If imitation is a form of flattery, then replication is a cheap insult to the people you serve.
Imitation is understanding and being motivated by the principles. Replication is copying the execution.
I get the temptation to replicate, I really do.
If someone's doing something that appears to be working, why wouldn't more of that be a good thing?
Seems like a proven method. Why remake the wheel?
There are a couple of problems to address, though.
First, you have no idea what their actual results are. Even if you can tell their visibility is improving, you can't see pipeline generated from it.
They might be having a conversation about shutting it down while you're considering copying them.
Then there's the issue of diluted impact.
Meaning, when two entities deliver the same thing in the same fashion to the same group of people, the impact of the second is a fraction of the first.
If they created something that genuinely hit with an audience, then they got the lion's share of the impact.
Trying to do the same thing, just slightly different, is a losing game.
When it comes to marketing, people have categories in their minds.
Once a brand sits in the "bold and irreverent" spot, or the "clean premium" spot, or the "we're the nerdy technical ones" spot, everyone else copying that just reinforces the original.
You'll hear things like, "Oh, that's like [market space leader], but different."
And that categorization comes with a natural lid.
That's the limit of replication.
But then there's imitation, which isn't a bad thing at all.
Some of the best ideas are imitations of another idea.
Trello was the "Kanban" of project management, built for the web and for simplicity.
Paychex was the "ADP" of payroll, just aimed at small businesses instead of enterprise.
Glock was the "1911" of modern pistols, just lighter, simpler, and more reliable.
These are examples of imitation, not replication.
The Apostle Paul said, "imitate me, just as I imitate Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1)
What he meant was...
Understand the principles driving the patterns.
It is a very important distinction.
Imitation means studying why something works, then running your own convictions and identity through that same filter.
Replication, on the other hand, is cutting and pasting the execution and hoping the results transfer with it.
They won't, of course, because your audience isn't their audience, your product isn't their product, and your story isn't their story.
Often the most dangerous question in a meeting is, "What is [bigger competitor] doing?" Because it naturally leans towards replication.
The better route is to ask questions that take you back towards imitation.
That might look like...
Why did this work for them?
What principles are they operating from, not just what tactics are they running?
Why did their audience like this, and does any of that overlap with ours?
These are philosophical questions that motivate creative movement...driven by imitation.
And all innovations are forms of imitation.
Seek to imitate, not replicate.