Passed on 7 April, 2025

6. Stand out from the competition

This lesson will guide you through key strategies to differentiate a business from its competitors. By the end, you’ll have a clear understanding of how to craft a distinctive identity and attract the right audience to grow your business or a business that you work for.

✅ Learning objectivesBy the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:Identify what sets your business apart.Set your clear and concise unique selling point (USP) that reflects your brand’s strengths.Define your mission statement.Use SWOT analysis to inform business decisions and identify opportunities.

Learning objectives

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:

Identify what sets your business apart.

Set your clear and concise unique selling point (USP) that reflects your brand’s strengths.

Define your mission statement.

Use SWOT analysis to inform business decisions and identify opportunities.

Differentiate your business

Competitor positioning isn’t just about their products — it’s how they present themselves to the market. Let’s break down the key areas you should focus on when analysing competitors.

Describing what sets your business apart

To stand out, you need to clearly define what makes your business unique. This involves articulating your USP, mission, and values—all of which tell customers why they should choose you over competitors.

Find your USP

In the previous lesson,Research the competition, we explored what USPs are. Now, let’s dive into how to define and establish USPs for your own business.

How to define your USP

A USP is a clear statement that describes the benefits you offer, how you might solve your customer’s needs, and what distinguishes you from the competition. Here are the four questions to ask yourself when defining your USP.

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Tips for building an effective USP

Once you ask these questions, you can create a concise statement incorporating the answers. Here are a few pointers to remember.

Speak in a human voice

Be natural, relatable, and authentic.

Promote your USP

Consider where to promote your USP and how to adjust the tone for each channel. You may want to keep it brief on social media while expanding on your website with more details.

Tailor your USP to your audience

Your USP won’t appeal to everyone, and that’s okay — focus on speaking directly to your ideal customer. We’ll cover this in the next module:The digital customer.

✅ ActivityLet’s put your learning into practice. Take some time to write down your answers to the following questions.If you don’t own or work for a business currently, think about one you’re familiar with.Check the items off as you go.Who is my target audience?Who are my competitors?What problems do my target audience have?How can I solve them?

Activity

Let’s put your learning into practice. Take some time to write down your answers to the following questions.If you don’t own or work for a business currently, think about one you’re familiar with.

If you don’t own or work for a business currently, think about one you’re familiar with.

If you don’t own or work for a business currently, think about one you’re familiar with.

Who is my target audience?

Who are my competitors?

What problems do my target audience have?

How can I solve them?

Define your mission statement

Articulate what your business stands for by creating a meaningful mission statement.

Craft your mission statement

Your mission and values come together in a mission statement—a concise summary of your business’s purpose and guiding principles. Use the prompts below to craft a statement that resonates with your audience.

✅ ActivityLet’s put your learning into practice. Take some time to write down your answers to the following questions.Check the items off as you go.Write down your business’s purpose in one sentence.List your core values.Now, combine your purpose and core values to create a mission statement that’s simple and impactful.

Activity

Let’s put your learning into practice. Take some time to write down your answers to the following questions.

Write down your business’s purpose in one sentence.

List your core values.

Now, combine your purpose and core values to create a mission statement that’s simple and impactful.

Download PDF

Download PDF

SWOT analysis: A simple guide for business growth

A SWOT analysis is a helpful tool to understand your business's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This information can help you make better decisions and improve your business.

What is a SWOT analysis?

A SWOT analysis is a planning tool for assessing your business's internal capabilities and external environment. It helps you understand what you do well, what you need to improve, what could make your business better, and what might harm it.

Strengths

What does your business excel at internally? These could be things like customer service, innovative products, or efficient processes.

Weaknesses

What internal areas could be improved? This could involve aspects like limited resources or outdated technology.

Opportunities

What external factors could you capitalise on? This could include market trends, new technologies, or underserved customer segments.

Threats

What external challenges could negatively affect your business? Think about competitors, economic shifts, or changing customer preferences.

How to conduct a SWOT analysis

Follow these steps to conduct a thorough SWOT analysis.

Brainstorm

Reflect on your business's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. If possible, gather input from others to gain diverse perspectives for a more comprehensive analysis.

Prioritise

Identify the most critical factors that will significantly impact your business. Focus on the areas that can create the most value or pose the most significant risks.

Analyse

Evaluate the relationships between your strengths and weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. For example, how can your strengths help you capitalise on opportunities or mitigate threats?

Develop strategies

Turn your analysis into clear steps you can take. For example, if social media presence is a weakness, plan to increase posting frequency to build engagement. Remember to apply SMART goals—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound—to keep your strategies focused and effective.

Use AI

Have an AI assistant help you throughout the process. Provide relevant information, and check your AI assistants before sharing sensitive or confidential data. Let Gemini help you summarise key points, plan effectively, and prioritise tasks based on your needs. This will streamline your SWOT analysis and ensure no critical element is overlooked.

Check your knowledge

It’s time for you to find out what you’ve learned about researching the competition.

Sarah’s strategy to stand out from the competition

Sarah runs a boutique bakery in a competitive urban area. She wants her mission statement to reflect her brand’s creativity, personal touch, and sustainable values. Crafting the right mission statement is essential to help her stand out and connect with customers.Which of the following mission statements would best fit Sarah’s boutique bakery and set her apart from the competition?

Which of the following mission statements would best fit Sarah’s boutique bakery and set her apart from the competition?

Which of the following mission statements would best fit Sarah’s boutique bakery and set her apart from the competition?

To deliver affordable pastries and fast service, ensuring every customer leaves satisfied.

To craft artisanal pastries that inspire joyful moments, using sustainable ingredients and creative designs.

To follow baking trends and replicate popular recipes for mass appeal.

To compete with major chains by offering standard bakery items at competitive prices.

Show Answer

Show Answer

Not quite.While affordability, trends, and competitive pricing might appeal to other businesses, they don’t align with the unique, creative, and sustainable vision Sarah is building for her boutique bakery.

While affordability, trends, and competitive pricing might appeal to other businesses, they don’t align with the unique, creative, and sustainable vision Sarah is building for her boutique bakery.

Lesson complete

Great job!You now understand how to stand out from the competition. You have completedThe digital marketing strategymodule and you’re now ready to move on to the next module:The digital customer.

You now understand how to stand out from the competition. You have completedThe digital marketing strategymodule and you’re now ready to move on to the next module:The digital customer.

Next Path

Get to know your digital customers