Structural Decomposition: How SMEs Can Survive in an Era Where Copying Competitors Doesn't Sell Products
“I hear that competitor’s product is selling like crazy. Let’s make a similar landing page and run ads with a similar offer.”
If you are a president or marketing manager at an SME, you have likely had this conversation in your office at least once. Or perhaps you have actually printed out a competitor’s landing page (LP) and thoroughly analyzed everything from the structure and catchphrases to the color scheme, only to apply it to your own company.
But what was the result? The CPO (cost per order) wasn't as expected, and the ROAS (return on ad spend) didn't add up. You find yourself holding your head in your hands, wondering, “I’m confident in the quality of my product, so why isn’t it selling?”
The reason is very simple. It is because you only copied the “surface” of other companies and failed to grasp the “intent behind why consumers are buying.”
In this article, based on insights cultivated at the forefront of direct response marketing, I will explain the true nature of “selling context” and the “structural decomposition thinking method” to repurpose it for your company and lead to guaranteed sales (maximizing LTV).
Chapter 1: Why “Copying Competitors” Always Fails
Researching other companies and analyzing competitors is the foundation of marketing. However, many companies make a fatal mistake here.
That mistake is looking only at the “results” of competitors and not trying to see the “causes.”
The structure and design of a competitor’s LP
Ad creatives and catchphrases
Offer design such as first-time purchase discounts or money-back guarantees
These are all merely the “final outputs (results)” in marketing. It is only natural that you won't get results if you copy and paste these directly into your own company.
This is because consumers are not looking at the “product itself” or the “beautiful design,” but are reacting to the “context that resonates with them.”
For example, suppose a health food product for seniors is selling explosively. Let’s say the LP says in big letters, “Change how you wake up in the morning!” Suppose you copy that and use the same appeal for your own supplement.
However, the original hit product might have been based on a deep insight (anxiety or desire) unique to the senior demographic, such as “not wanting to worry their long-time spouse,” hidden behind that copy. The ad placement might have also been intentionally narrowed down to specific news media late at night.
If you ignore that context of “whose emotions are you catering to, what kind of emotions, and at what timing,”and only extract the “form” of the copy or design, it will not resonate with the consumer’s heart even by a millimeter.
Chapter 2: The True Nature of the “Context” That Moves Consumers
So, what is the “context” that we really need to identify? It is a collection of clear answers to the following four questions.
Why did their hand stop scrolling at that ad?
Why did they deeply empathize with that copy?
Why did you feel 'reassured' or 'convinced' by that price or sales method?
Why did you feel the entire business model was 'rational' and click the purchase button?
There is always a 'solid reason to convince oneself' behind a consumer's decision to pay money.
A story that makes consumers think, 'Buying this right now is the most correct choice for me.' That is the context. Best-selling products have an incredibly meticulous design of this context, connected by a single, thick line from the first view of the ad to the purchase completion screen.
Without understanding this, if you just chase superficial numbers or designs—thinking, 'Others are using red, so let's use red' or 'Half-price for the first purchase is popular, so let's do that'—you will never reach essential sales.
Chapter 3: The 'Before You Build' Structural Decomposition You Really Need to Do in Marketing
This is the core of this article and the second half. How can you break away from superficial imitation and create 'reproducible sales' for your company?
It is to perform a thorough 'structural decomposition' before creating 'production items' like LPs or ad creatives. Anything for which you cannot explain the reason for its success through structure is nothing more than a gamble that is 'just luckily hitting the mark.'
When excellent marketers see a competitor's hit product, they perform reverse engineering (decomposition) in their minds as follows.
Step 1: Decomposition of 'Premise' (Whose anxiety or desire is it?)
Does that product solve the consumer's explicit worries, or does it stimulate a latent desire (insight) that they haven't even realized yet?
Is it not vanity or anxiety, such as 'I want my old lover to say "You haven't changed" at the class reunion,' rather than the superficial desire to 'lose weight'?
At what moment in daily life does that anxiety become strongest?
Step 2: Decomposition of 'Timing' (When and where did they make contact?)
Why are they running ads on that medium at that time of day?
Is it the timing when they are looking at their smartphone on the commuter train?
Or is it the timing when they are searching for their worries alone in the middle of the night? Context changes its meaning significantly depending on 'time' and 'place.' You must decipher how they set the situation where that ad hits the hardest.
Step 3: Decomposition of 'Design and Flow' (What words were used and how was the reasoning created?)
What is the psychological state when transitioning from an ad to an LP?
Does it start with 'empathy,' then present a 'new fact (actually, XX was the cause),' and finally lead to a 'solution (that's why this product)'?
What evidence is being used to construct the 'reason to choose this now (exclusivity, urgency, sense of conviction)'?
Step 4: Decomposition of the 'Business Model' (Why does that offer work?)
Why does that sales method (e.g., free first-time offer or significant discount) actually result in corporate profit?
Is it possible that they can invest heavily in the initial CPO precisely because they have a robust CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system on the back end and an extremely high LTV (Lifetime Value)?
Only after verbalizing all of these and understanding them as a structure can you perform the application of asking, 'So, what happens if I replace this structure with my own company's target and product?'
Chapter 4: It is the 'Depth of Understanding,' Not Sense, That Determines Success or Failure
In the latter half of this article, let's talk about more in-depth practical matters. The only weapon for SMEs to beat large corporations or powerful competitors is 'high resolution of context in a specific domain.'
Large corporations are forced to compete in a context that is the greatest common denominator for the masses. However, SMEs can design sharp, deep contexts that grab the heart of a 'specific someone' with their bare hands.
To do that, the direction ability to
optimize the 'selling mechanism' to fit your company's situation is essential.
For example, if you are outsourcing your company's ad operations or LP production to an external agency or creator. As long as you are giving instructions like, 'Please make a cool, high-converting LP like competitor A,' you will never succeed.
'The target this time is struggling with anxiety about XX and is looking for information before going to bed at night. Therefore, I want the ad entry point to build empathy through the context of XX, and for the offer section of the LP, I want to present a 'clear reason why they must start now' using the logic of XX. Please create the creative based on this structure.'
This is the direction that creates sales.
Marketing is never determined by the 'sense' or 'inspiration' of a few geniuses. It is a science determined by 'depth of understanding': how deeply you can imagine the consumer's psychology, and how coldly and logically you can decompose (structure) the cases of other companies that are selling well.
Conclusion: The Resolve to Reconstruct Your Company's Context
'Sales are determined by context.' Surprisingly few companies truly understand the meaning of this phrase and can put it into practice. That is precisely why, if you can adopt this perspective early and incorporate it into your company's marketing process, it will become a powerful competitive advantage.
Let's end today the practice of chasing 'dots' like numbers, designs, and copy. Instead, draw the 'line' of the consumer's emotional movement and design the 'context' for your company to win.
This is the essence of direct response marketing, which generates maximum profit (CPO improvement, LTV increase) within a limited budget. If you feel limited in your company's marketing regarding 'context design' or 'essential direction,' finding a partner who can build a business with you from the 'structure' rather than just the form will be the shortest route to your next growth.