After years of building product-led content strategies for B2B SaaS companies, I can predict which comparison content will fail before a single word gets written. The warning signs appear in the discovery phase: feature parity, vague ICPs, and no defensible differentiators.
Most content strategists see these red flags and push forward anyway. The keywords are there. Comparison content is proven. Surely, great execution can overcome weak positioning.
It can’t. And the sooner you admit this, the sooner we stop wasting resources on comparison content that was doomed from the strategy phase.
The Three Bad Options When Differentiation Is Weak
When your product lacks clear differentiation, comparison content forces you into one of three paths—all of them problematic.
Option 1: Stretch the Truth or Exaggerate Differences
This is the most tempting path, and the most dangerous.
You start looking for ANY differences you can spin as advantages. Maybe the competitor has a feature that does X, and your product does X slightly differently. You present this as a major distinction. Or you cherry-pick specific use cases where the product performs marginally better and present them as universal truths.
Example scenarios you’ll recognize:
For example, you might highlight “24/7 customer support” when the competitor also has it, just phrased differently. Or you claim “enterprise-grade security” when both products have the same SOC 2 compliance. You position a UI difference as a fundamental UX advantage. You exaggerate the importance of a minor feature that few users actually need.
Why this fails:
B2B buyers aren’t stupid. They do extensive research. They’ll compare your claims against the competitor’s website, reviews, and other comparison articles. When they catch the exaggeration, you loses all credibility—not just for that article, but for their brand.
Even worse, if the competitor notices, you’ve opened yourself up to legal risk. Comparative advertising has strict rules about truthfulness, and misleading comparisons can result in trademark disputes or false advertising claims.
Option 2: Write Bland “They’re Pretty Similar” Content
This is the honest approach, but it’s commercially useless.
You acknowledge that both products are functionally similar. You list features side by side, and most rows have checkmarks for both columns. You conclude with something like, “Both are solid options—it really depends on your specific needs.”
Why this fails:
Someone searching for “Product A vs Product B” is looking for a reason to choose one over the other. If you essentially tell them “they’re the same,” you’ve wasted their time—and your budget.
Even if this content ranks well, it provides no unique value. It won’t convert because it gives no reason to choose your product. And it certainly won’t justify the retainer investment.
Worse, if you’re truly being neutral, you might accidentally make the competitor look better by showcasing their strengths fairly.
Option 3: Highlight Superficial Differences
This is the middle ground that most agencies take, but buyers see through it immediately.
You focus on differences that exist but don’t really matter: slightly different navigation patterns, user interface preferences, or other subjective elements that vary by user.
Example scenarios:
For example, you write “Our dashboard is more intuitive” (which is subjective and unprovable). Or you claim “We have a modern, clean design” (which is aesthetic preference). You say “Our onboarding is simpler” (which is debatable). You focus on integrations when both products have the major ones covered.
Why this fails:
Buyers are making decisions based on capabilities, ROI, and strategic fit—not whether the buttons are blue or green.
Surface-level differences don’t address real business problems. When you build your comparison case on superficial points, you signal that there aren’t any substantial differences worth mentioning.
The Core Scenarios That Create This Problem
We’ve identified four main situations that lead to weak differentiation and make comparison content nearly impossible to execute well.
Scenario 1: Feature Parity
This is increasingly common in mature SaaS markets. Your product and the competitor’s product do fundamentally the same things. They both have:
- The same core features
- Similar integration ecosystems
- Comparable pricing tiers
- Equivalent customer support offerings
- Similar security and compliance certifications
Why feature parity happens:
Markets mature and best practices converge. Customers expect certain baseline features. Investors push for feature completeness. Product teams copy successful competitors.
For example, take project management tools. Asana, Monday.com, ClickUp, and dozens of others all offer tasks, boards, timelines, automations, and reporting. The core functionality is nearly identical.
When you’re working with a company that has feature parity with competitors, creating honest comparison content becomes an exercise in finding distinctions that barely exist. You’re forced to zoom in on minor implementation differences that most users won’t notice or care about.
Scenario 2: No Clear ICP Focus
Many products, especially in their early stages or when chasing growth, try to serve everyone. They position themselves as the solution for freelancers AND enterprises, for marketing teams AND development teams, for startups AND Fortune 500s.
The comparison content problem:
When someone searches for alternatives, they’re usually looking for something better suited to THEIR specific situation. If you can’t say “we’re built specifically for X type of company” or “we specialize in Y use case,” you can’t give searchers a compelling reason to choose them.
For example, consider a CRM that tries to serve both B2B and B2C, both inside sales and field sales, both small teams and large enterprises. Every comparison becomes muddy because you can’t confidently say who they’re BEST for.
The competitor might not be specifically positioned either, which makes the comparison even less useful. You end up with comparison content that essentially says, “We both do lots of things for lots of people.”
Scenario 3: Weak Positioning
Sometimes the product DOES have differentiation, but the company hasn’t clearly articulated it. They know they’re different but haven’t codified:
- What makes them unique
- Who benefits most from those unique attributes
- How to communicate that difference simply
Signs of weak positioning you’ll spot in discovery:
- Marketing messages that sound like they could describe any competitor
- Frequent pivots in messaging as the team searches for what resonates
- Sales explaining the product differently than marketing does
- Inability to complete the sentence: “Unlike [competitor], we…”
The comparison content trap:
You’re trying to write comparison content before you have done the strategic work of positioning. You’re expected to magically articulate a differentiation that the entire organization hasn’t figured out yet.
This results in generic comparison content that tries to be everything to everyone and ends up resonating with no one.
Scenario 4: Commoditized Market
Some markets are just genuinely commoditized. The products do essentially the same thing, at similar price points, with similar quality. Value is based more on relationships, sales process, or marginal optimizations than on fundamental product differences.
Examples:
For example, basic email service providers compete primarily on price and reliability. Web hosting services differentiate mostly on customer support. Many infrastructure and DevOps tools have nearly identical feature sets. Basic productivity software tools all offer the same core capabilities.
In these markets, companies compete on:
- Price (race to the bottom)
- Customer service quality
- Brand and trust
- Sales relationships
- Marginal performance improvements
The comparison content reality:
When you’re working in a commoditized market, comparison content can still work—but only if you’re honest about the commodity nature and compete on the dimensions that actually matter (price, support, reliability).
Most companies aren’t willing to admit they’re in a commodity market, so they push you to manufacture differentiation for comparison content, which brings us back to the three bad options.
Why People Search “Product A vs Product B”
To understand why weak differentiation is fatal for comparison content, you need to understand the searcher’s intent.
Someone searching comparison queries is typically:
- At a decision point: They’ve narrowed down to 2-4 options and need to make a final choice
- Looking for meaningful differences: They want to understand which product better fits their specific situation, budget, or use case
- Trying to avoid mistakes: They want to be confident they’re choosing wisely and won’t regret the decision or need to switch later
- Seeking validation: They may already be leaning one direction and want confirmation, or they’re genuinely torn and need a tiebreaker
What they’re NOT looking for:
- Generic feature lists they can find on each product’s website
- Marketing fluff and buzzwords
- Surface-level observations anyone could make
- Biased content that’s obviously promotional
When your product lacks differentiation, you can’t satisfy this search intent authentically. You can’t answer the fundamental question: “Which should I choose and why?”
The Tough Reality: Content Cannot Create Differentiation
This is the hard truth that many content strategists don’t want to accept: Content is an amplifier, not a creator of differentiation.
Great content can:
- ✓ Articulate existing differentiation clearly
- ✓ Educate buyers about why differences matter
- ✓ Position strengths in the most favorable light
- ✓ Make complex differences easy to understand
- ✓ Connect product capabilities to business outcomes
Great content cannot:
- ✗ Manufacture differentiation that doesn’t exist
- ✗ Convince buyers that similar products are dramatically different
- ✗ Override the reality of what the product actually does
- ✗ Create strategic positioning through clever copywriting
- ✗ Substitute for genuine product innovation
Think of content as a microphone. It makes your voice louder, but if you have nothing meaningful to say, a louder voice just means more people hear nothing.
Comparison content specifically requires substance to work. You need real, meaningful differences to write about. Without them, you’re building on sand.
What You Actually Needs Before You Write Comparison Content
If you find yourself in this situation—building a comparison content strategy but lacking clear differentiation—here’s what needs to happen FIRST:
1. Clear Positioning Strategy
Positioning is the strategic work of defining:
- What they are: Their category and what they do
- Who they’re for: Their ideal customer profile
- What makes them different: Their unique value proposition
- Why it matters: The problems they solve better than alternatives
The positioning work involves:
- Market research and competitive analysis
- Customer interviews and win/loss analysis
- Identifying underserved segments or use cases
- Making strategic trade-offs about who they WON’T serve
- Aligning product, marketing, and sales on the positioning
Outputs you need:
- Positioning statement the whole company agrees on
- Clear competitive differentiators
- Messaging framework that cascades from positioning
- Value propositions for different buyer personas
This is not a content project. This is a strategic initiative that requires leadership buy-in, cross-functional collaboration, and often external expertise. It might take months.
But without it, your comparison content strategy will always be weak.
2. Defined ICP and Target Audience
You need to know specifically who your product is best for. This means:
Firmographic clarity:
- Company size (employees, revenue)
- Industry or vertical
- Geography
- Growth stage
Use case specificity:
- Primary jobs-to-be-done
- Specific workflows they excel at
- Problems they solve better than alternatives
- Success metrics and outcomes
Buyer persona details:
- Roles and titles
- Pain points and motivations
- Decision-making process
- Evaluation criteria
Why this matters for comparison content:
When you know the ICP, you can write comparison content that says: “If you’re [specific type of company] trying to [specific outcome], here’s why we’re better than [competitor].”
The narrower and more specific the ICP, the easier comparison content becomes. You’re not trying to win everyone; you’re trying to win the right people.
For example, instead of “We’re a project management tool,” you position as “We’re the project management tool for creative agencies running client projects.” Now your comparison content can focus on things like client collaboration, creative review workflows, and time tracking for billing—dimensions that matter to agencies.
3. Genuine Product Differentiators (Even If Narrow)
You need something real that’s different and better for the target audience. This doesn’t have to be revolutionary, but it does need to be:
- Meaningful: It solves a real problem or creates tangible value
- Defensible: It’s based on truth, not spin
- Relevant: The target audience cares about it
- Sustainable: It’s not easily copied immediately
Types of genuine differentiators:
Specialization: You focus on a specific use case or industry while competitors are generalist.
For example, you’re a CRM built specifically for real estate agents versus general CRMs that try to serve everyone.
Technical approach: Your underlying technology or methodology is fundamentally different.
For example, you use AI-powered automation while competitors rely on rules-based workflows.
Integration ecosystem: You have deeper, better integrations with tools the ICP uses.
For example, you have native Salesforce integration while competitors only offer Zapier connections.
Workflow optimization: You’ve designed the product around a specific workflow the ICP uses.
For example, your tool is built for the specific way that law firms handle client intake.
Performance or scale: You handle volumes or speeds that competitors can’t match.
For example, you process real-time data while competitors batch process hourly.
Pricing model: Your pricing structure is fundamentally different and better for the ICP.
For example, you charge per outcome instead of per user.
Customer experience: You’ve built a genuinely superior experience in a specific dimension.
For example, your onboarding gets users to value in 5 minutes versus a competitor’s 2 hours.
The narrow focus advantage:
Notice that most strong differentiators are NARROW. You’re better at something specific, for someone specific. This is not a weakness—it’s a strength.
When you try to position your product as better at everything for everyone, you end up with content that’s better at nothing for no one. But when you can say “we’re clearly better at X for Y,” your comparison content writes itself.
What To Do If You’re Already In This Situation
Maybe you’re reading this and thinking: “Too late. The strategy’s already sold, and we definitely don’t have clear positioning.”
Here are your options:
Option A: Push Back (Recommended)
Be honest with your CEO/founder. Explain that comparison content requires clear differentiation to be effective. Present the three bad options and their consequences.
Propose doing the positioning work first, even if it’s a lightweight version. This might include:
- Customer interviews to find what they value about the product
- Competitive research to identify gaps
- Internal workshops to align on positioning
- Win/loss analysis to understand why they win or lose deals
Script: “I want to create comparison content that actually converts. To do that effectively, we need to first align on what makes you different and who you’re best for. Otherwise, we risk creating content that either damages credibility or simply doesn’t drive results.”
Option B: Narrow the Scope
If you can’t tackle full positioning, narrow the comparison content focus:
- Write comparison content for a SPECIFIC use case where you know they’re strong
- Create comparison content targeting a SPECIFIC buyer persona that loves the product
- Focus on one aspect where they genuinely are different (even if it’s not the whole product)
For example, instead of “Product A vs Product B” (broad), write “Product A vs Product B for E-commerce Brands” (narrow). You can find differentiation in specificity even when broad comparison is difficult.
Option C: Take a Different Content Approach
Sometimes comparison content just isn’t the right play. Consider alternative content types:
- Educational content: Teach buyers how to evaluate products in the category without directly comparing
- Use case content: Show how the product solves specific problems, which naturally positions it
- Customer stories: Let customers explain in their own words why they chose it
- Category creation: Position the product in a different category where it can win
Option D: Be Radically Honest
Some companies have found success with brutally honest comparison content that acknowledges similarities while still being helpful:
- Openly admit where competitors are better
- Explain the specific situations where you’re the better choice
- Give genuine guidance about how to choose
- Build trust through transparency
For example: “Honestly, if you need [X feature], Competitor is better. But if you’re [specific scenario], here’s why we’re the better fit…”
This approach can work, but it requires executive buy-in for a transparency-first brand strategy.
You Can’t Write Your Way Out of This
Creating comparison content when you lack clear differentiation is like trying to win a debate when you don’t have a position. You can use rhetorical tricks, speak louder, and gesticulate wildly—but you’re not going to be convincing.
The uncomfortable truth is that many B2B SaaS products genuinely are similar to their competitors. The technology has matured, best practices have converged, and the markets are efficient. This is reality.
But similarity doesn’t mean sameness. Every product is used by real customers who chose it for reasons. Your job as a content strategist is to:
- Discover what those reasons actually are
- Help articulate them clearly as positioning
- Amplify them through content
Until you’ve done steps 1 and 2, step 3 is premature.
The good news: This positioning work makes ALL your marketing more effective—not just comparison content. It clarifies messaging, focuses the product roadmap, and helps sales close deals.
The question to ask yourself: Are you recommending comparison content because it’s genuinely the right strategy, or because it seems easier than doing the hard work of figuring out what actually makes your product different?
If it’s the latter, step back. Do the positioning work first. Your comparison content—and your entire content strategy—will be infinitely better for it.
Remember: Content amplifies differentiation. It cannot create it.
Don’t try to content-strategy your way out of a positioning problem. Solve the positioning problem first, then let your content do what it does best: make the right voice heard by the right people.