One of the most underappreciated aspects of marketing is Competitor analysis. Brands are all too frequently so focused on what they’re doing that they don’t see what their rivals are up to.
What Is the Definition of Competitor Analysis?
Market intelligence includes competitive analysis. The procedure entails acquiring a large amount of data about your competition. You’ll examine their product line and value propositions, as well as their business strategy, brand and marketing tactics, sales performance, and brand equity.
For both company executives and marketers, competitive market research is a very beneficial activity.
How to Analyze Competitors’?
Completing a complete competitive market study may seem to be a daunting task. Although there is a lot that goes into it, the process can be broken down into far more manageable parts. Here are the 10 stages to doing a successful competitor analysis, as well as the resources you may use to assist you:
- Determine Your Competitors
- Evaluate Your Competitors’ Product Offers
- Analyze Your Competitors’ Market Share.
- Calculate the Market Share of Your Competition
- Research your Competitor’s Marketing Strategies.
- Analyze Your Competition’s Marketing Strategies
- Customer Satisfaction Should Be Tested
- Conduct a SWOT Analysis
1.Determine Your Competitors
If you don’t know who your rivals are, you won’t be able to investigate their firms. While you’re guaranteed to be aware of the firms operating in your industry – and which ones are the largest – you may not be aware of which ones your target market is most likely to consider.
Asking the customers in question is the most effective approach to find out. You may obtain responses from individuals in your target market by using a consumer research platform like Attest. You may inquire of them:
- From a list you supply, which brands they are familiar with (prompted recall)
- When was the last time they bought your product or service?
- Which brand did they purchase?
- Brands from which they’ve previously purchased
- Brands from which they want to acquire in the future (purchase intent)
You can obtain a real image of the companies you’re competing against. This might reveal companies you hadn’t regarded as direct rivals, or it could reveal that a brand you believed was dominating isn’t in your market’s eyes.
2. Evaluate Your Competitors’ Product Offers
You may now begin studying the companies that are on your target audience’s radar. You should familiarize yourself with their product offering. What do they have that you don’t (or vice versa)? What is their price range, and how does it relate to yours? Examine the product quality—is it better, worse, or the same? What is the quality of their website? Be impartial; it’s crucial not to see your own brand through rose-colored glasses!
Finally, what is the business ideas of your competitor? And how do they distribute their products? Do they sell via third-party merchants or just straight to consumers, for example? or they sell their wares on online marketplaces? Are they offer their items via a franchise, a license, or a subscription? Is there a freemium option available? This technique might help you see where you might be able to improve your own company model.
3. Analyze Your Competitors’ Market Share.
Investigating your rivals’ finances might reveal a lot about their performance. Firms House is where you may discover accounts for companies based in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, publicly traded corporations in the United States will post trading reports on their websites. This data may be used to determine a company’s market share.
You may also check to see whether the firm’s market share is increasing. When a firm maintains its market share, its revenues rise at the same pace as the whole market. A firm that increases its market share, on the other hand, will increase its revenues quicker than its rivals.
You may also learn more about a rival by looking through trade journals and other web sources. Keep an eye out for:
- The firm has received funding.
- The corporation has made an investment.
- Expansion or entry into new markets are in the cards.
- New hires of note, openings, and current staffing levels
- Or anything that indicates a decline, such as layoffs or retail closures.
4. Calculate the Market Share of Your Competition.
It’s important to know your rivals’ market share as well as their market reach, or how many consumers they can contact (or have access to). How many physical shops does a brand have, and where are they located?
What are the logistics for people selling online? Is it possible for them to deliver to every region of the country? Do they provide worldwide shipping? Is shipping reasonably priced if they do? The amount of consumers who are able to shop with the brand will be affected by these variables.
You should also look at the company’s general delivery policies – do they provide free delivery? How long does it take for the package to arrive? What is their return policy? These are all places where you may be able to provide a better service to your consumers
5. Research your Competitor’s Marketing Strategies.
You’ve examined your rivals’ messages; now examine the means they use to deliver those messages. Determine the marketing channels they are using. These might include the following:
- Paid social — Facebook and Instagram adverts, for example.
- Which social media channels do they utilize for organic social?
- What keywords are they targeting for PPC/Ads in paid search?
- What optimization tactics are they implementing and where do they appear in organic search results?
- Leaflets, pamphlets, and direct mail are examples of sales material.
- Hosting or participating in online or offline events is an example of event marketing.
- Do they have brand advocates for influencer marketing?
- Do they send out news releases or execute public relations stunts?
This procedure will provide you with a solid understanding of where your rivals’ marketing dollars are being spent. You can discover that they’re underutilizing particular channels, which might be an opportunity for your company.
Begin collecting samples of each form of marketing your rival use. Examine how each component communicates the brand’s identity and motivates customers to act. What could you be able to imitate? What might you improve on?
6. Customer Satisfaction Should Be Tested
There’s no better way to learn about your competitor’s customer experience than to go through it yourself. So, pretend to be a consumer and make a purchase. If you’re purchasing anything online, use a screen recorder to film the process and narrate it as you go. Is it simple to explore the site and discover what you’re looking for? What is the procedure for checking out? Take note of any subsequent messages and how they attempt to nurture you as a new client.
This procedure will assist you in determining your competitor’s abilities, who you can compete against, and the best methods for doing so. A SWOT analysis of your own brand is also recommended.
7. Conduct a SWOT Analysis
Using what you’ve learned to do a SWOT analysis is the last stage in conducting a competitive market study. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) are acronyms for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Examine every area of your competitor’s operation, from their product and marketing to their infrastructure and financial status. Here’s how to deconstruct the analysis:
Strengths – What is it that your rival excels at? What distinguishes them from the competition? How financially and operationally sound is their company?
Weaknesses – What are the areas where your rival is falling short?What might have been more pleasant about your shopping experience with them? What are their resource constraints?Possibilities: What isn’t included in their package? What aspects of the product are missing? Are there any markets that they’re missing out on? Are they missing out on certain marketing opportunities?
Threats – What are they doing that puts your company at jeopardy? Is it true that their pricing are lower than yours? Are there any new retail locations planned near yours?
This procedure will assist you in determining your competitor’s abilities, who you can compete against, and the best methods for doing so. A SWOT analysis of your own brand is also recommended.
How Often Should You Do Competitive Research?
When corporations are putting up a business strategy for a new product or initiative, they frequently do competitive research as part of a market study. However, just because your company is up and running doesn’t mean you should stop paying attention to your competition.
In fact, you should keep a close eye on your competition and maintain collaborative files on each of them that your staff may access. Having this data at your fingertips when you need it will offer your company a competitive edge. You can use a variety of competitor monitoring tools to keep track of your competitors’ moves without putting in a lot of effort:
- Google Alert– Set up a Google Alerts to notify you whenever your competitor’s name appears in articles, blogs, or studies.
- STAT-Receive notifications if your competition moves up or down the SERPs (search engine results pages).
- Attest – Every six months, conduct a brand tracker survey to evaluate whether your competitor’s NPS has changed.
You may also do a competition study if you need to reevaluate your own market position. The approach provides you with a unique view on how your firm is operating, what your unique value offer is, and any opportunities for development.