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AdultB2B 06-16-2010 02:10 PM

Know Your Competition
 
Know Your Competition

Every week before a game, professional football coaches and players spend hours and hours preparing for the next week's game. In addition to the time they spend working on their own skills and plays, they spend an enormous amount of time studying their opposition. They analyze their competition's strengths and weaknesses, look at their own strengths and weaknesses, and then formulate their strategy based on what they've learned. If their team has a great running game, and the opposing defense is horrible against the run, they'll choose to highlight their ground game. They must first understand themselves, and then understand their competition in order to properly formulate a strategy.

The same is true in business. It's essential you know your competition. Sometimes it's easy to identify and combat your competition, but lets look at a few scenarios you may not have considered when sizing up your competitors and formulating your strategy. You can classify competition into three general categories:

- Direct Competitors,
- Indirect Competitors,
- And the "Dreaded Inertia"

To illustrate these three kinds of competition, let's use weight loss products. Let's say you're marketing an all-natural weight loss product that a person takes in the form of pills that metabolically "melt" fat away. Who would your direct competitors be? Well, first of all, the other 50 to 100 products on the market that are pills that metabolically melt away fat. You could also include similar products like weight loss shakes, weight loss skin patches, and meal replacement bars. These are all products that the customer could buy instead of yours that at least claim to do the same thing.

What about indirect competitors? Indirect competitors are products that prospects could buy instead of yours that aren't the exact same kind of product, but offer the same benefits and results. So, ask yourself this question: What is the end benefit of using your product or service? Then, ask yourself, what other kinds of products offer the same end benefit? That's your indirect competition. For weight loss there are tons of them: Since the end benefit you're promoting is weight loss, think of all the other products that can do that, including weight loss clinics like Weight Watchers & Jenny Craig, books, audio & videos, personal trainers, doctors, chiropractors, acupuncture, health food, fitness equipment, sports equipment, membership gyms, and some options that don't even cost money, like exercising at home. These are all things your prospect could do or buy instead of buying your product. These are your indirect competitors.

And what about the "dreaded inertia?" This is a tough competitor to combat. It's called "DOING NOTHING." Your prospect could just not do or buy anything. In the case of our diet aid, it means staying fat and taking no action whatsoever. That's a tough competitor to beat because it costs a prospect nothing and it's really easy to do. Plus, he's already proven that he's really good at doing it.

So why know your competitors? Because then you can design your marketing and advertising strategy to address and combat them. And the advertisements would be different, depending on the competition. Now that we've identified each of the three kinds of competitors for a weight loss pill, let's determine how that would effect your advertisements. First, if you were selling against direct competitors, you'd want to articulate all the reasons why your formula was superior...whether that means better or more scientifically proven ingredients, higher doses of certain nutrients, cheaper prices, it can be taken less often, the pills are smaller, the supply last longer, less side effects, etc. The specifics are up to you.

But what if you were advertising and competing against indirect competitors? First, it's best if your target audience is not that familiar with the direct competitors, or your message won't carry much weight. They'll hear your comparisons against indirect competitors but then wonder why or if you're any better than the other pills on the market. It would be like advertising that a BMW is better than a bike. True enough, but people would be wondering why it wasn't being compared to another luxury car, a direct competitor, rather than a bike - which is an indirect competitor. But for the weight loss, you could talk about how much easier the pills are than going to the gym, or how much cheaper they are than buying an expensive piece of exercise equipment that you'll hang clothes on and then sell in a garage sale in 2 years. You could talk about how much cheaper the pills are than going to Weight Watchers, and how much less painful than going to the acupuncturist. And so on.

Now think about what your strategy would be if you were selling against inertia ... or, in other words, doing nothing at all? What would you say? What would your slant be? You'd probably talk about the benefits of being thin, then you'd compare the benefits of your products against INDIRECT competitors; for example, easier, cheaper, less work, etc. Why? Because the reason that they're doing nothing is they perceive all their options to be too hard, too expensive, or too time consuming. You would be introducing a way to lose weight that overcomes all those problems. You probably wouldn't even need to mention direct competitors.

Here's a real life scenario. Imagine there's a company that sells a franchise-like business opportunity in the e-commerce industry. And they need to write and place ads with the intent of finding people who are interested in investing in starting their own business. Who do they compete against? Direct competitors? Indirect competitors? Or Inertia? Do you know? The answer is...it depends on where they advertise.

One place people who are in the market for buying or starting up a business go to find ideas is Entrepreneur Magazine. There are oodles of ads in there for businesses - over 300 different opportunities last time we checked. So when advertising in Entrepreneur Magazine they'd be competing against direct competitors - or, all the other business opportunities vying for the prospects money. In this case, they'd want to hit prospects head on with a headline that said something like ...

"The Perfect Business You've Been Searching For Your Entire Career, But Never Found - Until Now."

On the other hand, maybe they also do a lot of radio advertising to find people who are interested. In this medium, they would be competing against inertia. Someone who's listening to the radio probably isn't thinking, "Oh, I hope I hear an ad for a business opportunity. I sure would like to drop 20 Grand on something today." No, they're probably not thinking that at all. So they'd have to create the interest from scratch and turn them on to the idea of making more money by getting involved in a business. They'd have to say things to get that fuse lit just a little bit. They couldn't just say that their opportunity is superior to other opportunities and here's why, because it wouldn't make any sense. Could they say those things to the Entrepreneur magazine crowd and have them make sense? Absolutely, but not the radio audience. See how that works?

The Point Is: Identify Your Competition. Now, odds are you're not selling a franchise, and you're probably not selling a diet pill either. But, the critical point is to identify your competition. So ask yourself:

Who are your direct competitors?
Who are your indirect competitors?

First, you find those by asking, what is the end benefit of using my product or service? Secondly, ask yourself, what other kinds of products offer the same end benefit as mine? And thirdly, ask yourself, does the prospect have the option of doing nothing, and if so, what would I have to say to get him or her to take action? (hint: it needs to be really low-risk.)

This article and the ones to follow in the GFY Educational Series were previously published as part of a marketing system that Adult B2B Marketing has full copyright approval to republish.

BestXXXPorn 06-16-2010 02:37 PM

Great writeup!

Too true and I'd like to thank all the 600+ sponsors I'm signed up with that let me get a glimpse into the entire industry in one go ;)

Although I'm not building a pay site model so that's not quite competition. However... FreeOnes, PicHunter, I'm watching you... and have been for the last year and a half (as well as a half dozen others)...

One great thing about not having a product out... you can develop massive amounts of features and nobody has any idea what you're up to... I mean shit how many posts am I up to now? Has anyone ever heard me mention a single thing about what I'm doing? Hiding in shadows for the win!

Barefootsies 06-16-2010 02:39 PM

Nice article buddy clam. Keep up the good work!

myjah 06-17-2010 09:15 AM

Thanks for sharing this Bruce!

Crash2007 06-17-2010 10:08 AM

Very informative post.
Thanks
:thumbsup

fatfoo 06-17-2010 06:05 PM

Being better than the competitors is very important for business.

AdPatron 06-17-2010 07:12 PM

Your competition can do the work for you.

CunningStunt 06-18-2010 06:24 AM

AdultB2B, I suggest you don't do any more of these threads. You're a joke.

sortie 06-18-2010 07:15 AM

My competition is illegal tubes and torrents.

</end>

myjah 06-18-2010 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CunningStunt (Post 17259808)
AdultB2B, I suggest you don't do any more of these threads. You're a joke.

I think it's been made pretty clear that unless you have something to ask or contribute in these threads, you should not post.

Attacking the contributor is not tolerated in any fashion. If you don't like reading Bruce's GFY Educational Series threads, don't open them anymore.

kjmaster 06-30-2010 12:11 AM

thanks a lot, nicely written

mukeshsnp 07-09-2011 02:33 AM

Thank you for writing it!

dc0ded 07-20-2011 03:33 AM

excellent article. very well written and very informative. thank you very much and keep posting such nice articles.

My Pimp 09-05-2011 11:41 AM

Interesting article .

wyliefox 11-23-2011 10:28 PM

Thanks for the thoughts.. I really appreciate this advice

DirtyHardCash 03-23-2012 08:20 PM

Great Post
 
Great Post - Thanks

jebon 04-16-2012 04:06 PM

really good info..thank you

Bat_Man 04-22-2012 04:14 AM

Very helpful tips .. Must try these ... Nice sharing though ..

realgirlsgonebad 05-20-2012 05:15 AM

thanks for sharing. appreciated.

GFELIFE 06-09-2012 02:57 PM

gfelife is da best
Quote:

Originally Posted by AdultB2B (Post 17253099)
Know Your Competition

Every week before a game, professional football coaches and players spend hours and hours preparing for the next week's game. In addition to the time they spend working on their own skills and plays, they spend an enormous amount of time studying their opposition. They analyze their competition's strengths and weaknesses, look at their own strengths and weaknesses, and then formulate their strategy based on what they've learned. If their team has a great running game, and the opposing defense is horrible against the run, they'll choose to highlight their ground game. They must first understand themselves, and then understand their competition in order to properly formulate a strategy.

The same is true in business. It's essential you know your competition. Sometimes it's easy to identify and combat your competition, but lets look at a few scenarios you may not have considered when sizing up your competitors and formulating your strategy. You can classify competition into three general categories:

- Direct Competitors,
- Indirect Competitors,
- And the "Dreaded Inertia"

To illustrate these three kinds of competition, let's use weight loss products. Let's say you're marketing an all-natural weight loss product that a person takes in the form of pills that metabolically "melt" fat away. Who would your direct competitors be? Well, first of all, the other 50 to 100 products on the market that are pills that metabolically melt away fat. You could also include similar products like weight loss shakes, weight loss skin patches, and meal replacement bars. These are all products that the customer could buy instead of yours that at least claim to do the same thing.

What about indirect competitors? Indirect competitors are products that prospects could buy instead of yours that aren't the exact same kind of product, but offer the same benefits and results. So, ask yourself this question: What is the end benefit of using your product or service? Then, ask yourself, what other kinds of products offer the same end benefit? That's your indirect competition. For weight loss there are tons of them: Since the end benefit you're promoting is weight loss, think of all the other products that can do that, including weight loss clinics like Weight Watchers & Jenny Craig, books, audio & videos, personal trainers, doctors, chiropractors, acupuncture, health food, fitness equipment, sports equipment, membership gyms, and some options that don't even cost money, like exercising at home. These are all things your prospect could do or buy instead of buying your product. These are your indirect competitors.

And what about the "dreaded inertia?" This is a tough competitor to combat. It's called "DOING NOTHING." Your prospect could just not do or buy anything. In the case of our diet aid, it means staying fat and taking no action whatsoever. That's a tough competitor to beat because it costs a prospect nothing and it's really easy to do. Plus, he's already proven that he's really good at doing it.

So why know your competitors? Because then you can design your marketing and advertising strategy to address and combat them. And the advertisements would be different, depending on the competition. Now that we've identified each of the three kinds of competitors for a weight loss pill, let's determine how that would effect your advertisements. First, if you were selling against direct competitors, you'd want to articulate all the reasons why your formula was superior...whether that means better or more scientifically proven ingredients, higher doses of certain nutrients, cheaper prices, it can be taken less often, the pills are smaller, the supply last longer, less side effects, etc. The specifics are up to you.

But what if you were advertising and competing against indirect competitors? First, it's best if your target audience is not that familiar with the direct competitors, or your message won't carry much weight. They'll hear your comparisons against indirect competitors but then wonder why or if you're any better than the other pills on the market. It would be like advertising that a BMW is better than a bike. True enough, but people would be wondering why it wasn't being compared to another luxury car, a direct competitor, rather than a bike - which is an indirect competitor. But for the weight loss, you could talk about how much easier the pills are than going to the gym, or how much cheaper they are than buying an expensive piece of exercise equipment that you'll hang clothes on and then sell in a garage sale in 2 years. You could talk about how much cheaper the pills are than going to Weight Watchers, and how much less painful than going to the acupuncturist. And so on.

Now think about what your strategy would be if you were selling against inertia ... or, in other words, doing nothing at all? What would you say? What would your slant be? You'd probably talk about the benefits of being thin, then you'd compare the benefits of your products against INDIRECT competitors; for example, easier, cheaper, less work, etc. Why? Because the reason that they're doing nothing is they perceive all their options to be too hard, too expensive, or too time consuming. You would be introducing a way to lose weight that overcomes all those problems. You probably wouldn't even need to mention direct competitors.

Here's a real life scenario. Imagine there's a company that sells a franchise-like business opportunity in the e-commerce industry. And they need to write and place ads with the intent of finding people who are interested in investing in starting their own business. Who do they compete against? Direct competitors? Indirect competitors? Or Inertia? Do you know? The answer is...it depends on where they advertise.

One place people who are in the market for buying or starting up a business go to find ideas is Entrepreneur Magazine. There are oodles of ads in there for businesses - over 300 different opportunities last time we checked. So when advertising in Entrepreneur Magazine they'd be competing against direct competitors - or, all the other business opportunities vying for the prospects money. In this case, they'd want to hit prospects head on with a headline that said something like ...

"The Perfect Business You've Been Searching For Your Entire Career, But Never Found - Until Now."

On the other hand, maybe they also do a lot of radio advertising to find people who are interested. In this medium, they would be competing against inertia. Someone who's listening to the radio probably isn't thinking, "Oh, I hope I hear an ad for a business opportunity. I sure would like to drop 20 Grand on something today." No, they're probably not thinking that at all. So they'd have to create the interest from scratch and turn them on to the idea of making more money by getting involved in a business. They'd have to say things to get that fuse lit just a little bit. They couldn't just say that their opportunity is superior to other opportunities and here's why, because it wouldn't make any sense. Could they say those things to the Entrepreneur magazine crowd and have them make sense? Absolutely, but not the radio audience. See how that works?

The Point Is: Identify Your Competition. Now, odds are you're not selling a franchise, and you're probably not selling a diet pill either. But, the critical point is to identify your competition. So ask yourself:

Who are your direct competitors?
Who are your indirect competitors?

First, you find those by asking, what is the end benefit of using my product or service? Secondly, ask yourself, what other kinds of products offer the same end benefit as mine? And thirdly, ask yourself, does the prospect have the option of doing nothing, and if so, what would I have to say to get him or her to take action? (hint: it needs to be really low-risk.)

This article and the ones to follow in the GFY Educational Series were previously published as part of a marketing system that Adult B2B Marketing has full copyright approval to republish.


jcche19 01-26-2013 12:02 PM

sometimes is better to be friend of your competition :)

Tom.K 02-27-2013 03:20 PM

another good article, thanks

crakbern 09-05-2013 01:33 PM

Good article!

equalspequals 10-17-2013 03:28 PM

Interesting stuff, thankyou

Claudiu_Radu 12-06-2013 04:48 AM

sweet guide thx

Sinistress 04-16-2014 05:12 AM

nice
 
Thank you for your post

Karlstorm 11-18-2014 10:11 AM

Nice info thanks.

roxanneraid 12-10-2014 04:46 PM

Very interesting info. Thanks!

hotbarbie 12-10-2014 05:26 PM

Great writeup! Thanks

thecatwrites 12-11-2014 07:05 AM

I really admire folks who take the time to write a lengthy article sharing some useful information. Kudos to you!

zelca4ever 12-12-2014 12:55 AM

Bumping this up as I read it.

horikh 12-12-2014 12:55 AM

Interesting read, thankyou:)

valerynoir 12-12-2014 12:55 AM

This is HUGE man, thanks!

bella.franceska 12-12-2014 02:06 AM

thanks for sharing, good sir

silviustr 12-12-2014 02:08 AM

Cool read!

miss.ralu 12-12-2014 02:10 AM

This is HUGE man, thanks!

parleal 12-12-2014 02:10 AM

Interesting read, thankyou:)

aditeo 12-12-2014 03:07 AM

Killer article.

cinnemon 12-12-2014 03:07 AM

Great tips.

VladisMarines 12-13-2014 05:07 AM

Keep up the good work! tnx a lot

fappingJack 12-16-2014 04:56 AM

thanks for the info sir. Very helpful

newjack509 12-16-2014 02:34 PM

Interesting article. Keep it going.

newjack509 12-16-2014 03:05 PM

interesting
 
intertia... that was a little freak but quite real.:error

MikeAMS 10-09-2015 07:31 AM

nice work man!

rudimentalcom 10-16-2015 01:58 PM

Lots of good tips here. Thank you so much!

MassTuber 01-05-2016 11:33 AM

Nice read! Thanks!

j3rkules 01-05-2016 11:38 AM

Amazing read.

Tomxxx 02-03-2016 12:49 PM

Amazing article! This is gold!

GamblingDomains 02-15-2016 03:12 AM

applies to any industry. Good read

blogspot 02-23-2016 01:47 PM

Great Article thanks man!


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