IDEA 01
New domains take 12-18 months to rank for anything. But Medium, LinkedIn, GitHub, and Indie Hackers already have it. Instead of waiting, publish strategic content on platforms that already rank and funnel the traffic back to your product. This isn't a hack. It's how smart early-stage teams get search traction while their own domain is still crawling.
REAL EXAMPLES
Lemlist - published detailed cold email guides on LinkedIn. Ranked in Google's top results months before their own blog could compete for the same terms.
Plausible Analytics - used their GitHub README to rank for "Google Analytics alternative." Zero ad spend. Pure domain leverage.
DO THIS WEEK
Pick one keyword your target buyer is searching
Find the highest-DA platform where you can publish natively (LinkedIn article, Indie Hackers post, Substack)
Write for the platform first, plug your product second
IDEA 02
Competitor comparison pages shape the narrative before they do
Your buyers are already comparing you to competitors. The question is whether your voice is in that conversation. Most SaaS companies avoid comparison pages because they feel aggressive. That's exactly why they work your competitors aren't doing it either. SavvyCal built one after noticing prospects kept asking about Calendly. The page captured valuable organic traffic and turned objections into conversion moments.
REAL EXAMPLE
SavvyCal vs Calendly - their comparison page now ranks for high-intent keywords that competitors' own sites don't optimize for. Buyers who land on it already want to switch.
DO THIS WEEK
List your top 3 competitors buyers mention in sales calls
Build one honest, factual comparison page don't lie, just lead with your strengths
Target "[competitor] alternative" and "[your product] vs [competitor]" as exact keywords
IDEA 03
Marketing jiu-jitsu turn criticism into content
Snowbird Ski Resort was getting hammered with one-star reviews complaining about "too advanced terrain." They turned those reviews into an ad campaign. "Too advanced" became their positioning, a badge of honor for expert skiers. The campaign won awards. Your critics are writing your copy for free. The question is whether you're paying attention.
REAL EXAMPLE
MailChimp - when the Serial podcast mispronounced their name as "Mail Kimp," they bought mailkimp.com and several misspelling domains with playful redirect pages. What could've been brand confusion became a viral marketing moment.
DO THIS WEEK
Read your last 10 one-star reviews or critical tweets
Ask: is any criticism actually a signal about who your best customer is?
If yes, lean into it, not sarcastically, but confidently
IDEA 04
Awards as marketing, manufacture recognition
You don't have to wait to win an award. Create one. G2 built an entire list-based content engine ranking tech hubs it generated 350+ backlinks and thousands of social shares because cities and companies shared their rankings. Drift created a "Top 50 Conversational Marketers" list and instantly built relationships with 50 potential brand ambassadors. Every award you give is a backlink, a social post, and a relationship waiting to happen.
REAL EXAMPLE
Drift - their Top 50 list turned recipients into organic promoters. Each winner became a node in Drift's distribution network. No ad budget required.
DO THIS WEEK
Define one category where your ideal customers want to be recognized
Build a list of 25–50 (small enough to be curated, big enough to spread)
Create a shareable badge and email winners before you publish
IDEA 05
Pre-targeting ads warm them up before you reach out
Cold outreach is cold because the prospect has never seen you. Pre-targeting fixes that. Run LinkedIn ads to a list of target company domains for 2-4 weeks before your sales team contacts them. Modest budget: $300/week. The result: 15-22% improvement in response rates because your name isn't completely unknown when the email hits. You're no longer cold. You're vaguely familiar.
DO THIS WEEK
Upload your top 100–500 target accounts to LinkedIn Campaign Manager as a domain list
Run brand awareness content (not lead gen) for 3-4 weeks
Then hand the list to your sales team
That's it for this week. Five tactics, all tested by real companies. Pick one. Try it before next Sunday.
If a tactic clicks, reply and tell me, I read every reply. If someone you know needs to see this, forward it. It's free.
— THE SUNDAY MARKETER