The Crave

In a world of marketing sameness, where brands copy each other and play it safe, how can you dare to be different? Copycat marketing is precisely what it sounds like. You're running your marketing campaigns based on that of your competition. If they send out five email blasts a month, so do you. If they go to a trade show, you do too. If they build a new website, you create one just like it.

Imitation is… mediocrity

And while they say "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," copycats are rarely successful in the long run. Why is that? First, it makes it harder for customers to distinguish one company's offerings from another when they communicate so similarly. Who wants to read the same content over and over again? Boring! Second, it doesn't benefit advertisers when everyone adopts the same tactics at once, making it harder to break through the noise. Third, it reduces your ability to establish a unique brand because you're basing your efforts on someone else's brand. And it forces you to chase the competition while never allowing you to actually beat them. Remember the game of cat and mouse with Tom & Jerry? Basically, copycats are on the path to mediocrity at best. It's not just SaaS companies who are guilty of copycat marketing. It happens in every industry. Every time you stay in a nice hotel, you get free shampoo, shower gel, and soap. But you never get toothpaste. Why is that? Because hotels are looking at what the competition is doing (and guests don't usually expect toothpaste). But If a hotel offered it, I would remember them. It would make them stand out from the crowd.