Don"t Throw Stones, No Matter What Your House is Made Of

The idea of throwing stones at other kids in the school yard, other businesses in your town and competitors online is nothing new. I"d like to say it"s because we live in a world of political ploys and tabloid journalism, but I think the truth is it"s easy to take pot shots. We also happen to live in a world where it"s easier to eliminate the competition than to compete against them.

Case in point. A few weeks ago I got a call from a friend who was working with a new client. Original Company has been in business for two decades. Last year, New Competitor sprung up and suddenly received a ton of press and attention. In response, Original Company revamped their sales materials and updated their product to go head to head with New Competitor.

Suddenly, Original Company gets a C&D from New Competitor"s lawyer. The letter claims trademark infringement and demands Original Company cease operations. If Original Company doesn"t give in they face a long, protracted legal battle with New Competitor. It was fairly obvious to me that New Competitor simply wanted to shut Original Company down any way they could before the next sales season began.

In other words, New Competitor"s "marketing" strategy was to shut Original Company down rather than compete with them. This is NOT a marketing strategy. In fact, I predict word will get out about what happened and New Competitor will quickly tarnish their own reputation because they"ll be seen as picking on Original Company.

Attack Ads Are Nearly Impossible to Pull Off Well

We see this type of activity in the blogging world as well. Generally, there are no C&D"s flying around, but there are subtle digs, accusations and heated responses directed at competitive blogs. History has proven that when you go on the attack, you get noticed. In fact, attack posts are often one of the easiest ways to generate a slew of new links.

The problem with this style of marketing and/or blogging is that it"s nearly impossible to pull off an "attack" without looking like a jerk. Sure you"ll snag a lot of links, but how many of them are going to result in new readers, repeat visitors and sales? If social media has cemented anything in terms of traffic knowledge, it"s understanding the true value of visitors that convert and the overrated value of traffic for the sake of traffic.

Learn to Differentiate Yourself in a Positive Way

Instead, I encourage them to play up their positive features. In fact, I actively encourage companies to watch for the PR missteps of their competitors so they can step in with a well timed press release. That press release should never throw stones at the original company, it should simply promote something that promotes your company as a great alternative.

A couple of examples:

Of course there were other times when I wish someone would respond...

When Delta garnered national attention for kicking a nursing mother and child off one of their flights, competing airlines missed a golden opportunity. A targeted PR and ad campaign making it clear nursing mothers were welcome would have landed them tons of positive press amongst disgruntled mothers.

Be Excellent to Each Other

What it all boils down to is a simple little bit of advice I picked up during one of the many times my husband watched Bill and Ted"s Excellent Adventure. There"s simply no need to run around hurling insults or launching attacks against your competitors. Instead, focus your efforts on what makes your company better than any other. If you can"t find something, then change the way you do business.

Photo credit Theowl84, via Creative Commons license.

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