Competing with look-alikes

Today, most of the products look-alike or try to so. There is one or two leaders in the space and others play a catching up game.

Take Intercom for example, several apps have been playing a catch up game by focusing on the feature parities.

The following are a few pointers that I think help for operating in a crowded market. I have been trying to set my strategies in these directions so thought these will help others too.

You must focus on job that user is trying to perform and help him improve on that. Without this you might end up with product that is just a good looking CRUD app
For example, if you are a blogging site then you must focus on making the process of writing better, or take away complex decisions like SEO terms to use, or deciding on what short summary to post on social media.

We were building a project based learning for graduate students once. We learnt that deciding on which products to use required knowing the industry problems and technology trends. So we created a 3-way communication tool (add-on) between Industry experts, Professors and the students.
These small decisions are often the most difficult part of the job that users are trying to perform. By helping with these micro hurdles, you can add more value and differentiate. Each user decides differently, so there is plenty of room for everyone to differentiate.

This also includes making training or help content beyond your product scope. Help people get better at the job they are trying to perform. For example - Ahref has a youtube channel to help you learn SEO and how to grow with it.

To make the job easier, you must also consider what comes before and after the job. Make the transition easier. For example, if you are a screen recording app, you are likely to send the recording to others on one of the many many communication tools. Integrate your tool with as many as apps you can to make that transition easier.

Looks matter: Your branding and website play an important role in how people relate to you

Think Different : How you consistently think different and bring a unique perspective in everything you do matters. Writing a blog - make it unique, writing a help article - make it unique, sending an onboarding email - make it unique.

Please do share if you have any additional pointers that I can add to my list.