Businesses and content marketers consume a huge number of blog posts, articles, podcasts, and videos on a daily basis that help them work smarter, educate themselves on a daily basis, and execute their content marketing strategy flawlessly. With such a wealth of content, anything that helps you save time and work more efficiently is welcome. The problem is that for many, one trick that allows them to do their job even faster is Copy the Competition .
The catch is that unlike other useful innovations like apps or software, copying canadian healthcare and medical email list your competitors' content marketing strategy could actually hurt your online marketing efforts.
1. Your competitors don't know what works for them
You might think that if a particular company implements a particular strategy, it must be because that way of doing it works for them. Wrong !
Sometimes, the competitors you are copying or planning to copy are just trying at random, hoping to get results. They may not have a content marketing strategy in place, and even if they do, that strategy probably won't work for you. Even worse, the company you want to copy may already be copying another company , which could be a negative cycle for your business.
2. You can't identify what they are doing right
On the other hand, let's assume that your competitor has a very well-planned content marketing strategy. The important questions you need to ask yourself are:
Do you know what works for them and why?
Can you conduct a competitive analysis to determine exactly what they are doing well?
For starters, you're on the wrong track if your content marketing strategy is based on copying your competition , but it's even worse if you copy without knowing what really works.
How can you tell what's bringing them the most leads or making them the most money just by looking at their social media feeds and latest blog posts? Unfortunately, you can't. So copying your competitors is not a recommended course of action.
3. Your competitors' business and audience are slightly different from yours
As a general rule, longer articles are better and rank higher in search engines. In fact, the average Google first page result contains 1890 words .
Does this mean your audience wants to read 2,000-word articles? Not necessarily. They may prefer shorter posts that are divided into sections or include lists.
The same logic applies to copying your competition. Based on the fact that you both have unique selling propositions (USPs), your buyer personas may be different. Chances are, your audience won’t react to or read your copied landing page, blog posts, or product descriptions the same way your competitor’s audience would.
Trying to imitate your competitor's tone of voice doesn't always work with your audience, as your company and your value proposition are not the same as theirs. Different types of voice , formal and informal, depend on different demographic groups.