The Competitor You Least Suspect
Do you know your competitors? I don’t mean a list of other companies in the same market as you, I mean your competitors. I don’t think it may be as obvious as it seems. I didn’t think about it much until I read this quote from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings where he said, “We compete with (and lose to) Fortnite more than HBO”. It made me wonder, who are our competitors?
In my job for a marketing automation agency it may seem that other agencies are our competitors but it could be that they may actually be better partners. We are all trying to get organizations to optimize their marketing automation platforms. Our collective competitors may be in house staff who think they can handle all of the work themselves or organizations that don’t truly value their marketing automation platforms.
If we look at the bigger picture, I think marketers are competing against any other company in a channel where you exist, regardless if they are in the same industry or not. On social media, you may be competing against a potential customer’s family and friends. At trade shows you may be competing against the layout and location of your booth.
In my career I may be competing against new technology that could make all of my expertise irrelevant. I may even be competing against myself and my ability to show how I add value. All of these things have nothing to do with other people who may want similar career goals as I do. So my competitors aren’t others in the job market, my biggest competitor is myself.
It’s always the one you least suspect.
