by Austin LeClear
on December 16, 2024
In 2023, I (legally) stole $118,000 at a 300% plus ROAS (return on ad spend) for one of my clients from their top competitor.
How Did I Do It?
In this blog post, I’ll walk you through the exact digital marketing strategy I used to generate these results. If you follow these steps, I’m confident you can do the same for yourself (or your clients).
Prefer video? Check out our YouTube video here:
Still with us? Good. Let’s dive in.
The Proof
Before we jump into strategy, I want to share proof that this is real. While I can’t share client details or reveal the competitor’s name, here’s a breakdown of the numbers (with sensitive data redacted):
Let me explain what you’re looking at:
Timeframe: January 1 through December 2023
Filter: It’s a ‘search term contains’ filter which only contains the competitor’s name
Conversion Value: $118,433.24
ROAS: 3.34
These are excellent results, but the reality is competitor campaigns are extremely difficult to make profitable. A 3.34 ROAS (return on ad spend) is rare. Part of the reason this worked so well is because this client (an eCommerce business) has a better product than the competition. We built our marketing strategy around this, and essentially told our story to prospective customers in the hope that it would drive business growth. Our marketing efforts paid off here, but only because it was possible due to the client’s product.
Our success was a mix of strategic targeting and having a superior product. However, be aware — competitor campaigns are challenging. It’s essential to ensure your product is genuinely competitive or offers unique advantages over your competitor’s, as we did. That said, we’ve made this work for several of our clients so, if you’re ready to dive into the tactics, let’s get started!
Step 1: Set Up a Specific Competitor Campaign
The first piece of this strategy was setting up a targeted competitor search campaign in your Google Ads account. You’ll need to do some keyword research here. Our strategy revolved around capturing high-intent searches that included our competitor’s name and related phrases to attract their existing and prospective customers. Here’s what we targeted:
Competitor Brand Terms: For instance, if the competitor were “Nike,” we’d use broad terms like “Nike” or “Nike shoes.”
Long-Tail Competitor Terms: Searches like “Nike deals,” “Nike alternatives,” “Nike reviews,” and “Nike vs other brands.”
Long-tail terms proved the most profitable since they attracted shoppers actively researching alternatives or seeking the best deals. A significant boost came when we emphasized sale terms — if our competitor wasn’t running a sale and we were, we highlighted our offer to make it more compelling, and drive sales.
Key Point: Generic brand terms are costly (and risky) since they often attract existing customers. Long-tail, high-intent keywords often perform better. Test these first for your competitor campaigns.
Step 2: Craft Conversion-Driven Ad Copy
With a full understanding of our target audience, we wrote ad copy that emphasized our client’s unique features and benefits. We also tested compare copy, similar to the below:
In addition, we made sure to never explicitly name the competitor (which would violate ad policies). Instead, our copy focused on comparison and savings, which resonated well with our target audience (buyers in the research phase).
Effective Copy Techniques We Used:
Comparison Language: Use phrases like “Which [Product Type] is Better?” and “Compare Top Brands” to get the point across (without mentioning your competitor).
Benefit-Driven Messaging: We highlighted unique selling points, like warranties, lower prices, and better features, encouraging prospects to explore our landing page.
Sale-Specific Copy: During promotional periods, our ads switched from comparison to sale-focused language, which brought in higher engagement and conversions (especially if your competitor isn’t running a sale at the same time).
Example from Industry Leaders: For digital marketing strategy inspiration, take a look at brands like Nectar Sleep, which uses subtle yet effective comparative language.
Step 3: Build a Well-Designed Comparison Landing Page
Once we had the traffic dialed in, the landing page took over to drive conversions. In this case, we created a specific landing page with a side-by-side comparison of all of the features and benefits of our client’s product versus the competitor’s. Here’s a great example (again, from Nectar Sleep):
This format kept visitors on the page longer and resulted in a higher conversion rate for our client.
Landing Page: Key Elements
Clear Feature Comparisons: Create tables comparing product features side-by-side, including price, quality, and warranties (if applicable).
Social Proof: Use customer testimonials, reviews, and ratings to validate any claims you’re making.
Calls to Action (CTAs): Make use of strategic CTAs like “Learn More” and “Shop Now” to guide website visitors toward a purchase decision.
If you’re building a landing page for competitive targeting, think about incorporating these comparison elements. Brands like HubSpot and PandaDoc use similar techniques effectively, showing how well this approach can work across industries.
Key Point: Using your competitor’s name on your landing page is not a Google Ads policy violation.
Step 4: Expand to Display and YouTube Campaigns
After success on search, we expanded our marketing channels to Display and YouTube campaigns to reach our client’s target audience through custom audiences created from competitor URLs. This strategy can also help you build brand awareness. Here’s how:
Custom Audiences from Competitor URLs: By targeting users who had shown interest in competitor sites, we could reach potential buyers who were already familiar with similar products.
This does not mean Google is targeting people who have visited these websites. However, this is as close as you’re able to get to retargeting your competitors’ websites (without retargeting your competitors).
Display Ads with Comparison Messaging: Similar to our search ads, we used display ads that featured benefit comparisons or sale offers, keeping our visuals clear and aligned with the search strategy.
These ads should target the competitor audience you’ve built.
YouTube Ad Storytelling: Video ads focused on real stories or testimonials resonated well with our competitor audiences.
For instance, Mercedes-Benz does an excellent job of appealing to specific customer lifestyles in this ad, an approach we drew inspiration from for our client’s competitor campaign.
Key Point: Display and video marketing ads reach broader audiences at a lower CPC (cost per click) than search ads, allowing for significant remarketing opportunities for many eCommerce businesses.
Key Takeaways
Looking to replicate this approach in your own competitor campaigns? Here’s what to remember:
Be Selective with Target Terms: Start with high-intent long-tail keywords. Avoid generic terms that don’t show clear purchase intent.
Craft Compliant, Curiosity-Driven Ad Copy: Use indirect language to compare without naming competitors directly.
Build a Comparison-Focused Landing Page: A well-structured comparison page will guide visitors toward conversion. Use side-by-side feature tables and customer testimonials.
Use Display and YouTube Campaigns for Broader Reach: Custom audiences can bring competitor audiences into your fold at a lower cost. Remember, the most effective digital marketing strategies often make use of multiple marketing channels to increase sales.
Final Thoughts
Using this digital marketing strategy, you now know how to legally steal from your competitors with Google Ads (just like we did). If you’re interested in seeing how this could work for your Google Ads campaigns, book in a free account review with our team, or join our PPC Launchpad community to connect with other marketers and experts and ask your most pressing Google Ads questions. This strategy worked for us and, with the right setup, it just might work for you too.
