Talking about the competition in your marketing campaigns

(+ Examples from Elementary, Datree and HubSpot)

I recently launched a new LinkedIn campaign for a client, and one of the most successful ads in this campaign features a comparison table between the client and their top competitor. 

This ad has crazy CTRs, people are actively engaging with it - some have even reposted it - and the users it generates seem to be highly qualified.

The success of this ad proves something I've been promoting for some time now: Marketing should talk about the competitors. 

This is something that marketers are wary of for obvious reasons. But really, they shouldn't be.

Why?

First, your users will research and find your competitors either way. No one is purchasing a $50K/year SaaS without doing some research. 

(At least not in 2023).

Second, talking about your competitors helps with positioning. 

In B2B SaaS, it's often difficult to understand what a company does and whether it is what you're looking for.

Personally, whenever I try to understand what a particular company is doing, I always Google "[company name] vs" to see what would come up. 

When you talk about competitors, you make it clear what your market is.

Third, talking about competitors allows you to frame the conversation.

Your users will find your competitors anyway and ask themselves which product is better suited for their needs.

Don't let them do all this heavy lifting by themselves: Clearly explain to them why (and most often - for whom) your product is better than the competition.

And finally, when you talk about your competitors, you stand out because no one else is doing it. There's a market gap here; take advantage of it. 

Here are some examples of leveraging your competitors in marketing campaigns.

Competitors tables

Demand generation teams commonly use competitors tables in Google Search competitors campaigns.

This is a simple and straightforward playbook: You target a competitor brand on Google Search and direct users to a landing page featuring a comparison between your product and theirs.

My question is: Why limit this tactic to competitors' campaigns? Create an ad featuring the comparison table and promote it on Linkedin. 

Here is an example of how I executed this tactic with a client of mine:

Influencer Videos

When I worked at Datree, we strongly connected with an influencer named DevOps Toolkit.

We didn't only collaborate on marketing assets but discussed the industry, the category, and sometimes the competitors.

So at one point, we suggested to DevOps Toolkit: Hey, why don't you create a video comparing Datree to Kyverno, the leading competitor?

This was the result:

Case studies

Discussion of the competition is something that I find painfully missing in most case studies.

Specifically, case studies mostly fail to discuss:

1. What software was the product replacing?

2. What other options was the customer considering?

This is a shame because this is the information your customer needs most: Something to help him understand what is the best option for him.

Yet, one company that does it well, is HubSpot. Check out this case study where their customer, Marq, explains why they chose to migrate away from Salesforce, HubSpot's leading competitor.

Where else should marketing discuss competitors? Share your examples in the comments.