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Competitive Displacement · B2B SaaS

I found 606 of a competitor's customers by guessing URLs

Our biggest competitor left their entire customer list readable in their own URLs. I created 50,000 URL variations and got back 606 brands, then built a campaign to take those accounts off them.

parcelLab Growth Marketing Manager → Head of Growth Mar 2018 to Jun 2021
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In short

Problem

Our biggest competitor's client base was invisible, and nobody sells a rival's customer list. Having it mapped is beneficial strategically.

What I built

A 50,000-row guess at their URL structure, run in bulk, reading the meta title on each response to tell a real customer page from a generic one.

Result

606 confirmed competitor accounts across America and Europe, which became a dedicated switching campaign. Bose moved to us.

from 0

606

Competitor Accounts Found

from 0

~140

Engaged in Conversation

from 0

10+

Switched to Us

How this is measured

606 is the unique count in the export from my own sheet. The 50,000 is the size of the variation set I tested. Engagement and win counts are estimates ballparked against industry benchmarks, not figures recalled from records: roughly 140 accounts reached a two-way conversation and more than 10 switched. The account list was one target set inside a wider ABM program, so the program's enterprise wins are not a count of competitor displacements. Bose is the only switch I name, because it is the only one already public.

Constraints

  • No vendor sells a list of a competitor's customers, so the target set had to be built rather than bought
  • Zero data budget: whatever this cost had to come out of tooling I could already reach or find free
  • Only public pages were in scope, so the method had to work on what any visitor could load

What was mine

I found the asymmetry, ran the manual test, built the variation set and the bulk checking, and produced the account list. I ran this as Growth Marketing Manager and carried the campaign into my time as Head of Growth. Sales owned the calls and the deals that followed.

They weren't white-label. We were.

parcelLab was a white-label solution so nobody would know who our biggest competitor was or how many customers we had. But that was not the case for our biggest competitor coming from America, which was called Narvar. They didn't have a white-label solution. You can tell which clients belong to them based on the URL slug.

Testing it by hand first

When we wanted to steal some of their clients from our competitor Narvar, we needed this kind of list. What I did was test quickly by typing some competitor names into the URL slug and figuring out whether the page already existed for that brand or not. I got different meta titles and meta descriptions.

Both requests return HTTP 200. The meta title is the only thing separating a customer from a non-customer, which is exactly the signal the whole method rests on. (click to enlarge)

50,000 variations in Google Sheets

Now for me, what I needed to do was generate tens of thousands, probably close to 50,000, different variations through Google Sheets. Then test these in bulk and check which meta title would load as if that brand existed. I tested all of them. I ran through different variations using some free tool I found online and I found 606 brands which used Narvar in America and in Europe. A live example is still up at tracking.narvar.com/asics/tracking.

The switching campaign

Based on this we created a dedicated campaign targeting these companies, including outbound outreach, highlighting where we are better, why they should switch, and things like this. We engaged with all of them through outbound email and sales calls or other methods by creating specific campaigns. We also run ads towards them using account-based marketing strategies.

We did some person-level targeting using Influ2, and we ran paid ads as part of the same account-based programme.

In the end we engaged with many competitors and we stole quite a few, such as Bose and others.

The list took days. The first switch took months.

What did not work

I got lots of false positives, so I had to go through multiple times. Correct, learn from this, and do bulk testing again and again to go through the final list. Of course, most accounts never replied, but that's part of the game.

Also, deals: because this product's solution is very sticky because of the high integration cost, switching takes time. The pain point needs to be big enough, or annual renewal must come into play. After engagement, we had to keep it warm for a long time, sometimes a year or two before winning a client. In our cases it was faster, and we could have quicker wins.

And in other cases, even if it's the same company or brand globally, we had completely different decision makers on different continents, such as Europe or the US. We had to approach things differently, but we already understood that the company, for instance, already saw a need in the US. We just used this information while pitching in Europe.

An evergreen tactic

As long as you can identify a competitor's customers, in some creative way or the same way, you can create just a dedicated campaign to steal them by positioning why you are better and allow them to switch.

I don't find that tool anymore. Not sure if it still exists, but any kind of bulk tool or even an AI agent right now would work, as long as it can fetch a list of URLs and read the title on each one.

It still works

I checked the same pattern again in August 2026, years after I ran this. It still answers. A slug belonging to a customer returns a full branded tracking page with that brand in the meta title. A slug belonging to nobody returns the same generic fallback for any string you invent. The asymmetry that made this possible is still open.

The Systems behind This

The playbooks and AI skills used in work like this are published: the same systems with the client details stripped out, ready to run.

Or just say hello

What the People I Worked with Said

"I had the pleasure of working with Donatas for nearly 3 years at parcelLab. Donatas, or Donni as we fondly call him, has truly developed into an exceptional growth hacker, thanks to his relentless drive and passion for the industry. When Donni first joined parcelLab, he demonstrated an insatiable curiosity for all things growth. He dove headfirst into various projects and was never afraid to experiment, which allowed him to gain hands-on experience in different aspects of growth. During his time at parcelLab, I have seen Donni grow in his role as the Head of Growth. He has developed a deep understanding of growth marketing and has become an expert in using data-driven strategies to achieve desired outcomes. He consistently pushes the boundaries of what is possible and identifies new opportunities to drive growth."

Anton Eder

Founder & COO, parcelLab

"He is highly capable, incredibly inquisitive, always on the hunt for new paths, technologies and ways of doing things, he's a pleasure to work with and you're guaranteed to learn something new."

Dora Birna

VP Global Marketing & Growth, parcelLab

"His deep understanding of marketing and growth areas enabled him to develop and execute effective strategies that consistently delivered results. I really enjoyed working with him, as he was positive, welcoming and took the time to invest in building relationships. He was also able to quickly identify and address any project-related issues with ease. His ambition and dedication to excellence were invaluable in helping us achieve our goals. I highly recommend Donatas and would be delighted to work with him again."

Ben Griffiths

Global Head of Recruitment, parcelLab

"Donatas is a talented marketing expert who is extremely knowledgeable in growth marketing, especially for B2B tech businesses. He is always learning and expanding his knowledge of full stack marketing. His passion for problem solving is an asset to any business. Donatas is a kind, thoughtful and analytical professional who is a pleasure to work with."

Katharine Biggs

Marketing and Communications Manager, parcelLab

"It was a really pleasure to work with Donnie. He always try to find solution, new idea to achieve our goal! Always smart and kind! A real expert!"

Benjamin Lefebvre

Team Lead Sales Business Development, parcelLab

"It was a real pleasure to work with Donatas. He was always proactive to help our french team to generate leads. In addition, Doni is always in a good mood, it's someone with whom it is very pleasant to work with."

Alexis Quilichini

FR Key Account Executive, parcelLab

"His ability to handle complex data and come up with innovative ways to add value to marketing campaigns is something that is rare. A great colleague and one who is truly missed!"

Sophie Paulden

Social Media Manager, parcelLab

"A great team member and a pleasure to work with. We worked together to build up Donny's team, and he had great insights and feedback into candidate's application and performance."

Josh Bowerman

Talent Acquisition Partner, parcelLab

"I was lucky enough to work with Donatas directly in my role at parcelLab. The work Donatas did to help my team with multiple projects and assist our growth was fantastic. I'd highly recommend Donatas to anyone that's looking for a subject expert and was sad to see him leave!"

Jordan Collins

SDR Manager, parcelLab

"There is no one quite like Donatas. He has wit for days and energy that lights up a room. But the greatest benefit of having Donatas in your team is his analytics skills. Donatas is thorough and dedicates a lot of time to sharing his knowledge, which I found particularly helpful when we first started working together. I will miss him, but I know he'll go far!"

Laura Physick-Matthews

Product Marketing Manager, parcelLab

"Donatas is a very skilled professional with great managing and leadership abilities. I was very pleased to be a part of his team since he helped me to become a more data-driven digital marketer. I especially liked that he was a manager focused on getting the most from his team by empowering them to make decisions and grow, but always leaving room for creativity and inspiration. On top of that, he was always available to help and always gave credit where credit was due."

Juan Sanz

Senior Global Performance Manager, parcelLab

"He has built up digital marketing at parcelLab over the past years and contributed a lot to the company's growth. Also, he has supported the whole marketing&sales team, including me at parcelLab on multiple occasions. It was a real pleasure to work with him, and I hope to do it again one day!"

Benedikt Lang

Project Lead Growth, parcelLab

"Donatas is a really hard-working colleague, self-motivator and too detailed. I really enjoy working with him and I personally learn from his thoughts and we always have fun together at parcelLab. I wish him a lifetime success."

Sherine El.Tarahony

Client Partnership Manager, parcelLab

"Donatas is a hard working, fun and a curious person that brings a lot of value to the lead generation and marketing department of ParcelLab. He is constantly learning and improving his skills and I look forward to working with him."

Mark Camilleri

Head of International Expansion, parcelLab

"Donnie is both ends of where most of us are. He's early and he's late. Everyone needs a guy like that."

Conor McGrath

Head of Sales, parcelLab

"I had the pleasure of working with Donatas for nearly 3 years at parcelLab. Donatas, or Donni as we fondly call him, has truly developed into an exceptional growth hacker, thanks to his relentless drive and passion for the industry. When Donni first joined parcelLab, he demonstrated an insatiable curiosity for all things growth. He dove headfirst into various projects and was never afraid to experiment, which allowed him to gain hands-on experience in different aspects of growth. During his time at parcelLab, I have seen Donni grow in his role as the Head of Growth. He has developed a deep understanding of growth marketing and has become an expert in using data-driven strategies to achieve desired outcomes. He consistently pushes the boundaries of what is possible and identifies new opportunities to drive growth."

Anton Eder

Founder & COO, parcelLab

"He is highly capable, incredibly inquisitive, always on the hunt for new paths, technologies and ways of doing things, he's a pleasure to work with and you're guaranteed to learn something new."

Dora Birna

VP Global Marketing & Growth, parcelLab

"His deep understanding of marketing and growth areas enabled him to develop and execute effective strategies that consistently delivered results. I really enjoyed working with him, as he was positive, welcoming and took the time to invest in building relationships. He was also able to quickly identify and address any project-related issues with ease. His ambition and dedication to excellence were invaluable in helping us achieve our goals. I highly recommend Donatas and would be delighted to work with him again."

Ben Griffiths

Global Head of Recruitment, parcelLab

"Donatas is a talented marketing expert who is extremely knowledgeable in growth marketing, especially for B2B tech businesses. He is always learning and expanding his knowledge of full stack marketing. His passion for problem solving is an asset to any business. Donatas is a kind, thoughtful and analytical professional who is a pleasure to work with."

Katharine Biggs

Marketing and Communications Manager, parcelLab

"It was a really pleasure to work with Donnie. He always try to find solution, new idea to achieve our goal! Always smart and kind! A real expert!"

Benjamin Lefebvre

Team Lead Sales Business Development, parcelLab

"It was a real pleasure to work with Donatas. He was always proactive to help our french team to generate leads. In addition, Doni is always in a good mood, it's someone with whom it is very pleasant to work with."

Alexis Quilichini

FR Key Account Executive, parcelLab

"His ability to handle complex data and come up with innovative ways to add value to marketing campaigns is something that is rare. A great colleague and one who is truly missed!"

Sophie Paulden

Social Media Manager, parcelLab

"A great team member and a pleasure to work with. We worked together to build up Donny's team, and he had great insights and feedback into candidate's application and performance."

Josh Bowerman

Talent Acquisition Partner, parcelLab

"I was lucky enough to work with Donatas directly in my role at parcelLab. The work Donatas did to help my team with multiple projects and assist our growth was fantastic. I'd highly recommend Donatas to anyone that's looking for a subject expert and was sad to see him leave!"

Jordan Collins

SDR Manager, parcelLab

"There is no one quite like Donatas. He has wit for days and energy that lights up a room. But the greatest benefit of having Donatas in your team is his analytics skills. Donatas is thorough and dedicates a lot of time to sharing his knowledge, which I found particularly helpful when we first started working together. I will miss him, but I know he'll go far!"

Laura Physick-Matthews

Product Marketing Manager, parcelLab

"Donatas is a very skilled professional with great managing and leadership abilities. I was very pleased to be a part of his team since he helped me to become a more data-driven digital marketer. I especially liked that he was a manager focused on getting the most from his team by empowering them to make decisions and grow, but always leaving room for creativity and inspiration. On top of that, he was always available to help and always gave credit where credit was due."

Juan Sanz

Senior Global Performance Manager, parcelLab

"He has built up digital marketing at parcelLab over the past years and contributed a lot to the company's growth. Also, he has supported the whole marketing&sales team, including me at parcelLab on multiple occasions. It was a real pleasure to work with him, and I hope to do it again one day!"

Benedikt Lang

Project Lead Growth, parcelLab

"Donatas is a really hard-working colleague, self-motivator and too detailed. I really enjoy working with him and I personally learn from his thoughts and we always have fun together at parcelLab. I wish him a lifetime success."

Sherine El.Tarahony

Client Partnership Manager, parcelLab

"Donatas is a hard working, fun and a curious person that brings a lot of value to the lead generation and marketing department of ParcelLab. He is constantly learning and improving his skills and I look forward to working with him."

Mark Camilleri

Head of International Expansion, parcelLab

"Donnie is both ends of where most of us are. He's early and he's late. Everyone needs a guy like that."

Conor McGrath

Head of Sales, parcelLab

"I had the pleasure of working with Donatas for nearly 3 years at parcelLab. Donatas, or Donni as we fondly call him, has truly developed into an exceptional growth hacker, thanks to his relentless drive and passion for the industry. When Donni first joined parcelLab, he demonstrated an insatiable curiosity for all things growth. He dove headfirst into various projects and was never afraid to experiment, which allowed him to gain hands-on experience in different aspects of growth. During his time at parcelLab, I have seen Donni grow in his role as the Head of Growth. He has developed a deep understanding of growth marketing and has become an expert in using data-driven strategies to achieve desired outcomes. He consistently pushes the boundaries of what is possible and identifies new opportunities to drive growth."

Anton Eder

Founder & COO, parcelLab

"He is highly capable, incredibly inquisitive, always on the hunt for new paths, technologies and ways of doing things, he's a pleasure to work with and you're guaranteed to learn something new."

Dora Birna

VP Global Marketing & Growth, parcelLab

"His deep understanding of marketing and growth areas enabled him to develop and execute effective strategies that consistently delivered results. I really enjoyed working with him, as he was positive, welcoming and took the time to invest in building relationships. He was also able to quickly identify and address any project-related issues with ease. His ambition and dedication to excellence were invaluable in helping us achieve our goals. I highly recommend Donatas and would be delighted to work with him again."

Ben Griffiths

Global Head of Recruitment, parcelLab

"Donatas is a talented marketing expert who is extremely knowledgeable in growth marketing, especially for B2B tech businesses. He is always learning and expanding his knowledge of full stack marketing. His passion for problem solving is an asset to any business. Donatas is a kind, thoughtful and analytical professional who is a pleasure to work with."

Katharine Biggs

Marketing and Communications Manager, parcelLab

"It was a really pleasure to work with Donnie. He always try to find solution, new idea to achieve our goal! Always smart and kind! A real expert!"

Benjamin Lefebvre

Team Lead Sales Business Development, parcelLab

"It was a real pleasure to work with Donatas. He was always proactive to help our french team to generate leads. In addition, Doni is always in a good mood, it's someone with whom it is very pleasant to work with."

Alexis Quilichini

FR Key Account Executive, parcelLab

"His ability to handle complex data and come up with innovative ways to add value to marketing campaigns is something that is rare. A great colleague and one who is truly missed!"

Sophie Paulden

Social Media Manager, parcelLab

"A great team member and a pleasure to work with. We worked together to build up Donny's team, and he had great insights and feedback into candidate's application and performance."

Josh Bowerman

Talent Acquisition Partner, parcelLab

"I was lucky enough to work with Donatas directly in my role at parcelLab. The work Donatas did to help my team with multiple projects and assist our growth was fantastic. I'd highly recommend Donatas to anyone that's looking for a subject expert and was sad to see him leave!"

Jordan Collins

SDR Manager, parcelLab

"There is no one quite like Donatas. He has wit for days and energy that lights up a room. But the greatest benefit of having Donatas in your team is his analytics skills. Donatas is thorough and dedicates a lot of time to sharing his knowledge, which I found particularly helpful when we first started working together. I will miss him, but I know he'll go far!"

Laura Physick-Matthews

Product Marketing Manager, parcelLab

"Donatas is a very skilled professional with great managing and leadership abilities. I was very pleased to be a part of his team since he helped me to become a more data-driven digital marketer. I especially liked that he was a manager focused on getting the most from his team by empowering them to make decisions and grow, but always leaving room for creativity and inspiration. On top of that, he was always available to help and always gave credit where credit was due."

Juan Sanz

Senior Global Performance Manager, parcelLab

"He has built up digital marketing at parcelLab over the past years and contributed a lot to the company's growth. Also, he has supported the whole marketing&sales team, including me at parcelLab on multiple occasions. It was a real pleasure to work with him, and I hope to do it again one day!"

Benedikt Lang

Project Lead Growth, parcelLab

"Donatas is a really hard-working colleague, self-motivator and too detailed. I really enjoy working with him and I personally learn from his thoughts and we always have fun together at parcelLab. I wish him a lifetime success."

Sherine El.Tarahony

Client Partnership Manager, parcelLab

"Donatas is a hard working, fun and a curious person that brings a lot of value to the lead generation and marketing department of ParcelLab. He is constantly learning and improving his skills and I look forward to working with him."

Mark Camilleri

Head of International Expansion, parcelLab

"Donnie is both ends of where most of us are. He's early and he's late. Everyone needs a guy like that."

Conor McGrath

Head of Sales, parcelLab

15 recommendations from parcelLab. Verify on LinkedIn