How to Build an Ad Strategy Without Copying Competitors

Copying your competitor's ads is like ordering whatever the table next to you got.

You never find out if they even liked it.

Don't get me wrong, I get why teams do it.

When you're under pressure to hit a number, copying what looks like it's working feels safe.

But all you can see is what they ran.
You can't see the results, or whether they turned it off 3 days later.

So you end up spending your budget on someone else's experiment.

After working with 100+ brands, here's what I'd do instead:

1️⃣ Open your own data first
↳ Your best customers have already told you what they respond to.
↳ It's sitting in your numbers, and nobody else has access to it.

2️⃣ Save 1 slot a month for an idea that makes you a little nervous
↳ If every test feels safe, your results will look like everyone else's.

3️⃣ Have an opinion, and put it in your ads
↳ People forget features pretty fast, but they remember what a brand stands for.

4️⃣ Pay attention to what gets people talking
↳ Shares, saves, and people tagging their friends all tell you something.
↳ Even when it's not a sale yet, that's a signal worth tracking.

5️⃣ Let your team get it wrong sometimes
↳ A team that's scared to miss will only ever pitch the safe option.
↳ And the safe option is always the one nobody remembers.

Honestly, the brands everyone copies today were once the ones that looked a little crazy for trying something new.

So next time your team pitches a campaign, ask 1 question:

"Who else is already doing this?"

If the answer is "everyone," you're probably late.

What's the last ad you ran that made your team nervous?

♻️ Repost for the marketer who's been living in their competitor's ad library.
And follow me, Jacob Rokeach, for more on creative systems and performance marketing that scales.

Image credit: Daniel Murray