Episode 28: Keeping Tabs on the Competition with Franklin Morris

▶️ In this episode of the Marketing Boost, we sit down with Franklin Morris, founder and CEO of KeepTabz, an AI-powered competitive intelligence platform. Franklin shares his journey from being a VP of Marketing at a venture-scaled business to launching his own startup. We dive deep into why competitive intelligence is no longer just for "the big guys" and how AI is changing the way we process market signals.

Host:

Leon Hitchens

➤ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonhitchens/

➤ X: https://x.com/leonhitchens

➤ Website: https://leonhitchens.com/

Guest:

Franklin Morris: Founder and CEO of KeepTabz

➤ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franklinmorris/

➤ KeepTabz Website: https://www.keeptabz.ai/

➤ KeepTabz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/keeptabz/

Find Us:

➤ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBoostChannel

➤ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2AHGT1Aoq9oAHZEHeORBpa

➤ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-marketing-boost/id1720047128

➤ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBoostChannel

Key Discussion Points

🔹The "KeepTabz" Origin Story: After years of managing marketing for B2B SaaS companies, Franklin realized that keeping up with competitors was a manual nightmare of 50 open browser tabs and forgotten spreadsheets. He built KeepTabz to automate this process for the mid-market.

🔹The AI Revolution in Marketing: How AI allows small teams to perform enterprise-level research, tracking everything from pricing page tweaks and Terms of Service updates to SEO performance and social media activity.

🔹Ignore vs. Obsess: Franklin addresses the common "don't look at your competitors" advice. While you shouldn't let them dictate your roadmap, your customers are definitely looking at them. Understanding the market is essential for building trust.

🔹Signal vs. Noise: The biggest challenge in 2026 isn't a lack of data; it's the overwhelming volume of it. Franklin explains how his team shifted from "gathering data" to "interpreting strategic meaning" using AI agents.

🔹Founder-Led Growth: Why sharing expertise in communities (Slack, Reddit, LinkedIn) is more effective for early-stage trust-building than traditional outbound or SEO.

Memorable Quotes

"Whether you're paying attention to competitors or not, your customers definitely are. You actually don't get to determine who your competitors are, that's determined by your customers."

"Marketing has been more like 'ing' than 'market' lately. It’s been about doing activities and maybe not paying as much attention to the market itself."

Resources Mentioned

🔹KeepTabz: AI-powered competitive intelligence.

🔹Alloy AI: Franklin's previous home in the retail analytics space.

🔹Clay: Mentioned as a gold standard for building marketing trust.

🔹Adam Robinson (RB2B): Discussion on inbound-led outbound strategies.

🔹Geekdom: The San Antonio-based startup community where the recording took place.

Where to Find Franklin Morris

🔹Website: keeptabz.ai

🔹LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/franklinmorris (Remember: it's Morris, not Morrison!)