Several big brands have carved out significant market share in their respective industries. Awareness of increasing market share is key to a successful business, leading to increased revenues and greater profitability.
For instance, Google dominates the global desktop search market with a share of around 83.49 percent, leaving Bing with a comparatively smaller market share of 9.19 percent as of July 2023.
Similarly, as per a June 2022 report, Amazon held a dominant position in the U.S. e-commerce market, commanding a significant share of 37.8%.
Staggering as these statistics may be, it’s important to remember that these companies didn’t achieve this dominance overnight. They implemented a series of calculated strategies and practices to increase their market share steadily. These success stories provide valuable lessons and actionable insights for businesses striving to become market leaders and expand their market presence.
In this article, we’ll discuss the steps and best ways a business can take to increase its market share in 2024 effectively-
Table of Contents
What is Market Share?
A company’s market share is the portion of a particular market it owns or controls. It’s calculated by dividing the company’s total sales within a specific period by the entire industry’s total sales for the same period.
What does it mean to increase market share?
It means expanding a company’s presence and control over a specific market. It indicates how popular a brand is in customers’ eyes and how attractive its services or products are compared to competitors.
Increasing market share entails growing faster than the industry average, resulting in a larger piece of the “market pie”. This can be achieved through various strategic initiatives. Here are a few key strategies to gain greater market share:
- Focusing on customer satisfaction
- Retaining existing customers
- Building a loyal customer base
- Gaining a competitive advantage
- Developing a strong brand voice
- Utilizing digital marketing tactics to reach new audiences and targeting niche market.
The formula for Market share is-
Market share = Your total sales / Entire market total sales *100
These are just some of the many ways to increase market share. Let’s now go through the ten best ways to gain market share in 2024 –
How to Increase Market Share
1) Innovate In Your Current Market & Try New Products
Product innovation isn’t just about creating new products and improving existing ones. Businesses should consider innovating in their current market and experimenting with new products to attract a broader audience. Here are a few product innovation strategies you can increase to ensure business success and optimize market share:
- Revamping existing products
- Launching new products
- Collaborating with other brands
- Exploring new technologies
2) Be Accessible and Have a Skilled Workforce
Having a presence in multiple channels, such as social media or retail stores, is important. Being accessible to customers increases the chances of gaining and retaining new customers. Moreover, having a skilled and motivated workforce ensures that your services and products are delivered according to high-quality standards. A few such marketing strategies that you may try to increase your market share are:
- Expand into new markets
- Invest in customer relationship management (CRM) software
- Enhance supply chain efficiency
- Implement competitive pricing strategies
- Offer discounts or special promotions
- Employees should be skilled in new technology and trends
3) Focus On Differentiation & Use Profit-Based Marketing
Differentiating yourself from other competitors is essential for gaining market share. You can differentiate your product offering, such as unique features or packaging. Additionally, using profit-based marketing strategies helps to increase the profitability of your products and services. Here are a few ways you can differentiate and use profit-based marketing to increase your market share and optimize the company’s sales:
- Create unique branding
- Differentiate with customer service
- Offer bundle pricing
- Develop loyalty programs
- Invest in online advertising campaigns
- Focus on customer needs and wants
4) Optimize Customer Loyalty & Foster Relationships
It is essential to build relationships with customers and optimize customer loyalty. This can be done by offering rewards for repeat purchases, nurturing customer loyalty, creating personalized experiences, and providing exceptional customer service. Additionally, you could use customer feedback to improve your products or services and convert customers into loyal customers. Here are a few strategies that may help:
- Utilize data analytics technologies
- Personalize your customer communications
- Run customer loyalty programs
- Create a “Customer Advisory Board”
- Utilize social media for marketing and feedback purposes
- Send out surveys or feedback forms with rewards
5) Try New Sales Channels & Know How to Close Sales
Exploring new sales channels, such as online stores or retail outlets, is important. Additionally, it is essential to have a solid understanding of how to close sales. This includes knowing your target audience, listening for buying signals, and being prepared with product knowledge. Here are a few tips on exploring new sales channels and closing sales:
- Leverage social media platforms
- Create a sales process and stick to it
- Use effective language and visuals
- Develop an understanding of buyer psychology
- Analyze customer data and patterns
- Utilize referral programs to get new customers
6) Acquisitions & Partnerships
Acquisitions and partnerships can be a great way to increase market share. This could involve entering into an agreement with another company, buying out competition, or expanding into new markets. It is essential to look for growth opportunities to maintain competitiveness. Here are a few tactics you can use:
- Meet with potential partners or acquirers
- Analyze industry trends and identify opportunities
- Leverage financial resources to acquire competitors
- Research potential targets for acquisition or partnerships
- Utilize data analytics technologies to make informed decisions
- Develop an understanding of the competitive landscape in your market.
7) Advertising & Promotions
Advertising and promotions are the most common methods for increasing market share. This can involve creating ads or campaigns, offering discounts and deals, or utilizing influencers to reach a wider audience. Here are a few tips on how to use advertising and promotions effectively:
- Develop an understanding of your target audience
- Identify the most effective advertising channels
- Utilize A/B testing and data analytics to optimize campaigns
- Leverage influencers for maximum outreach
- Offer discounts and exclusive deals to customers
- Track customer feedback and adjust messages accordingly.
8) Price Reductions
Price reductions can be a powerful tool for increasing market share. This might involve lowering the cost of a product or service, offering discounts and promotions, lowering prices or even reducing prices to compete with competitors. Here are a few tips on implementing price reductions:
- Analyze customer data to determine pricing points
- Compare prices with industry competitors
- Utilize market research to identify potential price reductions
- Identify opportunities for discounts and promotions
- Track customer feedback to adjust pricing according to demand
9) Invest In Digital Marketing & Improve Your Website
Digital marketing and website improvement can increase market share in 2024 and beyond. This may include investing in SEO (Search Engine Optimization), improving the user experience, or using pay-per-click campaigns to boost reach. Here are some tips on how to best utilize digital marketing and improve your website:
- Invest in keyword research to optimize content
- Leverage social media to increase visibility
- Utilize digital marketing tools like Google Ads and Facebook Ads
- Optimize the user experience by improving loading times and simplifying navigation
- Track customer feedback and adjust content accordingly
- Target mobile phone market through mobile marketing efforts
10) Leverage Data Insights
Data insights can be a powerful tool for increasing market share. Utilizing data-driven analytics will help you understand your customer base’ needs and preferences, identify trends in the marketplace, and make informed decisions about product development and pricing strategies. Here are some tips on leveraging data insights:
- Analyze customer feedback to understand their preferences
- Track consumer habits to identify trends
- Utilize customer data to optimize product offerings
- Use data insights for strengthening customer relationships
- Use data insights to inform pricing strategies
- Monitor industry competitors to stay up-to-date with the latest market developments
Understanding the Benefits of Market Share
To determine a company’s market share, you must determine how many sales or units it makes compared to the whole business. A company that makes $1 million in sales from an industry that makes $100 million has a 1% market share. In the same way, selling 50,000 units out of 5 million is the same portion of the market.
Having a more significant share of the market gives you several competitive advantages:
- Buying in bulk gives you more power when negotiating with sellers, which can help you save money.
- Thanks to economies of scale, making more of something lowers the cost per unit.
- When a company’s market share increases, sales also increase because loyal customers tend to buy more.
- It helps bring in more customers because loyal customers set the tone for new ones to follow.
- Increasing a business’s market share also improves its image, which could help it hire better employees, make more sales, and gain more negotiating power.
Consider a famous smartphone brand that wants to get better deals from its parts suppliers by increasing its market share. This will help the company lower manufacturing costs and attract more customers interested in the brand’s popularity and user satisfaction. This will help the brand make money immediately, strengthen its place in the market, and make it more appealing to top professionals in the field.
How Can I Improve My Market Position?
Improve your position in the market by carefully crafting the picture of your brand so that it speaks to current and potential customers. The goal, core, and appeal of your business and products should be summed up in this strategic branding. Follow these steps to make your business stand out in the market:
- Dive deep into the world of the people you want to reach. Thorough knowledge leads to powerful, moving messages tailored to the audience’s goals.
- Improve your business’s reputation. People are more likely to trust your products if they understand and agree with your values.
- Make it clear how your goods or services can improve people’s lives and stress their unique value. Meeting this goal is important for keeping customers and getting more of them.
- Draw attention to what makes you unique. Make clear what benefits you offer that no one else does and why your customers should care about your knowledge.
- Craft clear and personal messages and give potential customers useful information that makes them want to act, which is good for both them and your business’s growth.
How Can I Attract New Customers?
To attract new customers:
- Improve your marketing reach by sending personalized messages to new and old customers.
- Use personalized texts and tempting deals to bring back dormant customer relationships.
- Set up a strong referral program with appealing rewards to get current customers to tell their friends about your business.
- Ask your happiest and most loyal customers to promote your business on the platforms they already use.
- Check your website carefully to ensure its layout, mood, and content match the image you want to project for your brand. Use this opportunity to explain why your business exists and how it plans to improve customers’ lives.
- Be careful on review sites and respond to comments right away. Turn good reviews into recommendations that you can post on your website.
How Can I Prevent Loss of Market Share?
To protect your market share, monitor your numbers, study competitors’ strategies, and improve the business aspects that affect market share. This includes improving your products and services, setting competitive prices, making your customers happier, attracting more customers, enhancing your marketing, giving your employees more skills, and thinking about intelligent mergers or acquisitions.
Conclusion
To increase market share, firms should innovate, prioritize customer satisfaction, use data analytics, and distinguish themselves from the competition. Effective techniques include upgrading products and services, experimenting with new sales channels, harnessing digital marketing, and cultivating client loyalty. Success necessitates a consistent, data-driven approach to recognizing consumer demands and adjusting to market changes. Companies can use these techniques to increase their market presence, attract and retain customers, and achieve long-term success.
FAQs
Q. How Can I Improve My Market Position?
Leveraging data insights, utilizing digital marketing tools, optimizing user experience, and tracking customer feedback are the best ways to improve market position. Additionally, it would be best if you focused on building a strong brand identity that resonates with your target market.
Q. How Can I Attract New Customers?
There are several different ways to attract new customers. Invest in keyword research to optimize content and ensure potential customers can easily find it online. Leverage social media platforms to increase visibility and reach your target market. Utilize digital marketing tools like Google Ads and Facebook Ads to get the word out about your company’s products and services.
Q. How Can I Prevent Losing Market Share?
To prevent losing market share, it’s essential to:
- Stay on top of the latest industry trends
- Develop strategies for staying ahead of the competition
- Track customer feedback regularly to ensure satisfaction with products and services
- Invest in digital marketing campaigns to increase visibility and build relationships with potential customers
- Create an effective pricing strategy that is competitive yet profitable for your business.
Q. How Can I Measure Market Share?
Measuring market share can be a critical indicator of business growth. Here are a few methods you can employ for measuring market shares:
- Market research and customer surveys
- Sales data analysis
- Studying industry reports
- Monitor competitors’ performance
- Engage in social listening
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Hitesh,
I have a very innovative product in a niche market. There are less than 5 total competitors in our space and we are trying to figure a way to show it to the customer base and gain market share. There is a nationwide need for the product. Our product is also in flux on pricing based on certain budgets of each potential customer. I can tell you that its a product that will be used in govt, so budget is an issue. Also, the main competitor is a 2-3 person company. We are bigger, have more resources, better innovation, developers, support and overall ease of use. The problem is that the overall space has very small differences Coke/Pepsi ultimately, however the bells as whistles we have are more technologically advanced and will save major time and resources for the user base. What would be your suggestion in presenting this to the market? We’ve showcased it and some states use it exclusively, but there are a lot of states and even more entities within each state.
The only problem i can find in your case is distribution. All the other things you have mentioned show that you are confident that your company can make it big. But something is holding your approach to customers. If so, then my suggestion would be to get more people on board specifically targeting sales and distribution. Because that is a major time consuming process.
You mentioned Pepsi and Coke in the above example. You were probably mentioning that the differentiation between the products is not much. But the only reason most of these brands are actually surviving in the market is because of their distribution and supply chain. So if a majority of your market is *unexplored* and you are confident of your own ability, then i will suggest to first concentrate on exploring the market completely. And to give yourself some good time because results will not come immediately.