Playbook to Disrupt Industry Giants

How can a small team create a content engine to compete with the giants?

You want to create a content funnel, leverage influencers, and splash your brand across billboards like the industry giants.

But let's face it: resources are tight when you're just starting out. You can't outspend the big brands on awareness. So, what can you do?

The answer is simple: if you can't beat them at the awareness game, win the trust game.

That's where you should focus your energy and resources. And the key to winning the trust game? Relatability.

Use Distrust Towards the Big Brands to Win the Trust Game

Let’s say you're a small laundry brand, and your biggest competitor is Tide.

Search for their name on social media, and what do you see? Posts about the toxicity of Tide's ingredients.

Their vulnerability is your opportunity.

You can leverage the familiarity of the big brand, tap into the existing community of unsatisfied customers, and create content that shows why your product solves their problem.

That’s what Mozi Wash did.

Their top-performing content, which has in total millions of views, uses the same hook: contrasting Mozi Wash with big brands like Tide and their "questionable chemicals."

It works because people are already familiar with the issue. The big brand's weakness becomes the small brand's strength.

By positioning themselves as the antidote to the brands people don't trust, Mozi Wash builds a bridge to their audience. They're not starting from scratch - they're leveraging existing awareness and dissatisfaction to tell their own story.

Let Your Customers Be Your Copywriters

Your next winning content? It's probably hiding in plain sight in a customer review or comment.

Because what's more relatable than using your customers' own words to tell your story?

So, dive into your reviews, comments, and customer emails.

Use these insights as hooks and supporting evidence in your content. Not only will it resonate with your audience, but it will also show that you're listening and that you care - to build trust.

As a small brand, you need to reserve your resources for the best content. And the best way to know what your customers will find valuable is to create content around their most popular questions and comments, again to build trust.

• Use customer reviews to support your point
• Address customer questions
• Use customer reviews to build hype

Stick to a Winning Formula, But Keep it Fresh

As a small brand, you don't have the luxury of reinventing the wheel with every piece of content. Time and resources are limited, and you need to make every effort count.

So identify what's working and reuse that format again and again.

When Mozi Wash’s, "Why I Started a Laundry Detergent Company" video took off, they didn't just move on to the next idea. They recognized they repeated the format constantly, with small variations, ultimately producing a piece that reached 8 million views.

We see this strategy at play with dupe.com as well. They've honed in on a content formula that resonates with their audience, and they stick to it, only introducing different hooks and tweaks, allowing them to stick to a proven formula while keeping the content fresh.