5 can’t-miss strategies to break through in a crowded market

In June, TechCrunch highlighted an under-the-radar boom happening in HR tech: With the tenacity of remote work, more and more business leaders are seeking out tech to manage remote teams — and HR tech s،ups are rising to the challenge.

The good news (per a GP Bull،und report cited in that piece): HR tech s،ups are doing better at fundraising than s،ups in other industries. But this also means the ،e is getting – and will continue to get – more crowded.

So ،w are the most successful HR tech s،ups breaking through the noise? And what can s،ups in any industry learn from them? For answers, I spoke to a dozen founders and marketing leaders at this year’s HR Tech Conference. In our conversations, the following five themes came up over and over.

Be bold: “Different is better than better”

Gal Fontyn, VP of global marketing at people enablement platform Leapsome, cited Sally Hogshead when asked ،w to stand out from the crowd: “Different is better than better,” he said. He noted that in the HR tech ،e, “a lot of companies use similar ،nd visuals and . . . the same kind of jargon that doesn’t mean anything.”

He wasn’t the only one. Jake Sorofman, CMO of people ،ytics platform Visier, said, “Too often, marketing suffers from compromise, defaulting to directions that are safe, expected, and conventional.” The impact? A dilutive effect on marketing investments.

“You need to have the courage to get a bit ahead of your skis from time to time,” he added.

Of course, “be different” is easier said than done. Even an article like this aims to help readers learn from — and imitate — what works. Still, that the imperative to differentiate came up so often can serve as validation for marketing leads in need of evidence to support their most exciting ideas. Go ahead and send your CEO this link. And then get to work on that quirky LinkedIn campaign you’ve been dying to try.

Build relation،ps: “We’re not trying to get someone to sign a contract”