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If I told you and your team to write a blog article about your competitor, I can guarantee that I’d be met with hesitant faces and raised eyebrows. Writing about your competitors just doesn’t feel right – it’s your business that you should be writing about, isn’t it? Here’s the thing – what if I told you that rather than shying away, embracing the idea of discussing your competitors can actually be a stroke of brilliance for your content marketing strategy? Even though you may feel uncomfortable to write about your competitors, it may just be what you need to do to take your content game to the next level. In this article, you’ll learn exactly why writing about competitors is a smart move, and how you can do it.
Why Write About Competitors?
You’re probably thinking, “Why would I ever talk about my competitors? I want people focused on my options, not theirs.”
The thing is, people are going to think about your competitors whether you like it or not. 65% of buyers report spending at least 16 minutes comparing options before making a purchase.
Embracing this buyer behaviour will help you get in front of your target audience when they’re weighing their options, control the conversation, and build trust as the expert who provided the answer your buyer was looking for.
By providing an unbiased review of your competitors, you can establish your brand as a trusted source of information in your industry. When customers see that you’re willing to talk openly about the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, they’re more likely to trust your opinions and recommendations.
However there’s a fine line between doing it the right way and the wrong way. So with that said, how can you write about your competitors on your website?
How to Write Blog Articles About Your Competitors?
There are a few options for creating content around competitors:
- Best-of competitor lists
- Direct competitor comparison
Let’s take a look at each approach.
Best-of Competitor Lists
These are articles where you compare your best competitors. The purpose here is to attract potential customers to your website when they search for “best xyz company”.
For example, if you own an oil painting company, your customer will likely search for “best oil painting companies” and read your article.
Writing “best of” articles can help you significantly increase traffic and leads because searches for “best” products and services have increased dramatically in recent years.
In the oil company example from above, you build trust with your audience through this article, and when they need an oil painting, who do you think they’re going to come to first?
Some examples of best-of competitor lists that we’ve published:
Direct competitor comparison
The direct competitor comparison is for people who have already weighed their options and are struggling to choose between a small handful of options.
These articles are typically “vs” based articles. A great example is the HubSpot vs Salesforce article we published, which helps buyers pick between HubSpot or Salesforce.
The Key to Success with Competitor Blogs
The key to success with competitor blogs is the way that you write the article and the level of accuracy and transparency that you provide.
Here’s how you can do this:
- Exclude yourself from the list
- Address the elephant in the room
- Share the facts about your competition – both the good and bad
- Conclude with actionable direction
Exclude yourself from the list
It goes without saying, but you should never include your own business on a “best competitor” article.
It’s important to remain unbiased in order to provide accurate information to your buyer. You might be wondering, ‘But then how are we going to sell ourselves?’
The thing is, simply writing this article is selling yourself, because you’re building trust with your buyer, and trust is the underlying factor behind every purchasing decision.
On top of this, if the buyer wants to find out more about what you do, they can look at other pages on your website to find out more. It’s not like you’re cutting yourself out by excluding your business from the list, they’re reading the information on your website 😉
Address the elephant in the room
Your buyer isn’t stupid. They know that your business sells the same service/product as the competitors you’re writing about.
So, it’s important to address the elephant in the room early on. Why are you writing this article and what makes you credible enough to write it?
One example of how you can do that can be seen in our article ‘Best Content Marketing Agencies’.
In the introduction of that article, we write the following:
“As a leading digital marketing and content agency ourselves, we’ve decided to scour the Australian market to find the cream of the crop. You’re probably wondering, ‘why haven’t we put ourselves on this list?’ When searching for options, we recognise that potential customers like you want to know about all the options that are available on the market. That’s why we’ve decided to give you our top picks, so that you can make an informed decision.”
With this, we’ve addressed why we aren’t putting ourselves on the list, why we’re writing the article, and why they should listen to us.
Share the facts about your competition – both the good and bad
What exactly should we say about our competitors in the body of the article?
There’s a little bit of a balance here, because we don’t want to slam them and talk about how their products and services are inferior to our own, but we also don’t want to glorify them.
The answer is balance… and facts.
You should be sharing information about your competitors like:
- Who they are
- How long they’ve been in business
- Any awards/certifications they’ve won or compliances they follow
- Their particular specialties or what they’re known for
- Any benefits and any drawbacks
It’s important to note that complimenting a competitor is okay, but sharing anything derogatory can backfire, as the trust you’re trying to establish with prospects may be negatively impacted.
In terms of how in depth you want to go – that’s totally up to you. If you want to keep it more shallow, or go more in depth, that’s okay.
Conclude with actionable direction
Your conclusion should reinforce that your company’s primary objective is consumer education.
You want to give your buyer an action step from here. Rather than keeping it general and concluding, you’re going to want to get super specific.
You can do that by making statements like:
- If you’re experiencing X, then Y is your best bet on this list
- If your problem is A and you want X, then go with B
You’re also going to want to briefly (very briefly) mention the services you offer and offer the buyer an opportunity to take that next step (with you) if they’re interested.
So, what’s next?
Writing blog articles about your competitors will still probably make you uncomfortable, but if you want to cut through the noise, it’s a discomfort you’re going to have to deal with.
Now that you know how to write about competitors on your blog, you might want to learn about the five blog article topics that generate the most traffic, leads and sales for your business.
These five topics are essential to include on your website if you want to build trust and authority in your marketplace.
