?? Beehiiv crashes ConvertKit’s party

TODAY'S MENU

?? Beehiiv crashes ConvertKit’s party

?? Steal Hunter’s compete schedule

??? New podcasts: Coffee & Compete Pod, The Marchitect

??? More news and jobs!

WHAT’S BREWING

Beehiiv Goes After ConvertKit with Ruthless Rip & Replace Campaign

Last Tuesday, email platform ConvertKit announced its official rebrand to “Kit” – a move the company had been teasing for months.

An hour later, Tyler Denk, CEO of Convertkit’s biggest competitor Beehiiv, dropped this tweet ??

Ouch.?

But to be clear, Tyler’s post wasn’t just a one-off dig.?

It was the launch of a calculated rip-and-replace campaign, designed to lure ConvertKit users to Beehiiv using a custom migration system and special discounts.?

The announcement was also paired with this notably spicy video.

The Bigger Story

Beehiiv has been snatching up market share in the ESP space since its launch in 2021.?

Just look at these numbers:

• $13 million ARR projected for 2024 (450% YoY growth)
• $46.50 million in funding raised
• Profitable within three years
• 1 billion emails sent monthly (as of spring 2023)

Meanwhile, ConvertKit (founded 2013) has been feeling the heat.

So, in what seemed like a bid to regain momentum, the company dove into a ‘build in public’ rebrand.

What they didn’t anticipate, however, was that this approach would inadvertently provide Beehiiv with insights to craft a potent counter-strategy.

What Beehiiv Got Right

Love it or hate it, Beehiiv’s aggressive play offers valuable insights for PMMs and compete pros:

• Stealing thunder: By closely monitoring ConvertKit’s public rebrand, Beehiiv was able to craft a sharp counter-strategy and launch at the opportune time, catching ConvertKit totally off-guard.
• Reinforcing creator-first positioning: Beehiiv doubled down on their creator-first identity, crafting a strong us-vs-them narrative. Their message was clear: while ConvertKit focused on logos, Beehiiv was focused on shipping features that directly benefit users.
• Highly tactical: Beehiiv executed a rip-and-replace campaign that directly lowered switching costs for ConverKit users. Their offer addressed common pain points in platform migration by offering a frictionless transfer system, free service, and VIP assistance.?

?? Speaking of Competitive Positioning

Tech messaging experts Emma Stratton and Anthony Pierri are both giving keynotes on competitive positioning at Compete Week 2024! You can register for free here.?

TODAY’S CUP OF WISDOM

Steal Hunter’s Competitive Enablement Schedule

During last week’s Coffee & Compete podcast, Hunter walked us through his personal competitive enablement and win-loss schedule.

Here’s how he’s breaking everything down (feel free to steal).??

As Needed:

• Battlecard Updates: Keeping intel fresh based on ongoing competitive research
• Direct Deal Support: Strategizing with AE/CSM teams on high-value competitive deals
• Competitive Enablement Sessions: Sharing updates on new assets, deliverables, and intel

Weekly:

• Competitive Intel Newsletter or Video: Covering recent market updates and highlighting changes in the competitive landscape
• Competitive Metrics Update: Tracking win rates, number of competitive deals, and status of deals with strategic logos

Bi-Weekly:

• Competitive Gong Call Team Reviews: 30-minute discussions with sales about recent competitive calls, bringing 2-3 Gong snippets to dissect approach, objection handling, or new intel

Monthly:

• Buyer Insights Readout: 45-minute session highlighting key findings and areas for improvement from win-loss interviews
• WL Committee Meeting: 60-minute discussion with cross-functional stakeholders

Quarterly:

• ‘All-In-Won’ Presentation at SDT: 15-minute overview covering win-rate changes, competitive updates, and key win-loss reasons
• Quarterly Win-Loss Analysis Recap: Executive summary shared with all major stakeholders, highlighting reasons behind wins and losses against top competitors

?? Listen to the full podcast here.

POWERED BY KLUE

Stratton and Pierri Headline Compete Week 2024!

Exciting news!

Two of the best in B2B messaging/positioning are coming to Compete Week 2024.

DAY 1: Emma Stratton, author of “Make It Punchy” Differentiate your tech with buyer-centric messaging

Emma is a tech messaging expert who has developed strategies for companies like Atlassian, Loom, Oracle, Miro, Uber, and Salesforce.??

DAY 2: Anthony Pierri, Co-founder of FletchPMM How to Differentiate in Crowded Markets

Anthony Pierri is one of the most prolific voices in product marketing right now – you’ve probably already seen his viral homepage teardowns.?

?When and where:

• IN-PERSON: Oct 28-29 in Vancouver (limited spots, apply now!)
• VIRTUAL: Oct 29-30 (pajamas welcome)

SAVE YOUR SEAT

FROM THE NETWORK

New Episodes: Coffee & Compete Podcast, Power Half-Hour

Coffee & Compete Podcast | How to Analyze Your Competitive Landscape

Last week, the C&C crew sat down to talk about competitive landscape analysis and how to create compete schedules.?

The Marchitect | Mastering B2B Product Launches

Rowan Noronha. Julien Sauvage, Beth Caplow, and Tamara Grominsky chat about the best product marketing practices to drive B2B launches.

CI Masterclass | The Myths and Reality Behind Competitive Insights and Al

UPCOMING WORKSHOP: Don’t let AI hype scare you—this workshop will tech you how to blend human insight, AI, and CI platforms to dominate your market.?

SIPS N' CLICKS

Other Compete News

Salesforce bets on AI agents as its next big differentiator – here’s how they could transform ERP and SCM for enterprises.

Mozilla reveals brand refresh, leaning into its positioning as the safe, “grassroots” browser.

OpenAI launches new ‘Canvas’ interface to compete with Anthropic’s popular ‘Artifacts’ feature.

YouTube announces the launch of ‘Communities’ directly challenging platforms like Discord, Slack, and Skool.

Compete Jobs

Senior Product Marketing Manager@ Microsoft

Sales Enablement Manager@ Blend

Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Employer Brand@ Linkedin

Sr. Sales Enablement Consultant @ CDK Global

Craving more compete action?

?

Join?The Compete Network community.

• Connect with 5,000+ other product marketers and GTM leaders
• Binge hours of on-demand content
• Keep sharpening your compete skills

?Also, don’t forget to share this newsletter with a friend in need.

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P.S. — all typos are intentional. It’s how we make sure your paying attention.?

?Stay caffeinated.

– Niko