How can you grow by copying your competitor's activities?
How can you grow by copying your competitor's activities?
There's the old saying about being a good runner: "If you want to run fast, you have to train like someone who wants to win." Copy them!
Greetings!
I'm here to tell you that when you copy your competitor's activities, it can really grow your business.
As a business owner, you know that your success depends on the customers you have in your community. But what if you had a way to grow those customers without having to do all the work? Hian!
You see, I do this all the time, and it works like a charm. I'll be honest with you: I don't know why it works, but it does. 😂
In 2013, Snap was a threat to Instagram, eating into its users and business. It was a fast-growing business in 2015. Instagram didn't try to come up with a new killer feature or tried fighting. Instead, Facebook Mark Zuckerberg offered to buy Snap for a whopping $3 billion but Snap's founder - Evan Spiegel, refused to sell. So, what did Facebook do instead? Copy the hell of Snap. They relentlessly copy Snap from face filters to disappearing messages.
Was it successful? Read this for yourself 👉 "Instagram's Snapchat clone is more popular than Snapchat" and 👇🏽
"The downgrade of Snapchat’s parent firm by Morgan Stanley came one business day after Facebook’s rival Instagram service introduced what it called its “fun new face filter.”
The feature, which allows users to personalize photos with realistic-looking digital elements, was just the latest in a long list of tools Instagram has rolled out to blunt Snapchat’s growing appeal to younger users." (Source: CNBC)
Amazingly, the strategy of copying competitors will never stop. Today, we see how all social media platforms are trying to be like TikTok. For instance, YouTube came out with Shorts and Instagram introduced Reels.
If the big guys are copying the small guys, why shouldn't you, especially if it makes sense? Is it affecting your users? Copy it. Will it affect your business soon? Copy it.
The whole idea is to copy. Don't try to make it better at first, you might just make it worse and that's not what you want. Play by the assumption that your users like what they see your competitor doing and only wish you could give them that same experience. Only when you're able to deliver that same experience you can decide to take it further. Why? Because your users can give you real-time feedback. Which ultimately helps with your strategic positioning.
Tips: The best way to beat your biggest competitor is to straight-up copy them.
Competition is good for everyone. It's healthy, it's friendly—and it can even be fun!
So what are YOU waiting for? Take some notes on how your competitors are doing things—you'll get there faster if you start by learning from them!
If you're looking to grow your business, seek to understand what you want to copy before you actually do. And ensure it's working for your competitor too. Use tools like Google Alert to keep tabs on them.
Ask yourself, "what advantage is this new - tool, feature, partnership etc., giving XYZ over my business?"
You can't just copy what your competitors do. But you can use the same strategies they do! It might seem like a daunting task, but it's not as hard as you think. Here's how it works:
Try these 5 steps 👇🏽
1: Find out what your competitors are doing and how they're doing it. Then, figure out how to implement those same tactics in your own business.
2. Copy those practices and activities by using their products, services, or tools (if they have them). See how it works for yourself. In product strategy, it's called product teardown. Do it.
3: Use those copied elements to grow your business. Send emails to your customers about how awesome this new thing is - feature, video, whatever - and why they should try it out. And then, when they do, make sure to thank them for doing so!
4: Share this information with other business owners in your industry so they can get on board with the plan and help spread the word about what you're doing. Become an industry leader. Tesla has its code in 'open source' so other electric car manufacturers can use it. Volvo did the same with its vehicle safety feature.
5: Make sure you follow up with the users that are trying out this new thing of yours regularly. Keep them engaged and excited about what's coming next! It's easier to get feedback from them like this.
Some free tools you can start using today to keep a tab on your competitors:
+ Moat
+ Klear
We will see how each one of these works and some more.
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Cheers!
Samson
Photo by Eugenio Marongiu | Getty Images