Have you ever looked at a competitor and wondered why they’re getting all of the attention? Their social media has thousands of followers, they always quickly sell out of all of their stock, and everyone in town seems to know who they are. Meanwhile, you know your business is on par or even better than them, but somehow you just don’t get the same attention.
It can be very easy to look at all those factors and just come to the conclusion that your competitor is doing a better job than you. Maybe it’s their product, service, or brand that puts them ahead of you? In most cases, that isn’t the reason they’re succeeding and you aren’t.
They’re succeeding because they’re being seen.
In today’s day and age, having the best product or service isn’t enough anymore. You could provide the best products, deliver exceptional service, and work hard both day and night, but if you aren’t being seen online, people will never know you exist. Visibility has quickly become the most important factor in determining whether or not you can create a successful business. This goes especially for local businesses fighting in a crowded market.
Think about it in your own life.
You don’t just decide where to eat, where to grocery shop, or what business to use for your lawn care out of nowhere, you pick the places you’ve seen before.
Maybe it was your friend who showed it to you. Maybe you saw it scrolling on Instagram reels. Maybe you saw it on your local Facebook page. Maybe it was the top search when looking for “best Italian restaurants near me”. All of these things build familiarity and trust within a potential customer.
Then, when that customer needs something that your business has to offer, they don’t just remember it, they choose it.
This is where businesses today miss a major opportunity. They spend all of their time focusing on the quality of the business itself that they forget to create an experience for people who could become customers one day.
Business owners forget that your social media, Google profile, website, and reviews all play a part in the quality of your business, and that it isn’t just what’s inside the store that brings people in.
While you focus on what’s happening between the four walls of your business, your competitor is focusing on who, when, and how people are seeing theirs, making more and more customers every day choose them over you.
It’s not because your business is worse. It’s because people don’t know about you.
This is why social media isn’t just a place to advertise your business, they are all platforms to build familiarity and trust within potential customers.
Every time someone sees you on social media, they become more familiar with you and your business. Maybe that doesn’t lead to a customer, or even a follower, but with the more familiar they become, your business starts to feel recognizable with them.
Then one day, you’re offering what they need. THAT is when that familiarity turns that person into a customer.
That training facility they’ve watched people train at becomes their new gym. That restaurant they’ve been seeing cooking videos from becomes their new favourite. That cafe that is constantly on their feed becomes their meeting spot. That local business they’ve seen answering all of their questions becomes their new local favourite.
Content won’t always create an immediate customer, but what it can create is familiarity within people that allows them to choose you in the future.
The best part of all of this, you can start creating visibility, familiarity, and trust whenever you want to close the gap between you and your competitor.
You don’t need to become an overnight sensation, completely change what your business stands for, or even try to become an influencer. You need to start building your online presence with the same quality and care you do to what is inside your business. When you start doing this, you start to close the gap.
But, where do you start? How do you do that on top of running a business?
At Making10 Media Co., we allow you to focus on running your business while we share your story, products, vision, and ambitions to those people who need to see you.
We believe every piece of content has a purpose, whether that’s building awareness, showcasing your story, connecting with the community, building trust, and ultimately bringing people who previously didn’t know about you through your doors.
Your business already has its story. It has its products, services, people, and community that make you different from the rest. The problem isn’t always that your business needs to be better, you just need to showcase what you already have, because what you have is a great business with an untold story.
Your competitor isn’t better than you, they are just allowing themselves to be seen by the right people.
And in a world where people are constantly searching, scrolling, and discovering new businesses online, you cannot afford to be hidden.
Next time you look at your competitors and wonder why more people are choosing them, don’t look at what’s happening inside your business, find out how you can build trust and familiarity with potential customers online.
Because your best kept in-store secret isn’t helping you build your business, showing it to the right people will.
Be great at what you do and allow people to see your vision, story, products, and background.
That’s what we do at Making10 Media Co.