Letter #102: How to talk about alternative SaaS tools?
(the conversions (💲💲) are in the data you share)
Do you’ve a game plan to talk about alternative SaaS tools?
Most brands play it by ear.
Some badmouth competing tools 😬
Claiming their product is the best by a mile but never backing it with any proof.
But if you’re serious about driving conversions with your content, you NEED evidence to make such a claim.
One good way to do so:
Use data to showcase how your tool is better than the alternatives ✅
Pipeline generation software UserGems, for example, unearthed hard data to say their tool is a specific % more accurate than LinkedIn Sales Navigator, the alternative.
This data helps them in a bunch of ways:
Creates a convincing product comparison page for buyers making their purchase decision
Informs more BOFU content production (for example, by weaving the data into the narrative 👇)
This type of data also makes content (blog posts and sales enablement collateral) super useful for buyers switching from alternative tools 🎯
Because it shines solid light on the shortcomings in the way they’re currently solving their problem.
In the case of UserGems, for instance, teams using Sales Navigator are:
Missing out on 18% (!) of warm leads (= lost sales, a BIG pain point for sales teams)
Wasting time on 40% of false leads (= reduced productivity, that time could be better spent on closing deals which is another struggle sales teams face)
Now that you know how useful data-led competitor analysis can be, let’s look at potential sources you can get your hands on this data:
If you’re marketing at a new startup, your founder would likely have this data.
If you’re working at an enterprise or small-medium-sized SaaS company, your product team likely has this data. If they don’t, run the idea of competitor analysis data by them.
Then:
✅ Document the insights and share them with your content team (including contractors you work with). Ask them to reference it for the web copy and product-led content they write.
✅ Publish the findings as a landing page (our tools versus tool Y) — it’s gonna be great for SEO and conversions.
✅ Use it to create high-converting content (for example, BOFU pieces like ‘competitor tool alternatives,’ ‘best tools for [ICP],’ etc.
That’s all for this week, friend 🙌
I’ll leave you with a question: what’s a great product comparison page you’ve seen recently?