up productivity and, in turn, your market share:
1. Employ a Skilled Workforce
When you bring on employees who really know their stuff, they can get tasks done more efficiently and with higher quality, which means fewer mistakes and quicker turnaround times. Take a well-trained sales team and expect that they can close deals more effectively, making customers happier and more loyal to you.
A skilled workforce also tends to be more innovative and eager to suggest improvements, which can lead to even better products or services that your customers will love.
2. Invest in Employee Training and Development
When you invest in your team, you’re investing in the future of your business. Providing regular training ensures that employees stay sharp and up-to-date with the latest skills and trends in your industry.
If you’re in retail, offering training on customer service or sales techniques can help your team close more sales and make the customer experience so much better. Training on market analysis and competitive strategies can empower your employees to identify opportunities for growth and better understand consumer behavior.
Workshops on brand positioning and effective merchandising can also help your team with the tools they need to attract more customers. In the long run, a well-trained workforce is more productive, allowing you to serve more customers and capture a larger share of the market.
3. Encourage Collaboration and Teamwork
Encouraging collaboration within your team can lead to new ideas and better problem-solving. For instance, if your marketing and product teams work more closely together, they can better align your campaigns with customer needs, resulting in a more effective promotion for your product.
When everyone in your team is on the same page, things move faster and more efficiently. This can help your business capitalize on a positive work culture where anyone can shine and bring innovative ideas on how to market your product or services better. Regularly tracking employee performance and offering constructive feedback is also essential for developing collaboration and teamwork.
If the sales team falls short of targets, immediate feedback and guidance can help them refine their techniques. You can address these issues early to create a motivated, high-performing group.
4. Incorporate Automation and Technology
Introducing automation tools can check repetitive tasks and remove unnecessary steps, freeing up your time for more valuable work. For example, if you’re running an e-commerce store, using automated inventory management software can save hours of manual work while minimizing errors.
Not only does this increase your team's efficiency, but it also lets you scale your operations as demand goes up. Because you were able to use these workflow automation tools efficiently in your business, you'll be in a better position to meet your customers' growing needs.
5. Use Managed IT Services
Relying on managed IT services gives you peace of mind, knowing your tech infrastructure is running smoothly. Pulse Technology’s managed IT services cover everything from IT security to network management, allowing your staff to concentrate on their core tasks. With proactive monitoring and prevention, 90% of fixes are handled remotely, ensuring swift response times within two hours.
3 Additional Strategies on How to Increase Market Share
You can also consider these three additional strategies for increasing your market share and further expanding your reach to a wider audience.
1. Use Digital Advertising
Digital advertising is an effective tool for increasing your market share because it allows you to reach a broader audience in a targeted way. You can use platforms like Google Ads and social media to create ads that speak directly to your ideal customers based on their demographics, interests, and online behavior.
This means your marketing efforts are more efficient and effective, putting your brand in front of the right people at the right time. Tools like a video wall system can enhance these efforts by showcasing your products in a visually engaging way, helping to capture the attention of more people and increasing your brand visibility.
2. Partner with Other Organizations
Partnering with other organizations can be another fantastic way for you to increase your market share by combining strengths and resources. Think about how a coffee shop might team up with a local bakery to offer exclusive pastry and coffee combos. This not only attracts new customers from both businesses, but you can also create a unique experience for them.
You can definitely collaborate with other companies with similar target audiences to help enhance your brand visibility. If you own a fitness brand, you can partner with a health food company and run promotions or events together that draw in customers interested in both healthy living and fitness.
3. Acquire Other Brands
Acquiring other brands can help you expand your market share by allowing you to enter new markets or gain access to established customer bases. When larger companies acquire smaller niche brands, they not only increase the range of their products but also benefit from the existing customer loyalty that those brands have built.
This strategy is a great way to mix things up and cut down on your competition by bringing those smaller players into your fold. You can acquire brands that fit well with your values or target audience, creating some awesome synergies that help with your product development and marketing efforts.
How to Prevent Loss of Market Share
If you want to keep your market share intact, you have to watch out for a few issues. First, you should avoid ignoring customer feedback. When you don’t listen to what your customers are saying, you risk losing their trust and loyalty. Also, failing to protect your customers’ data can lead to bigger problems, like a data breach that can damage your reputation.
While cutting costs might seem like a good idea, doing it without a solid plan, especially in areas like customer service, can backfire. And please don’t forget about regulatory changes. Staying compliant is important to avoid legal problems that can hurt your reputation with your customers.
Maximize Your Market Share with Our Managed IT Services!
Your technological needs will evolve as your company grows, and we’re here to help you protect your data and even provide a guide on how to increase market share. With our managed IT services handling your daily operations, you can have satisfied customers who will remain loyal. Your optimized technology will help you serve more customers faster and more effectively.
Don’t let outdated technology hold you back. With Pulse Technology as your trusted partner, you can focus on growing your business. Contact us now to ensure your technology always works for you so you can maximize your market share and achieve more of your business goals.