WEB/DIGITAL Operating in a saturated market

[Toiletcake]

I have been operating an E-service business for about 2 yrs now. Problem is the market or industry that I am in is suffering from increased saturation. I am noticing more hands in the cookie jar so to speak.

How would you compete in this type of situation?
How would you gain a larger % of the market share?

I have made adjustments in the cost of my service but its tuff to do this beacuse overhead is always the same so thats a concern.

I reach my customer base from the major search engines. There really isnt any other way to finding our customers. The net has the broadest reach.

 

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[Yankees338]

Perhaps you could consider finding a niche in the market and stick to it?

If that doesn't work, think of other ways to innovate. What other services can you offer? What else is this demographic looking for?

Example: A place like GoDaddy is an expert at this. As soon as someone tries to check out, they are bombarded with other offers for complimentary services. I'm not saying you should do it to that extent, but I think it could be considered on a lesser scale.

Additionally, you could consider partnering with some other complimentary services. I think that could be a little unclear, so I'll try and clarify with the example.

Example: I'll try using the GoDaddy example again. However, this time, think of GoDaddy as a company that ONLY offers hosting. If you're GoDaddy, you could offer to partner w/other designers and create an option at checkout to select that option. It's almost like a lead-gen site within the actual sale.

Think about your demographic. What are their biggest needs? What satisfies them the most? If you think about these questions long enough, an idea will come to you.

Also, you can explore other advertising methods. For instance, you can look for forums that are focused on your product/service.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[djs13]

Ditto to the niche idea. Your post is vague but I realize you may not want everyone to know about your idea, but this also limits the suggestions people on the board can give you.

I think the two biggest things you should be looking at is your product and the marketing you put into it. If you don't have a huge marketing budget, read "Guerilla Marketing." This will save you alot of money down the road.

What makes your product unique compared to your competition?

 

[BLSH]

Put yourself in the shoes of your client. Imagine complementary things that the client needs besides your product/service that you dont currently provide. Now Provide those for them. Become "Value-Added."

 

[Toiletcake]

Yes, I am working on adding some new ideas now.

I spend 10k to 20k per month on advertising so thats a fair budget. Its just that my competitors are doing the same as me and we are working with almost the same customer base. As more businesses open up its more hands in the jar.

Seo is locked up by the big boys in the field. It would be rather difficult from what I have been told to get optimaztion to the first page on many of the big keywords. What other areas can be looked into for advertising?

I have to be vague but the insight is helpful. Keep it coming please.

 

[Jonleehacker]

I think you should let go of some of your preconceptions.

If you believe it is saturated, difficult, locked up...you will severely limit your possibilities and creativity.

I have a site that was able to rank highly for many payday loan terms. There is no more intense or competitive industry online, but it wasn't really that difficult to get 200 or 300 organic visitors a day. It just took a couple creative ideas.

I am not really even a very good SEO and I could easily expand the number if I put the time in, you just need to have an open mind and look for the 'inefficiencies in the market'...they are always there.

All the best.

 

[Toiletcake]

I see your point. I am not an seo guy either. I will have to get some more opinions from some good sources on this subject.

Always good to get some thoughts from others outside the box.