How To Avoid Falling For “The Competition Trap” – Tip 12 of 21

In short, “the competition trap” is when your business obsesses about competitors and what they’re doing. This often results in modeling your marketing strategy around trying to one-up or keep-up with their efforts. It’s a very tempting path to go down, especially as a business grows and matures, because it greatly simplifies your marketing strategy.

Rather than having to test and nurture new marketing channels, or come up with a fresh gameplan for growth, brands can simply focus on outcompeting rivals by doing more of the same. More ads, more offers, more optimization, and anything else to stay a step ahead.

The only problem is that focusing on the competition tends to destroy profit margins, stifle long term growth, and cause a scarcity mindset. That’s because businesses that are obsessed with the competition often end up confining themselves within imaginary market boundaries. And their marketing strategies tend to revolve around a belief that there is a limited number of potential customers in the market.

Rather than seeking new ways to grow the market or create new value for customers, they tend to see the industry as a zero-sum game where they can only win at the expense of a rival brand. And this problem tends to affect more than just marketing. It can lead an entire business to slowly adapt their product line and operational strategy around what the competition is doing.

The solution is to ignore the competition and become obsessed with attracting and serving customers. It’s amazing what can happen when you set aside the traditions of your industry and truly explore how you can create new value for real people. If growth has stalled out, it’s time to revisit everything from marketing channels to marketing segments to find new ways to attract and serve more people.

Content by Rick Kettner
Produced by Kyle Trienke