How do you keep competitors from copying your product messaging so that your value prop stays differentiated?

What's the saying, "imitation is the best form of flattery"? It's impossible to prevent competitors from copying your messaging (and product to some extent even).   Instead of worrying about those that are copying you, I'd instead encourage you to focus on building the best product to best solve your customers' problems and in doing so ensure you're correctly articulating the value your product can deliver in the most effective way possible way.   Companies with best products AND brands are the ...Read More

Great question! But I'm going to blow up your premise right away: You can't prevent others from copying you. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? So instead of telling you how to dam up the ocean, let me suggest how you can turn this dynamic to your advantage. I have the privilege of working on a market-leading product, Apttus Contract Management. I find that my competitors do copy what I do and write, sometimes very quickly and explicitly. This forced me to think harder about the ...Read More

This is one of my favorite challenges when you're developing brand positioning and you can apply to a singular product area, as well. You can't prevent them from copying messaging -- but you can establish that you are the only credible player to deliver that positioning. Credibility comes from all the core product (or platform) value.This is better as a white board exercise, but imagine your brand positioning statement and your 3 reasons-to-believe (RTBs) underneath it. A competitor can copy one ...Read More

I’d focus mainly on all the things you can do to stand out: Make your visual layout, pricing and customer experience unique to further differentiate your offering from competitors. The messaging is the wrapper for all of this but these pieces can really help you speak to your unique value prop. Talk to your customers that have used your competitors and find out where you are truly differentiated and then hammer that home in the messaging. Give customers a reason to try you versus the competition ...Read More

That's one of the most complicated issues to address and maintain for any brand owner. While it's important to understand that it's impossible to completely prevent copycats, especially when you're doing a good job, there are definitely things you can do to make it harder for others to copy. I would suggest focusing on two key areas: Focus on the why: Competitors can copy your what (your product features, your tagline), but it's much harder for them to copy your why – your brand's purpose, your ...Read More

This is an important question that points to the relationship between brand and product marketing in context of competitive strategy.Short answer, I wouldn't optimize around the competition -- as there's not much you can do in this case to prevent them from copying your messaging. The thing though is that product messaging is easier to copy than a brand position that's validated by the market. A classic example of this is Intercom vs. Drift. Intercom was certainly the first mover in the chatbot ...Read More