Use Competitors to Sell

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Ready for another day of staying ahead of the competition in the Growth race?

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TOGETHER WITH WYNTER

Wynter, a B2B market research platform, is looking for marketers to participate in paid research studies. Companies want to understand what resonates with their target audience by collecting feedback on their marketing materials and websites.

Here's how it works:

1. Participate in quick surveys or 1-on-1 meetings.
2. Share feedback on messaging, websites, and positioning statements.
3. Earn up to $600/hour for your insights.
4. You'll be invited based on your profile whenever a relevant study comes up, and you can choose to participate or not. There are no right or wrong answers, just your expertise.

Payout ranges:

1. Quick Surveys (5-15 mins): $5 to $95 for providing feedback.
2. Demos/Interviews (30-60 mins): $75 to $600 for more in-depth sessions.
3. Payments are processed within 5 days via PayPal, gift cards, or Visa.

It's flexible, low-pressure, and a great way to stay involved in industry trends while earning on the side. 

Apply here and Start making extra dollars today!

🎯 The Art of Strategic Competitor Takedowns
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Competitor bashing can be a powerful marketing tactic when executed strategically. It involves highlighting your strengths by calling out a known rival—directly or subtly—on a key metric where you outperform them. But this tactic requires finesse. Here’s how smart brands pull it off.

Strategies for Effective Competitor Bashing

1️⃣ Play the Subtle Game
Sometimes, less is more. Use innuendos or hints to suggest you outperform the competition without naming names. Surreal is a great example, leveraging familiarity with cereal brands to draw attention without directly calling them out.

2️⃣ Go Bold with Facts
If you can back it up, a head-on approach works. Structure the message around clear, undeniable facts:

• McDonald's has more drive-thrus than Burger King.

• Consumers refill Heinz bottles with other ketchup brands.

Start with a truth and build on it—making sure the comparison serves your message.

3️⃣ Turn Their Strengths Against Them
A clever way to win is by using a competitor’s signature element against them. Pepsi did this with its famous “Pepsi Max” ad, though risky. Similarly, Huel repurposed Athletic Greens’ iconic packaging to highlight its own strengths.

4️⃣ Leverage Stereotypes to Your Advantage
Ads like Apple's iconic “Mac vs. PC” campaign showed how to position a product as the cooler alternative by leaning into cultural stereotypes. This playful rivalry was effective in making Macs appear more desirable to a younger audience.

⚠Proceed with Caution
Mentioning competitors can backfire. When you name a rival, you risk giving them free publicity. Established brands like McDonald’s or Pepsi must tread carefully when referencing Burger King or Coke—drawing attention to a competitor’s popularity can work against them.

The Takeaway
Competitor bashing is a smart tactic for challenger brands but must be handled with precision. Subtle hints, fact-based comparisons, and clever twists on competitors’ strengths can all work in your favor—especially if you’re a startup looking to challenge industry giants. Just ensure it’s a fight you can win.

🎧 The Power of Podcast Ads
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Podcasts are more than entertainment—they’re a growing platform for impactful advertising. With about 76M listeners in the US, this audience is expected to grow by nearly 50% over the next five years, presenting a valuable opportunity for advertisers.

Who’s Tuning In?

While radio still dominates, podcasts attract younger, affluent audiences. Gen Z and millennials are leading the way, with the most frequent listeners aged 25-34. Male listeners with higher incomes also make up a significant portion of the audience. Popular genres include news, true crime, comedy, and sports, allowing brands to align with relevant shows.

Ad Spend and Engagement on the Rise

Podcast ad revenue soared from $840M in 2020 to $2.16B in 2023, and it’s projected to reach $2.5B by 2025. Ad loads, or the time devoted to ads during episodes, have grown by 50% year-over-year. Notably, ads within genres like true crime and society & culture saw significant increases.

What Listeners Think

Surprisingly, listeners are more tolerant of podcast ads, especially when read by the host. Nearly 40% say they support brands that advertise on their favorite podcasts, and many find podcast ads engaging, memorable, and relevant. However, repetitive ads can cause fatigue, so careful planning is essential.

What Makes Ads Work?

Host-read ads outperform pre-recorded ones, with almost half of listeners purchasing products advertised directly by hosts. Arts, media, financial services, and CPG brands dominate podcast ad space, but niche industries like B2B could benefit from exploring this underutilized channel.

The Verdict

Driven by increasing listeners and ad spending, podcasts offer a high-engagement platform for targeted campaigns. With host-read ads and thoughtful placement, brands can tap into a growing market to boost awareness and conversions. Ready to tune in?

AI Tools to Supercharge Your Productivity

🖥️ Reiden: Use AI to find areas where you’re slow and suggest keyboard shortcuts to improve efficiency.

🔊 Audeus: Read aloud any Doc, email, webpage, or article with a text-to-speech Chrome extension that saves you time and boosts productivity.

📊 Prisma: Gain deep insights and get actionable recommendations to improve database queries, making your apps run faster.

📚 Inquisite: Conduct deep research on any topic, find insights based on trusted, credible sources, and distill those insights into research-backed documents.

🤖 Cody: An intelligent AI assistant that you can train on your business, your team, your processes, and your clients with your own knowledge base.

That’s all for today! While we curate another Growth edition for tomorrow, let us know how you felt about today! And share this with someone who’d love it.🥰