A competitive advantage is only a real advantage if it’s sustainable over time. In this episode, we’ll explain why you should seek to build marketing strategies for the long run. Watch now to find out…
Don’t miss a single episode of Here’s Why with Mark & Eric. Click the subscribe button below to be notified via email each time a new video is published.
Resources Mentioned
Transcript
Mark: Eric, what’s wrong with the way most businesses approach their marketing in competitive situations?
Eric: Every business is looking to gain an advantage over its competition, but too many settle for the easy win or insist on instant result.
Mark: Anything wrong with wanting fast results?
Eric: Not at all. Nobody would turn away a quick win, but those victories can be a trap too.
Mark: Really? How so?
Eric: The problem is this: If it’s fast, it was probably easy and therefore not hard for your competition to replicate.
Mark: So whatever you’ve gained from the competitive advantage would quickly disappear?
Eric: Exactly. In fact, it’s not really like it’s an advantage. You just got some short-term result, and that was the end of it.
Mark: I think that’s why you like to talk about marketing strategies that build a sustainable competitive advantage. Tell us what you mean by that.
Eric: A sustainable competitive advantage has two components: First, it’s a tactic or strategy that is difficult for your competition to replicate. Even if they are eventually able to replicate it, by the time they do, you’ve already captured so much of the market that their implementation might not have the same effect.
[Tweet “A sustainable competitive advantage is one that is hard for your competition to duplicate – Eric Enge. More at” quote=”A sustainable competitive advantage is one that is hard for your competition to duplicate. “]
Second, a sustainable competitive advantage is one that you’re able to continue to build on. In other words, it’s not a flash in the pan, an accidental success, or something like that, but instead, a well planned and executed strategy that can continue to improve over time.
[Tweet “A sustainable competitive advantage is an advantage you can build on over time – Eric Enge. More at” quote=”A sustainable competitive advantage is an advantage you can build on over time – Eric Enge.”]
Mark: That sounds smart. So why doesn’t everyone do it?
Eric: Because it’s hard and it takes time. Building a sustainable competitive advantage often involves deep creative thinking, lots of researching, and careful testing, and the results may not show up for many months or even longer. But when such a strategy succeeds, the payoff will be many times bigger than even a series of short-term wins.
Mark: And I know from some of our own experience, as well as our experience with our clients, that the investment for sustainable competitive advantage strategies is mostly in the early stages of its development, right? So the cost of sustaining it over the long haul and continuing to reap benefits from it gets lower over time because you’ve already built the infrastructure for success. Whereas with quick-win strategies, the benefits go away sooner, and you’re back to scratch for building the next one.
Eric: In summary, gaining a sustainable competitive advantage means doing the hard thing and doing it better than anyone else.
[Tweet “What you need to do is simple: Do the hard thing better than anyone else – Eric Enge. More at” quote=”What you need to do is simple: Do the hard thing better than anyone else – Eric Enge. More at”]
Mark: Well said, Eric. Now, in an upcoming episode of “Here’s Why,” we’ll cover some specific ways you can build this advantage in your marketing efforts. If you can’t wait to see what Eric recommends, go read his Search Engine Land article, “Sustainable Competitive Advantages in Digital Marketing”.
Eric: And in these “Here’s Why” videos, we regularly share with you the strategies we use with our Perficient Digital clients to give them a sustainable competitive advantage in their marketplace. Be sure to subscribe to this series so you’ll never miss one of our tips.
Don’t miss a single episode of Here’s Why with Mark & Eric. Click the subscribe button below to be notified via email each time a new video is published.
Great video Mark and Eric. I love how you say that a long-term strategy will win out even over a series of short-term wins if it is difficult to replicate and easy to build upon once established.
Many companies look for quick wins and are reluctant to invest the time and resources needed to build a truly sustainable competitive advantage. As Seth Godin might say, they don’t make it past The Dip.
The companies that persevere and lay the groundwork for a long-term competitive advantage might not win right away, but they build the resources that destroy their competition later on down the road.
Well said!
Great post…I agree long term strategy always work well, one might not see the results soon but it is always fruitful when it comes to long run.
A sustainable competitive advantage is something that indeed requires sweat and perseverance…
As your video suggests, Mark and Eric, one can find a competitive advantage by working a lot to produce extraordinary assets (white-papers, conferences, loyal audience, you name it). But it can also be the result of serendipity : by getting lucky in exploring a new market, by trying a new social network before your peers, by trying an approach that had no reason to work a priori.
I agree, Jean-Christophe, and our video is not meant to suggest that we’ve covered all the ways you can gain a sustainable competitive advantage. The number of ways is only limited by one’s imagination!