5 Marketing Ideas You Can Steal From Your Competitors

You may be focusing your marketing efforts on paid advertisements. Experts have found that about 47% of consumers are blocking paid ads. However, paid advertisements aren’t the only way to grow your customer base.

Maybe you have tried other marketing strategies without much avail. Have you researched your competitors? A good starting point to developing the best marketing plan is conducting a competitive analysis to learn what’s working for your competitors.

During your research, you should look at everything from their website content to their social media pages. Now don’t start thinking the best approach is copying their exact marketing strategies. You don’t want to lose your identity so only use it as inspiration.

Not sure what marketing ideas you can steal? Here are the top 5 ideas you should consider copying from your competitors to grow your customer base.

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Let’s face it, gone are the years when businesses could get most of their sales out of paid advertising. Customers don’t fall for paid ads anymore. Are you investing in SEO?

If not, have you searched your business on Google? There’s a high probability that your website isn’t ranking number one or even on the first SERP(Search Engine Results Page). If that’s the case, you should research what keywords your competitors are using to earn that first spot on SERPs.

It’s important to do on-site and content optimization targeting those keywords. You should share content, run ads, and create blogs that feature these keywords. While you may try to do it yourself, you should consider hiring professional SEO services. 

An experienced SEO service may cost you a pretty penny, but it will be worth your investment. Landing on that coveted number 1 spot can bring more clients to your door for less than running paid ads.

2. Social Media Strategies

Most business owners believe that having a business website is enough online presence to grow their company. However, social media can put your business in front of more customers than the typical radio or print ad.

While your website is your main marketing hub, your social media pages will allow you to distribute your content. Take a look at what your competitors are doing on their social media profiles.

Are they featuring customer testimonials or products? How are they engaging with their audience? Use these cues as a guide when developing your social media strategy to target your customer base.

3. Content Creation

What content are your competitors sharing? Are they focusing on visuals, DIY, ebooks, or other media? Creating content that connects with your audience is essential in your marketing plan.

If your competitors are obtaining more engagement or better results from a certain type of content, you should try to create similar content. However, it’s important to stick to your branding and showcase what separates your business from others.

You should also take into account the visuals they create for their content. Changing your creatives can help you grab your audience’s attention.

4. Backlinking

Backlinking is vital to improving your search engine rankings. Backlinks are websites that redirect traffic to another website. You should use Ahrefs, SEM Rush, and other tools to learn which sites are sending traffic to your competitors.

After learning your competitors’ backlinks, you should contact these sites to ask if they’re open to link to your business website. Make sure to highlight what separates your company from the other businesses. 

5. Upping Your Customer Service Game and Developing a Loyalty Program

Bringing the customer to your door and helping them is the first step. Retaining the client and cross-selling them other products is key to growing your business. Offering great customer service and implementing a loyalty program can help you increase your return business.

Your competitors may be approaching customer service differently and offering special offers to their customer base. Ask yourself how you can surpass their offers to keep your clients happy and bring more clients to your door.

Will Stealing Marketing Ideas from Your Competitors Help You Grow Your Business?

Stealing ideas from your competitors may not seem ethical. However, you can steal some of their marketing ideas without overstepping. Learning about your competition can help you figure out your audience.

Everyone looks at things a certain way and your competitors aren’t an exception to this rule. They may take different approaches that allow them to connect better with their customers. When implementing new marketing strategies, you should compare your approach to your competitors.

What makes their customers tick? How does their customer base react to their social media posts? Are you sharing similar content on your outlets?

These questions are only the tip of the iceberg. Focus on what makes your company different and tailor your competitors’ strategies to your branding and customer base. An example is how you should focus on sharing content on social media if you want to grab the attention of millennials.

We’re confident that if you follow our advice and take an in-depth look at your competitors, you can develop the best plan to grow your business. Implementing the best marketing strategies is pivotal to taking your business to the next level.

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Recommended reading

If you enjoyed this post and have time to spare why not check out these related posts and dive deeper down the rabbit hole that is competitor analysis.

• How To Use The Forgotten Art of Dead Link Building To Boost SEO
• Free Tools To Analyse your Competitors Sites

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