August 12, 2022
As a startup, you want to beat the big competitors, but it can feel overwhelming and impossible at times. Here are four simple steps to take advantage of your role as an underdog.
1. Storytelling
Being the underdog can make you feel inferior, but it can also be turned around to your advantage because the world actually loves underdogs.
When you're a small startup, you are allowed to be more colorful than the big players. Use this to your advantage, and don't be afraid to truly stand out from the crowd. Identify the stories that have an edge and that might create some media awareness because once you grow big, this is no longer possible to the same extent.
2. Agility & Speed
The benefits of being an underdog are similar to the feeling of being David against Goliath. As Malcolm Gladwell has put it, most people misunderstand who really has the upper hand in this scenario — and in turn, they get the famous Biblical yarn all wrong. It's actually because of, and not despite, David's size and unorthodox choice of weapon that he's able to slay the lumbering giant. In other words, most people underestimate the importance of agility and speed.
3. Marketing
Content marketing quickly becomes boring, if you don't have anything important to say. Oftentimes you have stronger stories and messages as an underdog because you're challenging the status quo. Here are three underdog marketing tricks for you to use.
Newsjacking: Don't do public relations. The agencies are too expensive and oftentimes don't deliver on their promises. Instead, monitor the news media yourself using one of the popular social media and public relations monitoring tools out there like Hootsuite or Brand24. Identify 10 keywords and agendas where you have something interesting to say. Monitor when they start hitting the media and immediately write the journalist that has published a story with your unique take on that particular media agenda. It really works!
Data-driven advertising: Don't do branding campaigns. It's way too expensive in the beginning. Use channels where you can monitor everything such as Google Ads and calculate your LTV:CAC from the beginning — meaning how much it costs you to acquire a paying customer, and how much this customer is worth to you after various increments of time.
Content marketing: Newsjacking and data-driven advertising can give instant results. Creating high-quality content around your main messages may take longer, but if you have the patience, it's truly worth it.
4. Think of your underdog role as a duty
As an entrepreneur, I think that the battles against Goliaths are not only winnable for the underdogs, but almost duties of ours. When we struggle against a giant, it can lead to new breakthroughs, innovations and progress in the world.
Before you start executing the ideas described above, please remind yourself that you have the true potential to make a real impact. As human beings, we sometimes feel small or bewildered, but when we insist on putting our focus on impact & action instead of only ideas & dreams, we take back the power.
With your power, you can change lives no matter your age, ethnicity, education, gender or current job title. Jump on this inspiring journey, and if you feel lost or small on the way, repeat the words of Body Shop founder Anita Roddick: "If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito."