Great questions, Rajaraman! First off, I really love being in a crowded market. It means there’s a big opportunity, the market/problem set are validated, and you have to be creative to stand out.
Having fewer people and fewer resources than other companies in a large market has been a beautiful constraint in my experience. It forced us to focus on a specific segment, be thoughtful about how we used capital, and to make big bets on the brand.
From a distribution standpoint, I describe it as doubling down on things you can’t write a check for. We can assume all our competitors are very smart and will out-spend us when possible. But there are many marketing channels you can invest in that require commitment and effort – you can’t just write a check to be successful. Content marketing is my favorite, and we have invested most of our marketing efforts up to this point in content. Our friends at Wistia have a term called “Brand Affinity Marketing” and we’re big fans of using these sorts of tactics to stand out. Along those lines, we’re currently working on a short documentary series that I’m very excited about.
In terms of differentiation, we tend to over-estimate the power of feature functionality in the buying process. Your company should probably be talking more about why your values mirror your customers’ values. Often times people like to buy from companies that share their values and have a similar view of the world.
For instance, there are many ways to view customer service as a business – we differentiate by saying that we built Help Scout for the world’s most customer-centric businesses. We believe customer service is your most effective marketing tool, and we’ve created products that embody those values. Companies that aren’t onboard with that should probably choose something else. It’s an asset for your brand to have an opinion, and to seek our specific types of customers.
The point is to make it about who you are more than what your product does. I can buy a jacket from hundreds of companies, but I always buy from Patagonia because it’s a company with values that speak to me on an emotional level. That’s the foundation of customer loyalty.