When your well of inspiration is running dry, you can always look to your competitors for ideas.
Stealing ideas is a turn of phrase we use here that while sinister-sounding is actually perfectly logical.
You and your competitors share the same target audience so it’s natural that you’d want to see what they’re doing content and marketing-wise and cherrypick the ones you like for your own strategy.
All this to say–I hereby give you permission to steal your competitor’s ideas.
In this article, I will talk about the things you can grab from your competitors and how to do your thievery. By the end of this, I hope you find more sources for inspiration and get unstuck.
7 Ways to Steal From Your Competitors Legally
1. Copy their best-performing ads
Advertising ideas, concepts, and topics are some of the easiest to find because ad libraries are available to everyone. If your competitor is running ads on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, you can look up their ads in a few clicks.
Other ways to find ads are:
- Google your target keywords to view search ads
- Use keyword research tools like Semrush to find lucrative keywords
A faster method we recommend is to look up your competitors on Panoramata to find their ads across all networks (social, display, search).
This covers ads on Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, and YouTube so you don’t have to go through separate ad libraries. On Panoramata, they’re in one place and you can save any ad directly on the platform.
It also helps to look at your competitor’s PPC ads to gain a competitive edge and maximize your ad spend. When you track and analyze their ads, you will find their best-performing tactics and ideas and be able to incorporate them into your ads.
Improve on their content and make sure yours delivers more value and has a fresh take whether it’s by article length, structure, design, or more in-depth analysis.
Note that “incorporating” doesn’t mean plagiarizing your competitors but letting their ads inform what you’re going to do next.
Pinpoint which campaigns are working best for them so you know which ones to replicate. Pay attention to things like:
- Ad copy and hooks
- Ad creatives
- Offers
- CTAs
- Videos
- Landing pages for each ad
- Value proposition
- Angle and messaging for the ad
- Audience being targeted
2. Find content inspiration
Creating content that stands out is hard, especially when there’s so much existing content already that tackles the same topics. You don’t want to regurgitate the same content to your target audience.
Competitor monitoring is key to producing content that attracts organic traffic. That way you know what topics work and can expound on them. On the other hand, you will know which topics don’t garner traffic and what gaps your competitor has in their content.
Use competitor analysis tools like Semrush to find your competitor’s target keywords and see if there are keyword gaps to be filled.
Tools like this will uncover their SEO strategy and which keywords attract paid vs. organic traffic. Strive to rank for keywords that your competitor is ranking for.
However, you can’t just write the same content. Improve on their content and make sure yours delivers more value and has a fresh take whether it’s by article length, structure, design, or more in-depth analysis.
As a bonus tip, make sure to track your competitor’s SEO metrics in real time. You can use Panoramata to ensure you’re keeping up with their performance.
The platform tracks the most important SEO metrics like domain rating, organic traffic, backlink profile, just to name a few
3. Anticipate their promotions
What promotions will your competitor run for this year’s big holidays and sales events?
When will they start promoting their sales and discounts for, let’s say, Christmas and Black Friday?
When do they roll out ads for summer or back-to-school season?
You can steal more than ideas; you can also steal or leverage the timing of your competitor’s promotions. By looking at their past activities closely, you can anticipate your competitor’s promotions because they will likely roll out the same promotions this year at the same time.
Let Panoramata do the hard work for you. By using the content calendar feature, you can see your competitor’s emails and ads from the past year (and more) and when they published them.
4. Track website changes and product pages
Your competitor’s website is a window into their marketing strategy and is the first thing you should check to know your target audience better.
They will emphasize their intended value proposition on the homepage of their website.
Any changes they make to their website aren’t by accident. It tells you that they’re changing their value proposition too or tweaking elements to secure higher conversions.
Tracking website changes is helpful when you are:
- Adjusting your value proposition
- Trying to improve conversion rates
Pay attention to the main benefit they’re endorsing on the website, as well as who they’re marketing to and the objections they want to answer with the homepage.
This goes for product pages too. Companies adjust their product pages all the time to maximize the likelihood of sales.
If you track their pages over time, it will be obvious why they change or remove some elements.
Most importantly, pay attention to the elements they retain over time. This tells you that it’s an effective piece of the page for them.
5. Improve your email flows/marketing automations
Examples of email flows are abandoned cart, reengagement, and welcome flows. These flows meet the subscriber at every point of their journey with the brand.
There’s a treasure trove of ideas you can steal from competitors in their marketing automations or email flows, from how they make new subscribers feel welcome to how they coax shoppers to return to their carts.
Look at things like:
- Frequency or scheduling of emails
- Number of emails in a flow
- Discounts and other offers
- Tone and angles
Then you can replicate ideas from their flows to your marketing automations and test out their effectiveness for yourself.
6. Decipher their main acquisition channels
Do you know what acquisition channels are most effective for your product? Look no further than your competitors.
You just need to monitor these things:
- Their ads
- Their emails
- Their content and blog posts
A high volume of ads compared to emails and blog posts suggests that advertising is where they’re making the most bank.
Take this a step further and notice what products they’re highlighting for each channel (ads, emails, blog posts, etc.).
Are they promoting product A in ads and product B in emails? Are there differences in offers for each acquisition channel? Steal these ideas too and test them out.
7. Steal email newsletter ideas
Lastly, track your competitor’s email newsletters. Emails are a useful lead-nurturing tool and it pays to improve this channel as much as you can.
By monitoring their emails, you can glean best practices and creative inspiration.
You can also learn what discounts and offers they promote to their audience frequently, as well as their email frequency. Make sure to match their email output so you don’t get left behind.
The most effective way to monitor emails is by using a tool like Panoramata. It tracks emails by any brand automatically.
That means you don’t need to use your email address to sign up for competitor newsletters. You only need to log in to Panoramata and the emails will be on your dashboard.
Plus, you can have access to previous emails they’ve sent to their subscribers, which is something you can’t get from signing up manually.
Is it legal to steal ideas from your competitors?
It’s perfectly legal to gather ideas from competitors as long as you stay within legal and ethical boundaries.
Avoid directly copying proprietary content, such as images, text, or unique branding elements, to respect copyright and intellectual property laws.
The goal is to gather inspiration and identify tactics that work well in your industry—not to replicate them in a way that infringes on someone else’s protected work.
You should also avoid any illegal activities, like hacking or unauthorized data collection, to gather competitive insights.
By using publicly available information and competitive analysis tools, you can ethically adapt effective strategies for your brand while staying compliant.
Focusing on ethical methods allows you to enhance your own unique approach based on best practices in your industry.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the best way to gather competitor insights legally?
Use competitor monitoring tools like Panoramata to gather public information. This helps you learn from your competitors’ tactics without breaching any privacy or copyright rules.
Can I use my competitors’ keywords for my SEO?
Yes, using competitor keywords is legal and widely recommended for SEO. It helps you target popular search terms that can increase your visibility in search results.
What should I avoid when analyzing competitors?
Avoid copying proprietary content, using non-public data, or any method that breaches privacy or intellectual property laws. Stick to publicly accessible information and ethical analysis tools for your research.
