How to Find Clients through Competitors

Picture this:

You’re a new company trying to break into a market that already exists. You have a number of different options when it comes to signing new customers or finding new clients. You want to grow, and grow fast. So what do you do?

Some would say that the best strategy is to go after your competition. Find ways to get to their customers and make a better offer. It can be the simplest place to start, because you know they need what you’re offering, and you know they’re already paying for it somewhere else. And if your creative, they can be very easy to get to.

Here are 2 examples that I’ve seen in the past week:

1. My company publishes press releases using PRWeb. The other day, I got a cold call from a new company that offers a wider distribution than PRWeb for lower cost. I was intrigued. How did he get my information? Off of a press release that I just recently put out.
   
   
2. Seamless is the biggest player (at least in NYC) in the online food ordering game. Delivery.com is one of their growing number of rivals. And twice in one week, I ordered food with Seamless and it showed up in a Delivery.com bag. My assumption is that Delivery.com went to restaurants on Seamless and gave them free bags.

In both cases, the introduction is simple. I want to put my offer out there, and I know it’s something you’re interested in. Easy!

Is it fair to the competitor? Is it a sneaky way of gaining market share?

Probably. But it’s legal, and it’s brilliant.

"I" of the Consumer Week in Review

Daylight savings time begins today! Turn those clocks ahead an hour, if you haven’t done so already. That means the days are getting longer, the sun will be out later, and we can move towards that time of year when those of us in offices daydream about being outside each and every day. With the official beginning of Spring only a week away, warmer times are on the horizon. It feels good.

If you’ve spent the last week remembering what Spring feels like, here are some posts you may have missed:

1. How to Combine Email and Social
2. Passing on Your Marketing Knowledge
3. March Madness Marketing
4. Still Think You Have Any Privacy?

Happy Sunday!

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Still Think You Have Any Privacy?

Sometimes the things we learn about the internet are scary.

Most people have at least heard about privacy issues as they relate to personal web use. The sad fact is that the majority of web users can’t even begin to comprehend how much data is out there, how companies get that data, and how little privacy you actually have.

And then comes this story about the department of homeland security’s social media tracking.

Information that you put online is public, no matter how you look at it. There is no reason to be surprised by that fact anymore. And for the most part, unless you’re technically intelligent and very cautious, most things that you do online are being tracked by one system or another.

That doesn’t mean that they know who you are personally. They don’t have your name and address, know what you do for a living, the names of all your relatives, and the kind of car you drive. But they can observe bits and pieces of those things without breaking the law.

That’s a large part of our jobs as online marketers. And most of us do it for positive reasons. To provide you a better onsite experience, quicker checkouts, simpler and more relevant searches, etc.

Stay informed!