Ask HN: Should I directly compare my product to my competitors in my marketing? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Should I directly compare my product to my competitors in my marketing?

9 pointsosrec16 comments

Hi Guys, I run a reasonably successful SaaS product called Bx (https://usebx.com). Most of our users have joined us through word of mouth, or via link ups with various accountancy practices. So far we have done very little marketing - we basically just have a landing page and a video, neither of which are great. My competitors are the likes of Quickbooks, Sage and Xero and we would like to highlight where we are better than them. So I was wondering if it's considered unethical/bad practice to compare your features with your competitors directly on your landing page? Thanks for any advice/insight!

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Doing that is ethical.

You have a choice here:

Sell on your positives

, or

Sell on their negatives.

Either works, but the positives have the advantage of not trash talking your way out of the space. Doing it better, with more features is competition. Nobody can fault you and your team for that. Talk it all up. That's what you are doing the work for. No harm, no foul.

Saying the other guys suck, as a primary selling point, is kind of dubious in that your real value is always expressed in their lack of value. Should they add a feature, or even just reframe their stuff to get a couple of bullet points, you are left in the position of your competition being able to define you. Bad juju.

Ideally your additional positives are compelling enough to get users to migrate as much as it is getting new users to pick your offering, new and unproven as it is.

Are those things true?

Say them. And the need for your check list ends up being a statement of security, like "yeah, we got all the basics you know and love right here, plus.... [insert it here.]"

Ever watch laundry soap companies go at it? They will never, ever mention the other guy. They will talk up their new and improved all day long.

They will also connect those things to needs and wants their potential customers have.

Do that. The check box list is just security. You got the core well covered, plus... Software is more than laundry soap, so making a list and comparing does make sense, but going negative about it really doesn't, in the longer term.

My .02 FWIW.

Thank you - pretty much what I wanted to hear ;)

Edit: I'm not sure why your answer has been down-voted. I think your general message is highlight your positives rather than their negatives, which sort of seems okay to me. But I'd be interested to hear more opinions from the down voters.

Me too. The thing is, with the QB community, there is a ton of demand for something a bit more powerful than their current online offering. Desktop is pretty awesome, but a pain to live with.

It should be super easy to just go at it with...

Want to move to an online financial solution with (features)?

And there are a ton of ways to pitch it positive.

With normal business growth, comes (needs). Take it to the next level, with (features).

Tons of QB users are seeking niche features only found in enterprise desktop. I’m not familiar with the other solutions in this space, but advertising those things should attract a regular stream of prospects looking to move off desktop.

What I do know is a lot of accountants want to move people online. I would definitely message to those people.

Oh well. In any case, let’s see how the discussion proceeds. Maybe we both will learn something.

Funnily enough, we tend to pick up most of our users after they've not enjoyed their experience with Quickbooks and are looking for something better. Maybe I'll ask a couple of them to highlight why they chose to switch...

Bingo!

QB is rather painful once a company chooses to do anything beyond traditional workflow.

Basically everyone wants more advanced features, and automation.

Go get em. Plenty of need out there. Would have loved to see you a few years ago. I’ll point the current staff your way. They may still want to take a leap this year.

Edit: You might consider showing a US currency dashboard for the US. It’s a small thing, but may set the, “its foreign, meaning support might be off time zone” exception off to the side. First impressions... and all that.

I think that many potential customers want to see a comparison of features. That does not mean trash talking competition. Rather educate the customer and let them come to the obvious conclusion.

I think you should have multiple landing pages.

If I come to your site looking the problem Bx will solve, I don’t think it’s a good idea to show me your competitors... I may decide to go with one of them.

If, viceversa, I’m looking for your competitor, then you want me to land to your page, crafted to convince me that Bx is better.

IMO this is a good thing to do. A good example is https://honeymoney.io/en/compare, honeymoney was on the front page today and as a YNAB user this is exactly the sort of comparison I'd expect.

That page is really great, BTW.

Your user is going to find your competition anyway, whether now or after they become your customer. You can’t hide options from a consumer, even in small markets. So you may as well present the comparison, unless you’d rather your competitors speak for you.

On the other hand, an argument against it is that by acknowledging the identities of your competitors, you are psychologically anchoring your company to them. You’re saying “we solve the same problem.” But what if you’re solving a bigger problem? What if your product is so innovative and market-defining that your competition will not be the same in Phase 1 as in Phase 2? Do you want to risk being grouped into the same pool as less innovative companies?

It's perfectly fine to do that. A best practice is to explain the differences in an apples to oranges way rather than trash talk your competitors.

In other words, don't say "Our product is better and these other products are all shit because..."

Instead, say "Our niche is (describe your target audience) and our product serves that niche better than (competitors doing thing that serves other niche."

Here is a piece that lists four products in the same space and reasons individuals might prefer one over the other without trash talking anyone:

http://worldwidewebworks.blogspot.com/2017/12/accept-credit-...

I agree with ddingus that it is better to sell on your positives. But, in this space, against these big firms, you should have a clear differentiation. State that.

Make it clear to whom your product is specially designed. And list the features that the others don't have that confirms that positioning.

Then you can state things like _"The only/best accounting product if you are/want XYZ"_

Thank you. We do have some nice differentiating points that we can highlight, so will bear that in mind when we redesign the landing page (and any supporting pages).

Here is a great guide to growth: https://www.julian.com/learn/growth/intro

Its section on Landing Pages is an awesome resource for getting some low hanging fruits right on your landing page. Very actionable advice that will most certainly improve your redesign.

Thank you, I will give that a read tonight.

BTW, those are positives. Implying others are inferior is no worry.

That’s expected. I was really getting at primary value being more than, “we aren’t those other guys”

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