As seen on Forbes
By Kathleen Lucente
“We’re really the only ones out there doing what we’re doing.” No, you’re not. Eliminate that string of words from your vocabulary entirely. I can’t say how many times I’ve sat in new business meetings with startup founders or executives who shrug when asked about other companies competing in the space.
You may have the best value proposition, the best set of product features or some kind of unique functionality that sets you apart, but you are most definitely not the only company trying to solve someone’s problem or appeal to a certain audience.
If you are, congratulations, you’re a pioneer. But you best turn around pretty quickly or sprint faster because someone else is chasing you like a gazelle through the Serengeti. The days of pure business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) competition are gone. A fintech company, for instance, is not just competing with other fintech companies, or even banks and credit unions. It competes against every other company that offers an even remotely similar experience, whether it’s digital — an app, a website, a mobile experience — or physical — retail checkout or brick-and-mortar interactions.
Welcome to the world of brand versus everyone else. I’m referring to the idea that brands are competing in a collective space that is growing exponentially more crowded. As devices proliferate and people become more and more attached to them in new and different ways, the options they have to interact with brands of all kinds in all industries similarly grow.
In the digital realm, particularly, it’s important to maintain a mentality that your website, app, login or checkout experience and every other interaction a customer has with your brand is implicitly compared to that person’s favorite experiences, which can change rapidly in a saturated digital market. When that notion has a permanent residence in the back of your head, it can provide an additional incentive to constantly improve the experience and products you offer customers and to never be satisfied with what you currently have because it’s a good bet your customers won’t be either.
A MORE PRACTICAL VIEW OF COMPETITION
The prospect of competing with every other company on Earth doesn’t necessarily bring much actionable value in the context of your own market and products, despite its usefulness in adopting an attitude of vigilance and overall awareness of customer expectations.
Within the context of one’s own market, however, it should be easier to identify those companies competing against your entire line of business or against individual products that may be spread across different sectors.
The worst mistake you can make is failing to identify other companies that even loosely compete in your market. Don’t be stingy on drawing similarities between your product offerings and theirs; if they share even remotely similar functionality, address the same audiences, have the same product roadmap or growth strategy, target the same investors or use similar language as you, slap them onto your list of competitors. Separate that list into primary competitors — which challenge your core business — and secondary competitors — which challenge your future growth vectors or compete against your secondary products, offerings or services. This will make it much easier to gauge your success against those competitors over time.
Next, establish parameters around reporting. Hold monthly meetings with your marketing, sales enablement and public relations teams to examine your competitors’ press outreach strategies. Are they using press releases to announce partnership wins, product launches, feature updates, awards, speaking engagements or some combination therein? What kind of play do those releases get in the press? Are sites just running them as-is or are they requesting interviews with spokespeople? How are they positioning their executives and thought leaders? What topics are they tackling? At what events are they speaking?
These types of questions shouldn’t be asked and answered to check off a box on the monthly reporting requirements for different departments. They can clearly identify gaps in the market that you can fill with the right messaging, executive positioning and press strategy. They will also help you to avoid embarrassing moments with investors who will undoubtedly ask how your market strategy compares to competitors and what you’re doing to differentiate.
