AMA: MetaRouter Director of Product Marketing, Michele Nieberding 🚀 on Competitive Positioning

I hate to say it, but my answer is...it depends. I typically like using "prescheduled" customer interactions like CAB meetings as a forum to get feedback, but there are times when you need answers sooner (i.e. informing a roadmap, important beta programs, needing customer involvement for an event and/or case study). To make things more personal, I also like to follow our top advocates, partners, and CAB members on LinkedIn so that I can also celebrate and elevate their wins and share in their successes beyond just the "working" relationship and asking for things like case studies. So generally, I would say quarterly, but this can vary based on business need and project prioritization.

Disseminating competitive positioning to our sales team is a strategic and ongoing process--as you likely know, there are new things popping up every day with competitors (product releases, acquisitions, partnership announcements, etc.). While I leverage a combination of comprehensive training sessions, regular updates, and interactive resources to ensure our sales team is well-versed in our product's unique value propositions, key differentiators, and competitive advantages, I also do a couple things consistently: 1. First and foremost, a #Competition Slack channel. Comp intel is a team sport, make sure everyone has a forum to share what they see in the news! 2. Provide clear and concise messaging to reps that they can literally copy and paste to respond to notable competitor updates (i.e. an acquisition) 3. If you dont have a CI tool like Klue, get one! And take advantage of all of the integrations that come with that (including Klue). Train your reps how to use this tool themselves (I recommend rolling it out in phases!) 4. Consider a monthly/quarterly competitive newsletter. Share round ups from Slack + any new resources including updated battlecards, etc. 5. Ongoing enablement - quick updates/decks on what has happened, how to respond (copy and paste format), and what has changed with the company if anything (i.e. messaging, kill points, differentiators) 6. Update battlecards quarterly. I have a great template I can share if anyone is interested, but shout it from the rooftops when these are updated! And encourage sales to print them out and keep them at their desk to use during calls if/when 7. Plug and play slides for sales to use that show you vs. your competitor at a high level. Showcase 5 key differences (i.e. flexibility, agility, scalability) and why your product/company is better. As a general rule, competitive intel is a team sport, so make sure you have a solid feedback loop and are collecting this information from all sources and have a plan in place to disseminate that information in the best ways possible!

I am actually dealing with this right now! And there is quite a bit you can do to continue building analyst relations despite not fitting into a current Wave or MQ. * Take advantage of (free) analyst briefings: * Proactively reach out to Forrester and Gartner to set up briefings to let the analysts know what you product does, what major challenges you are solving, why you dont fit into a category, and what you might suggest to be considered as a new category. While they may not have a dedicated report, they might include your solution in relevant research. * Conduct Custom Research Reports: * Consider commissioning custom research reports from reputable market research firms. This could be analyst based and/or an organization you value the audience of (or host a conference you find value in attending) * Share the results and insights with your audience to establish authority * Seek Out and Submit Industry Awards and Certifications: * Obtain relevant industry certifications to validate the quality and compliance of your product. * Showcase these certifications prominently on your website and marketing materials. * Third Party Reviews * I would also recommend leaning into customer reviews on platforms like G2 and TrustRadius. Because these are actual customer reviews, they can be INCREDIBLY valuable for various uses including website quotes and testimonial videos. Not to mention, G2 also provides amazing marketing materials if/when you rank in your category, which tend to be more expansive than the Waves and MQs. * Partnerships * Partners can be your best advocates, and are invaluable when used appropriately. They can be an awesome extension to your sales team as they know their customers and want to help them find solutions to challenges other solutions are unable to solve.

Some best practices and tools! 1. Market Research: * Competitor Analysis Tools: Leverage tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or SimilarWeb for comprehensive competitor analysis, including website traffic, keywords, and backlink strategies. * Industry Reports: Explore industry-specific reports and studies to understand market trends, challenges, and emerging opportunities. 2. Customer Feedback: * Surveys and Interviews: Conduct surveys and interviews with existing customers to understand their pain points, preferences, and perceptions of your product compared to competitors. * Review Platforms: Monitor customer reviews on platforms like G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius to gain insights into strengths and weaknesses. 3. SWOT Analysis: * Perform a thorough SWOT analysis to identify internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external opportunities and threats in relation to competitors. I often ask other teams like product, CS, and sales to fill one out as well to understand their POV on what our SWOT might look like. This can be made fun and interactive through a tool like Miro! 4. Product Features and Differentiators: * Feature Matrix: Create a feature matrix comparing your product with key competitors. Clearly outline unique features and functionalities. * Value Proposition: Clearly articulate your product's unique value proposition and how it addresses specific customer needs better than competitors. 5. Pricing Strategy: * Pricing Comparison: Compare your pricing structure with competitors. Highlight any cost advantages, additional features, or flexibility in your pricing model. 6. Website and Content Analysis: * Content Audit: Analyze the content on your website and compare it with competitors. Ensure your messaging is clear, compelling, and differentiated. * User Experience (UX): Evaluate the user experience of your website and digital assets compared to competitors. 7. Social Media Monitoring: * Social Listening Tools: Use tools like Brandwatch or Mention to monitor social media conversations. Understand sentiment and gather insights into how your brand is perceived relative to competitors. 8. Industry Events and Conferences: * Attendee Feedback: Gather insights from industry events and conferences. Engage with attendees to understand their impressions of different solutions in your space. 9. Benchmarking Against Best Practices: * Industry Standards: Benchmark your product against industry standards and best practices. Ensure your product aligns with or exceeds these benchmarks. 10. Continuous Monitoring: * Competitor Alerts: Set up alerts to monitor competitor activities, product launches, or changes in strategy. Stay informed about the evolving competitive landscape. Remember that competitive positioning is an ongoing process, and staying attuned to market dynamics is crucial for maintaining a strategic edge.

I really love using Klue as a source of truth, it does half of the updating for me. I also have a Google Spreadsheet tracker I use with a tab for each competitor and key categories like "product releases" where I link to any resources I can find (i.e. Product Showcase webinar, press release announcement) and add notes on "WHAT THAT MEANS" for our company. I really also love doing newsletters because you can look back and see what updates you shared, and what else you may need to consider discussing. I will also have pockets of time that I dedicate to digging deeper into a certain competitor. If I see in Gong that we are hearing a new competitor come up consistently, I will do a deep dive that month to understand our positioning against them. At the end of the day, we can't let competitors win based on "shiny object syndrome" when they announce a new product release--unless that new product or feature is a truly a game changer/disruptor AND it is actually GA in the market. Most of our solutions have value beyond a specific feature, and when you get into the feature by feature selling game, it tends to be a losing battle (unless you HAVE to check a box for something specific on an RFP). The value often lies in the platform as a whole + the team members that support it!