Your Competitors’ Strategy Wasn’t Built for Your Business

Let’s be honest, every business looks at what its competitors are doing, and we do it too!

Before starting a new strategy or campaign, it helps to understand what others in your industry are doing and what audiences are responding to. From there, you can identify which ideas could be adapted to fit your own business.

Competitor research can offer valuable insight into industry trends, how other businesses communicate with their audiences, and which content formats are gaining attention. It can also provide some much-needed inspiration when your own ideas are running low.

The difference is using a competitor for inspiration vs using their strategy as your entire marketing plan. Where some businesses miss the mark is failing to adapt those ideas into something that makes sense for their own marketing.

That’s why we’re breaking down what you can learn from your competitors and where to find the right inspiration so you can tailor those ideas to build a strong, cohesive brand.

Their strategy was built around their business

Here’s an example we hear all the time: a competitor posts a video that gets thousands of views, so naturally, you want to try something similar.

There is nothing wrong with that. The problem comes when businesses copy the idea without considering why it worked or whether it makes sense for their own audience.

If they’re in the same industry though, how different can it really be? 

Your competitor may have…

• A different target audience

• A larger advertising budget

• A more established online presence

• Different business goals

• The manpower that can produce content more frequently

• A completely different brand personality

Also, it's important to remember that what looks successful from the outside may not be delivering the results that matter most to the business.

You’re only seeing the public side of their marketing. A post may receive a lot of likes, but that doesn’t tell you whether it drove website traffic, generated inquiries or leads, or improved the brand’s overall visibility.

Use competitors as research, not a blueprint

Instead of saying, “They posted this, so we should too,” try asking:

• Why did this content get people’s attention?

• What part of the idea could be relevant to our audience?

• Does this format fit our brand?

• Can we add our own experience or perspective?

• How could we make this more useful to our customers?

• Does this support one of our current marketing goals?

These questions help you understand the strategy behind the content instead of simply recreating what you see.

For example, you may notice that a competitor’s educational videos receive strong engagement. The takeaway is not necessarily to copy their topics or scripts. It may be a sign that your audience would also benefit from helpful information.

Also, your version could answer the questions your customers ask most often, feature someone from your team, or explain a process that is unique to your business.

The same goes for trends

Trends can give businesses a timely and creative way to reach more people. They can also make a brand feel forced when they are used without much thought.

So before jumping on a trend, ask yourself how it connects to your business.

Can it highlight your team? Explain a service? Address a common customer experience? Share an industry opinion? Show something that happens behind the scenes?

If you have to stretch the idea to make it relevant, your audience will probably notice.

The strongest trend-based content still sounds and feels like the business behind it. It uses a familiar concept to communicate something specific, relatable, or valuable to that brand’s audience.

Focus on what your competitors cannot copy

Your competitors may offer similar services, use the same platforms, and participate in the same trends. They still do not have your exact team, process, experiences, customer relationships, or perspective. Those are the things that make your content worth paying attention to.

Show how your team approaches the work. Share lessons you have learned or answer real customer questions. It also helps when you talk about the details that matter within your industry. Give people a sense of what it would actually be like to work with your business.

That type of content is much harder to copy because it is based on what makes your business your business.

Build a strategy that fits

So, what can you start doing now? Take note of what catches your attention and identify what makes the format, topic, or approach effective. If you can connect the idea back to your own audience, you’re in the right place to tailor the content to fit your goals and brand personality.

What matters most is how you borrow ideas from others and build upon them for your own brand, instead of simply copying something that doesn’t feel like it belongs to you.

Personally, we’re always paying attention to what is happening across industries and platforms. Working with clients in a variety of industries has given us the opportunity to build expertise in many different fields, which helps us develop successful marketing strategies for our clients. We’re less interested in replicating what others are doing and more interested in improving upon those ideas for ourselves and our clients.

We’ll leave you with this: only you can tell your story. If your marketing feels disjointed and needs a clearer, more strategic approach, reach Tara at Tara@MakinItMarketing.com or book your complimentary consultation to get started!