Truly utilising PR and marketing: five ways to stay ahead of your competitors

Gaining an edge over competitors is essential in every sector, but nowhere more so than in technology and telecoms, where hundreds of companies compete to be seen as a trusted partner. In fact, approximately 501 companies in the UK alone are now providing advanced connectivity products or services, representing around just 4% of the wider telecommunications base, highlighting how competitive markets have become.

Standing out in these increasingly crowded landscapes is no easy task, especially where offerings may overlap and the same target markets may be in the crosshairs. Here, differentiation is key – something that can be easily identified when using Proactive International PR’s Competitor Analysis service. In this blog, we draw on previous Competitor Analysis projects to highlight five ways your company can truly stand out.

1.     Prioritise owned content… 

Owned content can take many forms: landing pages, blogs, case studies, whitepapers, reports, and even social media. While it spans the breadth of a company’s activity, the real value lies in creating a consistent, recognisable voice and reinforcing the messages that set the business apart.

A valuable tool in creating competitive advantage, owned content gives businesses the opportunity to shape conversations from their own perspective and linked to their own offerings or messaging. Consistently publishing useful, authoritative content around the issues that matter to their audiences and customers – such as related industry trends or updates – and companies can establish themselves as the go-to voice in their sector, strengthen their overall credibility and long-term visibility across search and AI platforms in the process.

2.     But don’t neglect earned content

This isn’t to say that earned content should be neglected, however. Leveraging feature articles, interviews, and guest webinars should be used alongside this earned content to ensure all bases are covered when it comes to establishing presence across an industry. While owned content allows businesses to control their narrative, earned content provides the more outward facing thought leadership needed to make those messages more credible and influential to a wider audience.

For businesses looking to stay ahead of their competitors, this distinction is important. Being featured in the publications your customers already read, appearing on relevant industry podcasts or webinars, and contributing expert commentary to conversations already taking place can help a company reach audiences beyond its own channels. It also provides an independent endorsement of its expertise, helping to build the authority and trust that owned content alone cannot always achieve.

3.     Make executives visible

Building on this, delivering both owned and earned content through the perspective of an executive way can go a long way to making a brand more distinctive. Known as ‘executive profiling’, putting a recognisable face and personality behind a company’s expertise gives audiences someone to connect with, while allowing businesses to communicate their expertise in a more human and engaging way. delivering these human-led narratives

In tech and telecoms, competing businesses tread the wire of sounding remarkably similar. 75% of B2B buyers and C-suite executives say thought leadership has led them to research a product or service they weren't previously considering, demonstrating how an executives position can actually create demand, rather than simply build awareness.

4.     Turn competitor weakness into your strength

While identifying your own Search Engine Optimisation and Generative Engine Optimisation is essential, so too is finding the gaps in your competitors’ strategy. Understanding what competitors rank for, which questions they are answering, and where their content is being surfaced by Large Language Models (LLMs) can reveal valuable opportunities to occupy they have overlooked.

Rather than simply trying to compete for the same keywords and topics, businesses can use this intelligence to identify areas where competitors have weak or limited visibility. This could mean creating more authoritative content around an underserved topic or developing content that directly answers a question competitors have missed - before it becomes highly competitive.

5.     Keep monitoring

Above all, competitor analysis shouldn’t be treated as a one-off, simply because PR and marketing is an ever-changing world. Competitor strategy will shift as new platforms and trends evolve, meaning even yesterday’s approach may not deliver the same results tomorrow.

For example, several organisations have significantly invested marketing assets and content into YouTube and Reddit given their high ranking by leading LLM ChatGPT. However, recent news that these platforms have been deprioritised by ChatGPT will no doubt affect strategy going forward, with YouTube citations dropping to 88% and Reddit citations plunging by 81-86%. Prior to this update, Reddit was one of ChatGPT’s most visible and credible sources.

Your trusted analysis partner

Staying ahead of this requires continuous monitoring rather than just relying on a competitor analysis conducted once every one or two years. Tracking changes across search, AI, media, social platforms and competitor activity is essential.

Partnering with an agency like Proactive International PR who constantly monitor the latest industry trends can help your brand stay one step ahead of the latest opportunities and adapt before the market moves around them. For more information on our competitor analysis service, visit here.