B2B Competitive Marketing Strategies: How to 1up Your Competition

I was recently talking to a marketing leader at a SaaS company, and they had a problem: Deals were slowing down. Customers were taking longer to buy, shopping around more, and making the sales cycle more competitive than ever.

They asked me, “Does our business look competitive from the outside?”

I told them, “If you have to ask, you’re probably not as competitive as you should be.”

That’s the reality for many businesses right now. It’s not about who has the flashiest branding or the biggest funding round anymore. When budgets tighten, customers scrutinize every purchase. They compare options, take their time, and make businesses fight harder for every deal. If you’re not actively positioning yourself as the better choice, you risk falling behind.

So, how do you stay ahead when the market gets tough? Here are four competitive marketing strategies to help you win more deals—even in a crowded space.

Let’s be honest: Customers love comparisons. They’re going to Google your product vs. your competitor anyway—so why not control the narrative?

Some marketers will tell you, “Feature vs. feature comparisons don’t win deals.” Sure, but that’s not the point.

Comparison pages aren’t about closing deals on the spot. They’re about giving your customer ammunition to fight for you when you’re not in the room.

Us vs Them comparisons help you do that and can also set traps for the competition by forcing them to explain specific feature gaps.

Here’s an example of Crowdstrike vs SentinelOne.

Now here’s SentinelOne vs Crowdstrike.

You’ll notice the pages have a very similar structure:

Some brands might not want to be so direct with their marketing. But if your competitor is going to do it, you should be willing to respond.

If you want these pages to be public
Optimize them for SEO so they appear when people search “X vs YourCompany.” You can rake in a ton of qualified search traffic just by publishing a comparison page. More importantly, you prevent that traffic from making its way to your competitors’ version of the same page. Here’s what that looks like from Crowdstrike & SentinelOne.

For a more subtle approach
You can keep a comparison page private but easily accessible to customers:

Remember – comparisons are a tool that your customer can use internally. It’s up to you how loud you want that tool to be.

Not everyone wants to go head-to-head in comparison battles, but every business needs a strong “Why Us” page.

When you’re competing against a dozen alternatives, this page makes your case clear. Think of it as your business’s closing argument.

A great “Why Us” page helps customers sell your product internally. It also becomes the foundation for RFP responses, sales decks, and investor pitches.

Don’t have one? You’re missing out on a powerful way of communicating your value proposition.

Many of these pages follow a simple template:

Here’s Hubspot’s Why Choose Us page. It has all of the key elements you want a customer to walk away with:

A 2-liner that sums up why your product matters is what everything else is built on. This should be simple enough that someone can copy paste or recite off the top of their head. In this case it’s also paired with a great call to action:

Your top 3-5 key differentiators should be memorable. Don’t go deep on technical aspects or overload readers with industry jargon. The goal is give users something obvious they can call back to later when comparing you with alternatives.

A simple problem + solution narrative can go a long way – especially when presented as a visual. Hubspot has made it so users can screenshot and share a nice visual to explain “why” it matters.

Key stats that demonstrate a measurable impact can be a double edged sword. If you can’t back up your numbers, or feel as thought they’re not compelling, then don’t use them.

The best way to back up key metrics is with customers who agree with your narrative and can validate those metrics. You don’t need many, just focus on the marquee referenceable users who would be willing to speak on your behalf.

Unlike Us vs Them comparisons, the Why Page should be generic. It doesn’t target any specific competitor and the messaging should make sense when compared to any alternative.

You can take this a step further than just having a page.

Check out Cloudflare’s Why Us section. They’ve dedicated an entire submenu to it:

You know what sells better than your marketing team? Your customers.

If you have happy customers but aren’t actively collecting testimonials, you’re missing out on free, high-impact content.

Do you have a case studies page?

If yes, then good.

If not, make one ASAP.

Here are some common misconceptions about customer testimonials pages:

It needs to be a big library of customer quotes and videos.
Not true. Customers aren’t going to read dozens of testimonials anyway. Having one or two referenceable customers can go a long way. Hubspot’s customers page focuses on a handful of customers from key verticals. Contrast that with Okta’s long list of customers. Both are equally effective but the first is more within reach of a small business.

You need big name enterprises to demonstrate competence.
Actually, you need names from your target industries to demonstrate you can serve their vertical. Showing you have a small customer in the same industry as a new prospect is much more relevant than telling everyone that “Big Giant Bank” is a customer.

Anonymized customer testimonials don’t work well.
Some customers may not want their face or name used in your marketing materials… so anonymize them. Anonymous quotes are less impactful at first glance, but you can always offer to connect a prospect with the customer reference if they’d like to learn more.

Once you have a few testimonials ready to go – here’s how you can maximize their visibility:

This is one of the most overpowered competitive marketing strategies. People argue this is a race to the bottom. I disagree. You’re playing defense.

Bidding on competitor keywords is one of the best ways to intercept traffic.

If they’re doing it to you, you need to do it to them.

Here’s a great example of Pipedrive targeting searches for Hubspot.

Notice how Hubspot is also bidding on the same keyword? This drives up the cost of the phrase for both vendors.

The problem is this method can quickly get out of control and become prohibitively expensive. Especially if your competitor has a bigger budget.

Some tips on running competitive Google ads without going broke:

Bonus tip –
Got a copyright strike? Modify the ad copy.

Occasionally a competitor might complain to Google about you using their company name in an Adwords ad. Don’t let them bully you. Just get creative and tweak the ad.

The ad you received a complaint about:

Your new and improved ad free of copyright violations:

You’ll be surprised how often this works.

If you want to stay ahead in a crowded market, you need to be proactive, strategic, and willing to outmaneuver the competition. These competitive marketing strategies will help you stand out, attract more customers, and close more deals—even when budgets are tight.

By making your differentiators clear, equipping your customers with the right comparison tools, leveraging testimonials for credibility, and using smart search strategies, you can position your business as the best choice.