Why you shouldn’t copy your competitors!

It can be tempting to look at the marketing activity of a competitor or a leader in your industry and assume their strategy is obviously working for them, so it will therefore work for your business too. However copying marketing ideas and content from the competition isn’t a shortcut to success and can actually do more harm than good.

From the outside looking in, you’ve no idea whether your competitors are reaching a certain level of sales or brand awareness because of or in spite of their marketing strategy, or even whether they have much of a well-planned strategy at all.

This is particularly true of your digital strategy. It’s not immediately easy to tell from looking at a competitor’s website which aspects contribute to their success, which pages are getting hits and leading to conversions and which are not getting any traffic. In terms of search engine rankings, borrowing content and copying keywords does not mean you will immediately be able to compete with their online position as there are so many other factors in involved in SEO. In fact Google penalises for duplicated content! What’s more is that your business might only appear as one of many in a sea of almost identical, homogenous listings. How will you get noticed? Why would anyone click on your link over any of the others? There may be so many opportunities you may be missing out on, via other less explored avenues.

The key point is that copying your competitors means you’re using parts of their marketing strategy, not your own, and that can’t help you stand out from the rest. Their strategy, whatever it may be, is not designed to achieve success for your business, your products and services or to build your brand. A winning marketing strategy must be one that’s designed for your business and one that speaks to your ideal clients. Who are your customers and ideal prospects and how can you best reach them? What is different or unique about your brand? What benefits can you offer that your competitors can not? Define and market these.

Original content which is genuinely useful or entertaining to your target customers will help you build your own profile and stand out from everyone else. It’s a question of whether you want to be just another run of the mill provider amongst the herd, or get real value from marketing that helps you cut through and make a name for yourself in your industry, building a strong brand identity that customers know and trust, and ultimately improving your bottom line. If you want to communicate effectively and demonstrate why people should choose you, it’s always best to be seen as an innovator rather than a follower. Tell your story, don’t copy another!

We can help you stand out from the rest. Get in touch today.