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How to choose a marketing agency for B2B SaaS?
January 26, 2026
Stop sounding like everyone else. Learn how to conduct a deep competitive landscape analysis and use our template to build a differentiation strategy that wins.
Competitor messaging analysis is a structured review of how other companies in your space describe their product, who it's for, what problem it solves, and why buyers should care. Unlike competitive analysis, which compares features, this focuses on language and narrative. It matters because most B2B deals now involve 3-5 competitors, and when your messaging sounds identical to theirs, buyers default to price or brand recognition instead of understanding your actual value. The process has five core steps: select 3-5 key competitors, collect their messaging assets across channels (not just websites), break down their positioning and proof points using a consistent framework, compare findings against your own messaging to identify where you sound identical and where gaps exist, then turn those findings into actionable updates for your homepage, sales decks, and content strategy. What you walk away with is a differentiation map showing exactly where competitors overlap, where white space exists in the market, and a clear action plan for claiming language and positioning that sets you apart.
If you removed your logo from your homepage right now, would buyers know they were looking at your company? Or would they assume they'd landed on a competitor's site?
Most B2B SaaS companies can't honestly answer yes to that question. Not because their products aren't different, but because their messaging isn't. Everyone describes themselves with the same category labels, the same feature lists, and often the same exact phrases. The result is a market where websites look distinct but say identical things.
Here's what makes this dangerous: buyers don't compare products the way vendors think they do. They don't carefully read feature tables or test every integration. They scan for meaning. They ask simple questions like "Is this for someone like me?" and "Can I explain this to my team?" When your messaging sounds generic, they assume your product is too.
The solution isn't better design or more aggressive pricing. It's understanding exactly what your competitors say so you can deliberately say something different. That's what competitor messaging analysis does. It maps the language landscape of your category, shows you where everyone sounds identical, and reveals the gaps where clear differentiation lives.
This guide walks you through the exact process: how to select the right competitors, which assets to analyze, how to document what you find, and most importantly, how to turn that research into messaging that makes buyers choose you instead of just considering you.
Competitor messaging analysis is a structured review of how other companies in your space explain their value to buyers.
You're documenting:
This includes headline copy, product descriptions, proof points, calls to action, and sales narratives.
Unlike a standard competitive analysis, this isn't about checking feature parity. Two products can be very different technically and still sound identical in language. When that happens, the better product often loses to the clearer one.
A competitive analysis compares what products do. A messaging analysis compares what products say.
Competitive analysis asks: Does their product have feature X?
Messaging analysis asks: How do they frame the problem? What words do they repeat? How do they explain why buyers should care?
This matters because buyers don't read feature tables carefully. They scan for meaning. They ask simple questions like "Is this for a company like mine?" and "Can I explain this tool to my team?" Your job is to control the story they hear before they ever speak to sales.
This isn't a quarterly ritual you do because the calendar says so. It's a tool you pull out when something specific is happening in your business or market.
You're launching a new product. You need to know how competitors describe similar solutions so you can claim different language and positioning from day one.
You're repositioning or refreshing your brand. Before you rewrite your homepage, you need to see where the market has moved and where gaps exist that nobody's addressing yet.
You're entering a new market. Geographic expansion or vertical focus requires understanding how incumbents talk to that audience and what assumptions they're making.
Sales objections are increasing. If prospects keep saying "You sound like Competitor X," that's a signal your messaging has drifted into generic territory. Time to check what everyone else is saying.
Website conversion is dropping. Sometimes the issue isn't traffic quality or page speed. It's that your value proposition no longer stands out from the noise in your category.
Your content sounds like everyone else. If your blog posts, case studies, and ads could swap logos with a competitor and no one would notice, you have a differentiation problem that needs fixing.
This is where marketing strategy services can help identify the root cause and fix it systematically.
Start with 3-5 primary competitors. These are companies buyers actually mention in sales calls or that show up in your win/loss analysis.
Add 2-3 aspirational or category leaders. These are the brands buyers know even if they're not direct feature competitors. They set expectations for what "good" looks like in your space.
Optionally, include 1-2 adjacent solutions. These are products buyers might compare you with even though they solve the problem differently. Think spreadsheets versus project management software, or a manual process versus your automated tool.
Don't analyze 20 companies. You'll drown in data and never finish. Keep it focused.
Gather your own assets so you can compare side by side:
You can't spot gaps in the market if you don't know what you're currently saying.
Use whatever tool your team actually opens. A Google Sheet works fine. So does Notion, FigJam, or a Miro board.
The format matters more than the tool. You need columns for each competitor and rows for specific messaging elements. We'll cover the exact template structure later in this guide.
Direct competitors are companies that show up in the same buyer conversations. They solve the same problem with similar technology. These are the names your sales team hears repeatedly in discovery calls.
Indirect competitors solve the same problem but use a different approach. Think Salesforce versus a spreadsheet for tracking deals, or Slack versus email for team communication.
Category leaders are brands buyers know and reference even if they're not direct competitors. They set the standard for what buyers expect in terms of polish, proof, and positioning.
For most B2B SaaS companies, a list of 5-8 total competitors is enough. Any more and your analysis becomes too broad to be actionable. You'll spend weeks collecting data instead of making decisions.
Output: A finalized list with competitor names, URLs, and a note on whether they're direct, indirect, or aspirational.
Don't just look at homepages. You need a full picture of how competitors communicate across channels.
Take screenshots and save copies. Websites change constantly. You want a record of what the market looked like at this specific moment so you can track shifts over time.
Output: A folder (physical or digital) containing all competitor messaging assets organized by company.
Now you analyze what you collected. Look at each competitor through the same lens so you can compare apples to apples.
What specific outcomes do they promise?
Don't just copy their headline word for word. Ask: If a buyer reads this page, what result are they expecting? Are they promising time savings? Cost reduction? Risk mitigation? Revenue growth? Better team collaboration?
Most B2B companies promise multiple outcomes across their site. Note all of them and flag which one leads, which is usually what appears in the H1 headline.
Who do they say the product is for? What job title or company size or industry do they target?
And why them specifically? Do they claim to be the fastest, the most secure, the most integrated, the easiest to use? Do they own a specific use case or vertical?
This is where brand strategy services become important. You need to position around a truth competitors can't easily copy, not just claim attributes anyone could say.
What phrases or themes show up repeatedly across their site and materials?
If you see "AI-powered" on the homepage, in the product pages, and in their ads, that's a key message. If they mention "enterprise-grade security" three times on one page, they're trying to own that concept in buyers' minds.
List these recurring phrases. They tell you what the company wants buyers to remember above everything else.
What evidence do they use to back up their claims?
Look for:
The type of proof matters as much as the quantity. Enterprise buyers care about compliance certifications and big-name logos. Startups care about fast time-to-value stories and peer reviews.
Is the tone formal or casual? Technical or accessible? Friendly or authoritative?
This isn't about personal preference. It's about recognizing patterns in your category. If every competitor sounds like a law firm, there's an opportunity to sound human. If everyone is trying to be funny and casual, maybe serious and direct wins.
Output: A structured comparison showing how each competitor talks about the same core messaging elements.
This is where the real work happens. You're looking for four things.
Where you sound identical. If you and three competitors all say "streamline workflows" or "all-in-one platform," those phrases are burned. You can't differentiate using language the entire market already owns.
Where competitors are clearer. Sometimes a rival explains the problem better than you do. Or they have a more specific value prop. Note where they're winning on clarity even if your product is technically superior.
Where you're stronger but not saying it. You might have proof points, integrations, or outcomes that competitors can't match, but if you're burying them on page three of a case study, buyers won't know they exist.
Gaps nobody owns. This is the white space. A problem the market cares about that no one is directly addressing. An audience segment that's underserved. A proof point type that's missing across the board.
If you're working with a team on content strategy services, this comparison becomes the foundation for new messaging angles and content that fills market gaps.
Category copy is language that appears everywhere in your space. When buyers hear it, they glaze over because it signals nothing specific.
Common B2B SaaS category copy includes:
These phrases aren't wrong. They're just invisible. If everyone says it, no one owns it. Buyers read right past them.
Create a "burn list" of phrases that appear on three or more competitor sites. You're now forbidden from using them in your own messaging. This constraint forces you to find more specific language.
Output: A differentiation map showing overlap, competitive advantages, your hidden strengths, and white space opportunities.
Analysis without action is just research theater. You need to convert findings into real deliverables that change how you talk about your product.
Updated positioning statement. Based on the gaps you found, write a new one-sentence description of who you serve, what problem you solve, and why you're different from alternatives.
Sharper homepage hero. Rewrite your H1 and subheadline to own language competitors aren't using and speak to a gap in how the problem is currently described.
New proof points. If competitors lean heavily on logos and you have better metrics, lead with numbers. If they show generic results and you have vertical-specific case studies, make those more prominent.
Content angles competitors ignore. Where are competitors silent? What questions do buyers ask that no one is answering in content? Build your editorial calendar around those gaps.
Sales battlecards. Give your team specific language for how to position against each competitor. Not just feature differences, but narrative differences. How do you frame the problem in a way that makes your solution the obvious fit?
If you're running account-based marketing services, these battlecards become the foundation for personalized outreach that speaks directly to how target accounts currently think about the problem.
Output: A messaging action plan with clear owners and deadlines for implementing each change.
Here's the structure to organize your findings. Copy this into a spreadsheet or Notion doc.
Add a column for each competitor you're analyzing. Add rows for any additional messaging elements that matter in your category, like certifications, partner ecosystems, or implementation timelines.
Only analyzing websites. Public websites are sanitized for broad audiences. Sales decks, email sequences, and paid ads show what actually works in converting buyers. Get access to these materials whenever possible, even if it means asking friendly prospects or using tools that track competitor ads.
Focusing on features instead of outcomes. Buyers don't care that you have 50 integrations. They care about not having to manually export data every week. Analyze how competitors describe the "so what" behind features, not just the features themselves.
Copying competitors instead of differentiating. The point isn't to find what's working for others and do the same thing. It's to find what everyone is saying so you can say something different. If your analysis leads to "we should also talk about AI," you've missed the point.
Treating it as a one-off exercise. Markets move fast. Competitors launch new products, change messaging, and pivot positioning constantly. If you did this analysis 18 months ago and haven't looked since, your data is stale and probably wrong.
Ignoring the status quo competitor. In many B2B deals, your biggest competitor isn't another software product. It's doing nothing, using spreadsheets, or sticking with a manual process. If you only analyze direct competitors, you'll miss the inertia narrative you need to overcome. This is where demand generation services can build campaigns that specifically address why change matters now.
Analyzing messaging without testing it. Just because you found a gap doesn't mean buyers care about it. Test new positioning in ads, on landing pages, or in sales conversations before you redesign your entire website around it.
Competitor messaging analysis isn't a project with a deadline. It's a practice you build into how your team works.
Revisit quarterly. Set a recurring calendar reminder to check competitor homepages, recent case studies, and any new content they've published. Note changes in a shared doc so your team sees how the market is shifting in real time.
Add new competitors as they emerge. When sales mentions a new name in deal reviews, add that company to your analysis. When a startup gets funded and starts showing up in your category, document how they're positioning before they become a major threat.
Track messaging shifts over time. Create a simple log showing when competitors changed their homepage headline or launched a new campaign. These shifts often signal strategic pivots you should know about, like a move upmarket or a focus on a new vertical.
Connect insights to product marketing and sales. This analysis should inform more than just your website copy. Use it to update sales enablement materials, brief the product team on how the market talks about pain points, and guide your content calendar toward underserved topics.
If your team is running lead generation services, this ongoing competitive intelligence helps you refine targeting and messaging as the market evolves.
Competitor messaging analysis is most powerful when combined with strategic frameworks you might already be using.
SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). Use your messaging analysis to fill in the "Opportunities" and "Threats" sections. Where competitors are weak in messaging is an opportunity for you. Where they're strong and you sound similar is a threat to your differentiation.
Strategic group mapping. Plot competitors on a two-axis chart based on messaging dimensions. For example, technical versus accessible language on one axis, horizontal versus vertical positioning on the other. This visual helps you see clustering and find empty quadrants to own.
3C (Company, Customers, Competitors). Use competitor messaging analysis to fill in the "Competitors" section with real language patterns, then map how your company's actual capabilities and your customers' actual needs create a unique position.
You don't need to master these frameworks to do good work. But if you're building a formal positioning strategy, competitor messaging analysis gives you the raw material these frameworks need to be grounded in market reality.
If your logo disappeared from your homepage, would a visitor still know it was your company?
For most B2B SaaS products, the answer is no. Websites look different but say the same thing. They use the same category labels, the same buzzwords, the same vague promises about transformation and growth.
Competitor messaging analysis gives you permission to be different. It shows you exactly where the market sounds identical so you can deliberately choose different language. It reveals gaps where buyers have questions no one is clearly answering. It helps you see the noise so you can rise above it.
The goal isn't to find what works for competitors and copy it. The goal is to understand the conversation buyers are already hearing so you can change it. To reframe the problem in a way that makes your solution the obvious answer.
Most B2B buying decisions involve multiple vendors. If you sound like everyone else, buyers default to price or brand recognition. If you sound clear and specific, you control the narrative. You help them understand why they should choose you, not just consider you.
This matters more than adding features. It matters more than cutting prices. Messaging is how buyers understand what you do and why it matters. Get that wrong and nothing else works. Get it right and suddenly sales gets easier, conversion improves, and deals close faster.
Want to turn this analysis into a differentiation strategy that actually works? Contact us to build messaging that makes buyers choose you, not just compare you.
