Say What Your Competitors Can't or Won't Say

In first contact, top-of-funnel marketing, you're ultimately trying to do one thing: find something your prospects would care about that your competitors either won't say or can't say. That's the holy grail of this whole thing.

I had a client who told me, Dean, we've got that covered. We're not completely unique in our category, but we tell everybody that once you become our customer, we don't think of you as a customer, we think of you as a partner. He thought that set them apart.

I said, there aren't a lot of guarantees in life, but this one is: every single one of your competitors is saying the exact same thing. Ten or fifteen years ago it was a very trendy thing to say. It isn't unique to you. It's something your competitors say every day.

You might have to change your company or offering a little to establish a spot in your category, or create a new subcategory for yourselves. But you're looking for something people are interested in and your competitors can't or won't say.

Why won't they? Usually because it would burn down their existing revenue model. They won't put money into better customer service, because they don't see the point. They won't sell to garages and nail salons, because it's not glamorous enough. Or they won't say it because it would turn off shareholders or frighten investors. You may not have shareholders yet, or investors who'd care.

Find the thing they can't and won't say. That's your new category.