The Challenge

KPSOL had already invested in marketing, but with mixed results. Previous agencies had run cold email campaigns that delivered some responses, but not enough to build a consistent pipeline. It wasn’t scalable, and the lack of results made them cautious about where to invest next. So, when they came to us, their concern was simple:

“We can’t afford to waste budget; we need evidence, insight, and clarity before deciding our next move.”

If this feels familiar, the problem usually is not effort. It is direction.
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The team at KPSOL weren’t looking for another agency to “try something new.” They were looking for proof of what actually works in their market.

Competitor Marketing Audit

We carried out a Competitor Audit, benchmarking KPSOL against two established players in the SaaS Knowledge Base market, Document360 and Bloomfire. The goal was to uncover where they were winning customers, how they were doing it, and what that meant for KPSOL’s strategy.

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Paid Media: Following the Money

We audited competitor activity across LinkedIn, Meta, and Google Ads. What stood out immediately was the scale and consistency of their LinkedIn investment. Both competitors were running large portfolios of active LinkedIn campaigns, with one showing 82 live ads, while Meta activity was minimal, and Google Ads appeared limited to a small number of branded terms.

That mattered because it showed more than channel preference. It suggested LinkedIn was producing enough traction to keep earning budget over time. In other words, this was not casual experimentation. It was a sustained investment behind a channel and message set that appeared to be working.

We estimated spend by using the size of their live ad portfolio as a proxy, then applying an average monthly cost per ad. Based on the volume of campaigns, we estimate that each competitor was investing circa £30,000-£50,000 a month on LinkedIn Ads alone.

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They are signals already visible in your market.
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The Relevance: KPSOL did not need to match this level of spend. But it showed that the ICP was active on LinkedIn and that sustained investment in the channel was paying off. That gave confidence that LinkedIn was the right place to focus effort, even on a smaller budget.

Messaging and ICPs: Hooks that Land

By following competitor ads into their landing pages, we could see how different campaigns were tuned to different ICPs. Some spoke directly to CTOs and IT leads about implementation speed, others addressed HR and operations leaders about productivity and knowledge retention. Each message was sharp, value-driven, and reinforced with proof.

The Relevance: For KPSOL, this exposed both the pain points that were resonating in the market and the UVPs that competitors were leaning on. It highlighted where messaging was saturated, and where there were gaps KPSOL could own. At that point, the strategic direction started to become much clearer.

Organic LinkedIn & Webinars: Authority at Scale

Our audit also looked at how competitors were building authority outside paid media. Both Document360 and Bloomfire had founders and senior leaders posting regularly on LinkedIn, with well-optimised profiles, clear positioning, and consistent engagement. Their organic presence was not separate from demand generation; it supported it.

This activity was also connected to recurring webinars and promoted content, creating a system where organic credibility and paid distribution reinforced each other.

The Relevance: This showed that trust was being built long before a prospect ever booked a call. For KPSOL, it highlighted the value of combining paid reach with a more active LinkedIn presence and stronger authority-building content, rather than relying on ads alone.

SEO: The Long Game

We also reviewed organic search performance. Document360 was generating around 270,000 monthly visits, while Bloomfire was attracting around 30,000, largely through inbound SEO. That gave a clear indication that search demand in the category was real and that long-term content visibility could become a meaningful growth lever.

It also helped frame the strategic trade-off. SEO represented a sizeable long-term opportunity, but it was not the right answer to KPSOL’s short-term pipeline needs.

The Relevance: The audit made the timing issue clear. Competitors were benefiting from strong inbound visibility, but KPSOL needed traction sooner. That meant short-term effort had to focus on channels like LinkedIn and outreach, while SEO was treated as a longer-term growth foundation rather than the first move.

The Outcome

The audit gave KPSOL the clarity it had been missing. Instead of second-guessing channels and wasting budget on tactics that might not work, they now had evidence to guide their next move.

• Budget Efficiency: Rather than trying to match competitors’ £50k-a-month spend, we designed a campaign around pre-warming ads and targeted outreach, costing under £5,000 a month.
• Sharper Positioning: By identifying gaps in competitor messaging, we repositioned KPSOL to speak directly to ICP pain points competitors were overlooking.
• Faster Impact: With LinkedIn confirmed as the right channel, KPSOL could prioritise short-term lead generation while laying down a longer-term SEO plan.
• Confidence to Act: Instead of being cautious and hesitant, KPSOL now had proof that the market was active, its ICP was engaged, and they could compete effectively without overspending.

Why This Matters

For KPSOL, the audit was the turning point. It did not just reveal what competitors were doing. It showed where the market was responding, where budget was being placed with confidence, and how KPSOL could compete without wasting spend.

That is the real value of a competitor audit. It replaces guesswork with evidence, giving you a clearer path to smarter decisions, better budget use, and faster progress.

Without an audit, you are still making expensive decisions with limited evidence. With one, you can see where the market is already responding, where competitors are investing with confidence, and where you can compete more intelligently.