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AMA: AlertMedia Vice President Product Marketing, Harsha Kalapala on Competitive Positioning
July 7 @ 10:00AM PST
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AlertMedia Vice President Product Marketing, Harsha Kalapala on Competitive Positioning
Top Questions
Harsha Kalapala
AlertMedia Vice President Product Marketing • July 7
There are many ways to stay on top of competitive intel. If you have the budget and a clear use case, use a tool like Klue to help gather intel, and disperse it in your existing channels. Other ways I always used are the following: * Use your frontline teams - open up communication channels wit......Read More
345 Views
3 requests
Harsha Kalapala
AlertMedia Vice President Product Marketing • July 7
I dont think we should ever mention competitors directly in our messaging. Sure, you can address it directly in response if a prospect brings them up. But proactively naming competitors puts you in a defensive position and gives them undue attention. This usually doesn't work to our advantage. Yo......Read More
543 Views
2 requests
What constitutes a competitor, and what is the goal you have in mind when you conduct competitor analysis?
What is your philosophy when it comes to competitors?
Harsha Kalapala
AlertMedia Vice President Product Marketing • July 8
There are a few types of competitors to think about: Tier 1: Prime Competition - Those who compete for the same dollars for a very similar product. You often end up in feature battles with them and eat each other’s lunch. They look very similar to your offering in the eyes of prospects. They e......Read More
350 Views
2 requests
What's your approach to competitive differentiation?
How does this inform your core messaging, how do you enable sales to understand what makes you different/better, how do you know if it's working with your target buyers?
Harsha Kalapala
AlertMedia Vice President Product Marketing • July 8
Competitive positioning is a key component of defining core messaging. If we sit down and come up with copy on how to best describe our offerings, a key step is to compare that against how competitors describe themselves. You’ll likely be hit with an unpleasant surprise that about half your copy ......Read More
341 Views
3 requests
How often do you talk to customers, or do qualitative + VOC research?
Is it continuous or at specific campaigns?
Harsha Kalapala
AlertMedia Vice President Product Marketing • July 8
Staying in touch with customers/propsects directly is not an option for product marketers, IMO. There are passive ways to do it by being a listener - listen to sales/CS calls, attend talks by your audience on relevant topics, follow notable people on linkedin and read the content they are posting......Read More
356 Views
2 requests
Harsha Kalapala
AlertMedia Vice President Product Marketing • July 8
I am assuming this is sales, account management, or customer success teams. It is an understandable concern - especially in large enterprise situations. There seems to be too much at stake to risk with someone you aren't familiar with. It can also be a factor of company culture - which is unfortu......Read More
260 Views
1 request
Harsha Kalapala
AlertMedia Vice President Product Marketing • July 8
Keep it simple and practical. We use a simple battle card format to pull together the most essential details you need at your fingertips to enable competitive conversations. We host it on Seismic so it is easy to search for keywords and find the battle cards. We also do specific training sessions......Read More
377 Views
1 request
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