How can we use behavioral science to improve marketing? 👀
Learn from best-selling author, behavioral scientist, and founder of Astroten, Richard Shotton at Marketingland 2025 🔥
Richard’s worked with brands like Google, Mondelez, and BrewDog to design effective marketing and research approaches based on how people behave, not just think.
TL;DR: If you’re going to design successful marketing campaigns, you need to understand people.
Catch Richard at Growthland to learn how you can do it 📈
My 5-Step System for Breaking Down Any Brand’s Growth Playbook
The smartest marketers aren’t guessing. I don’t either. I reverse engineer.
Not just content. The full strategy. Who they’re targeting. What levers they’re pulling. What tech they’re using. How their funnel actually converts.
This isn’t about copying. It’s about collecting intel. Because if someone’s already cracked the code with your audience, you don’t need to reinvent the playbook. You need to rip it apart, study the pieces, and rebuild it better.
This is my 5-step process for doing exactly that.Built from years of watching what works, what doesn’t, and what most marketers overlook.
STEP 1️⃣: Identify Who You’re ACTUALLY Competing With
This is where most marketers get lazy.
They list 3-5 companies with similar products, call it a day, and think they’ve done their homework.
But that’s not how you win.
You’re not just competing on product.
You’re competing on time, trust, and what takes up space in your buyer’s brain.
There are 3 types of players to map out:
1. Product competitors
The 1’s selling the same thing. These are table stakes. You should already be tracking them.
2. Category challengers
They’re not selling what you sell YET, but they’re shifting buyer behavior in a way that threatens you.
Example: You sell CRM software. Notion’s not a CRM, but it’s eating into the workflows you used to own.
3. Attention stealers
These aren’t even in your market. But they’re earning the trust of your exact audience. That trust WILL be monetized.
If you're not paying attention to where your audience spends time, you're already behind.
Tools to help:
- SparkToro: See what your audience follows, shares, and reads. You’ll find hidden influences you didn’t see coming. - Exploding Topics: Surfaces fast-growing brands and trends that could blindside you. - Similarweb: Analyze referral traffic to see who’s sending your competitors leads. - X (Twitter) Advanced Search: Dig into what your audience is actually saying in real time.
Map these out. Understand where the attention is going and who’s controlling it.
STEP 2️⃣: Reverse Engineer Their Acquisition Strategy
Now that you know who the real players are, it’s time to dissect how they grow.
This isn’t just about checking their website and moving on.
You need to pull back the curtain and trace the full acquisition funnel…from the scroll to the sale.
Here’s how to break it down:
Website ➡️ What’s the 1st move?
- What’s their primary CTA? Demo? Email? Trial? - What’s above the fold? - Do they segment users? Push chat? Use exit pop-ups?
Use BuiltWith or Wappalyzer to see what tech stack they’re using…pop-up tools, CRMs, personalization engines, analytics platforms.
Ad strategy ➡️ What’s their hook?
- Go to Meta Ad Library and search their brand. - See what creatives they’re running, how long they've been live, and what they’re testing. - Use Pipl.ai or BigSpy to dig deeper into their ad variations across platforms.
Organic plays ➡️ What’s feeding the funnel?
- Are they posting daily content? SEO? Newsletter? LinkedIn thought leader? - Use Ahrefs or SEMrush to see what keywords they’re ranking for and what content gets backlinks. - Plug their URL into Similarweb to track which channels drive the most traffic (social, direct, referral, search).
You’re not just gathering data. You’re identifying repeatable plays.
What’s working? What’s being A/B tested? What’s been killed off?
Once you see the full machine, you can pick which gears to copy, upgrade, do differently or ignore.
STEP 3️⃣: Break Down Their Content Engine
Now we figure out how they turn content into conversions, followers, or brand equity.
Start by mapping the format mix.
- Are they betting on SEO with long-form blogs? - Posting spicy takes and carousels on LinkedIn? - Running a founder-led podcast or video series? - Releasing whitepapers, guides, or webinars?
Each format signals a goal. Blogs often chase search. Reels are for reach. Webinars push leads. LinkedIn builds influence and trust.
Next, look at how they distribute.
- Are they emailing content to a list? - Clipping videos for short-form social? - Using execs or influencers to repost and comment? - Posting the same message across multiple channels?
Use tools like Feedly or BuzzSumo to see what’s working. Then track how often they post, what gets repeated, and how wide the reach goes.
Finally, connect the content to the funnel.
- Is there a clear CTA from each piece? - Do SEO posts lead to demo pages? - Do videos push you to a community or waitlist? - Are they using content to nurture, educate, or just entertain?
The best brands engineer content to move people somewhere. Not just rack up likes.
Once you’ve seen their full content system, you’ll know what to model, what to avoid, and where the real leverage is.
STEP 4️⃣: Track Their Tech Stack and Toolset
You can learn a lot from what a company builds. But you can learn just as much from what they buy.
The tools they use show you where they’re investing—performance, personalization, automation, or scale.
Start with the basics. Plug their website into these:
- BuiltWith – Shows their full stack: CMS, analytics, ad pixels, email platforms, chatbots, and more - Wappalyzer – Another solid option to spot tools running on their site - Ghostery – Browser plugin that shows you tracking tools and scripts in real time
Once you know their tech, figure out how they’re using it.
- Is their site personalized? That tells you they’re likely using dynamic content engines like Mutiny - Are they running heatmaps or A/B tests? Look for tools like Hotjar, Crazy Egg, or Optimizely - What’s powering their email? Klaviyo, Iterable, HubSpot, or something custom?
Then, go a level deeper.
- Visit their job listings. Look at open roles in marketing ops, lifecycle, or demand gen. You’ll often see tool names listed directly - Search “[Company] + case study + [tool]” on Google. Vendors love bragging. You might find a full breakdown of how your competitor runs campaigns - Check their cookie policy or privacy policy. Sometimes tools are listed there by name
This isn’t just curiosity. It helps you see what infrastructure they’ve built. And it gives you a shortcut to match or outpace it.
STEP 5️⃣: Analyze Their Funnel from Click to Close
Now that you’ve mapped the players, decoded their growth levers, broken down their content, and uncovered their tech — it’s time to walk through their funnel like a prospect.
This is where most marketers stop short.
But you’re not just here to spy. You’re here to understand how they convert.
Start with the first touch.
- Click 1 of their ads or organic posts - Sign up for a newsletter, request a demo, download a lead magnet - Watch how they capture your info: Is it gated? Is it 1 click? Multi-step?
Track everything that happens next.
- What emails do you get in the next 48 hours? - Are they personalized? Do they push urgency, social proof, education? - Are you getting retargeted on Instagram, YouTube, or LinkedIn? - Do they push you toward a sales call, trial, webinar, or free tool?
Then look at their sales experience.
- If you sign up for a trial, do they call you? Email you? Leave you alone? - If you book a demo, do they follow up with content or let it go cold? - What questions do they ask on the lead form. Are they qualifying or just collecting?
Tools like Mailreach, Hunter.io, or even just forwarding emails to yourself in a clean inbox can help you map every touchpoint cleanly.
You’re not just looking at what they do. You’re studying why they do it and how tightly each step is connected.
A smooth funnel feels intentional. A messy 1 feels like improv. Your job is to know the difference.
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