Everybody loves a David vs Goliath story. An underdog going against a giant and coming out victorious. As a 2 year-old startup playing in the digital marketing industry, we often find ourselves relating to the story and identifying as David. There’s always the question and challenge of being able to compete against agencies that are bigger and more well-known out there. And many times, we’ve lost out on big-money projects to these agencies because we were simply not able to match their level of resources or prestige. And I’m sure we’re not alone in this. If you’re prompted to read this, it’s likely that you are fighting this battle everyday too.
This begs the question: how do you win against brands that are bigger (or even better) than you?
When David went on to fight Goliath and won, a lot of the victory was attributed toward’s the miracle of God. I believe in that. But I also believe that David did not just charge into the fight blindly out of faith. He knew exactly what he was good at, and he played to his strength. He didn’t go into the fight trying to be a soldier when he was not. He was offered a full suit of armor in the story but refused to wear them because he knew the one advantage that he had over Goliath was that he was agile. He was also offered weapons but refused them because he knew his bread and butter was a tiny rock and his trusty slingshot.
David walked into the battlefield confident with his own skillsets and abilities. True enough, the fight was over before it even began.
What we can learn from David in this story is that if you’re one of the many businesses fighting in the Red Ocean, your game plan shouldn’t be to go head-to-head with businesses that are bigger than you. You simply will not be able to maintain competition reputation and resources to compete over the long run. It will be like bringing a 100-men army to charge on into a 100,000-men empire. You simply can’t win a head-on battle.
This applies not just on a business level, but in your content marketing game too. Doing the same thing that every other brand is doing on social media will ensure that your voice is drowned out and that you’ll continue to lose out on Share-of-Voice to brands that are bigger than you. Instead, you need to find your voice, a positioning that works for you, that plays to your strength, and use that as the core of your content marketing strategy to build your brand over time.
At DriveFunnels, when it comes to content marketing for our clients, we always fall back to these 3 elements when identifying a positioning to take with our messaging: Niche, Transformation, Desired Response.
The NICHE: Who are your target personas that will best resonate with your products being sold? What is their pain/desire? And how do your products/services being sold specifically help them solve their pain/desire?
The TRANSFORMATION: How can your products/services bring transformation in their specific niche? Usually for this, we’d prefer if it can be quantifiable. (For example, improve X by Y% over Z days)
The DESIRED RESPONSE: Based on the niche and transformation, what are some of the desired responses that you want your audience to have towards you? What is the reflex you want your target audience to have at the mention of your brand? (For example…Coca-Cola = Refreshment, Apple = Premium & Reliable Gadgets, UNIQLO = Practical, Comfort, Affordable)
Figuring out the desired response that you want your audience to have towards your brand is key to establishing your brand positioning, and subsequently how you approach your content marketing. If you know how you want your audience to perceive you, then you’ll know just what kind of brand tonality to adopt, topics to claim your expertise on, and what kind of message to continuously deliver through your content.
Once you’ve found your positioning, be consistent with it through your content marketing. Always remember that content marketing is not just about selling your products/services. Aim to add value into the lives of your audience, and do it with frequency. With frequency comes familiarity, and with familiarity comes trust towards your brand.