How to Do a Competitive Analysis

Conducting an in-depth examination of your competitors may help you better your goods and services.

Analyze your rivals’ strengths and shortcomings regularly to discover any market gaps.

An in-depth competition study may help you improve your product or service and serve your target audience more effectively.

If you are going to do a competition analysis you need to know what your rivals are doing well and what they aren’t doing so well.

Businesses of all sizes that are looking to better their goods or services by analyzing their competitors are encouraged to read this article.

To guarantee that you are offering the greatest possible product or service at the best possible pricing for your clients, it is vital to study your competitors at different phases of your organization. In this article, you’ll learn what a competition analysis is, why it is important for your organization, and how to go about performing one.

What is a competitor analysis?

Competitor analysis refers to the process of finding and analyzing firms in your market that provide goods or services that are comparable to yours. It is important to do a thorough competition analysis so that you can view your company and your rivals from the perspective of your consumers.

Identifying potential competitors and analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, product offers, market share, and lost opportunities is the emphasis of competitor analysis, according to Petal CEO David M.M. Taffet, who spoke to business.com.

Identifying the qualities and shortcomings of your rivals might help you determine how you stack up against them.

Why is a competitor analysis important?

To keep on top of the latest industry trends and product offers, it is essential to perform regular competition evaluations. Insights on market saturation, business prospects, and industry best practices may be gleaned via a competitor study.

Your consumers’ perceptions of your company are just as crucial as the perceptions of your competitors. A study of your competitors will show you which services are presently accessible to your target audience and which areas are being overlooked.

There may be times when your firm is at a competitive disadvantage, in which case it is necessary to make certain changes to preserve your sales volumes, says business expert and best-selling author Josh Rovner. Another time you may find yourself with an advantage that might allow you to make a modification that enhances your sales or profit. ”

Both the offense and the defence benefit greatly from doing a competitive analysis. When you look at your company in the context of your competitors, you may see both your strengths and your weaknesses. You may even discover a new market that you can profit from.

Using a competition analysis may help you make better business choices by providing you with valuable information about your market.

Why should you do a competitive analysis? What advantages does it provide you?

Many benefits may be gained by comparing your company to those of your rivals. In other words, it will show you where your company, product, or service may use some work. With this information in hand, you can fine-tune your operations to better meet the needs of your target audience and boost your bottom line. It may also reveal you new strategic chances to improve your goods or services and develop your company.. etc.

It is possible to separate oneself from the competition, concentrate on underserved markets, find services to provide, discover best practices to adopt, and isolate bad practices and rotten players by understanding one’s rivals, according to Taffet.

You may use the results of a competition study as a benchmark and a gauge for your company’s future growth. Analyzing the market regularly will show emerging trends and new competitors. Every step of the way, you’ll be able to see who your current rivals are and how they operate. Ensure that your research is current.

A content marketer at Investor Deal Room says that “too many organizations undertake a competitive research early on, and then abandon it after their brand is established.” “A new firm enters your market and does a competitive analysis on you at every opportunity. It’s critical to keep an eye on the competition.”

You can keep track of your current and future clients with the use of customer relationship management (CRM) software.

A competition study may help you enhance your company, meet your consumers’ demands, and raise your profits.

What should be included in a competitor analysis?

A SWOT and PEST analysis is a solid starting point for a competition study, but there are many additional factors to take into account. To get an accurate picture of how your firm stacks up against the competition, you need to provide as much information as possible. Identifying possible rivals and the features, price, and service quality you’ll need to gather information on is essential. It is possible to create your competitor analysis from scratch or to make use of an analysis template already created for you.

Schacherbauer created a list of the top ten components of a competitor analysis based on his own experience developing competitor studies.

Find all the features of your direct competitor’s product or service and list them in a matrix. To see how your competitors match up against one another, save this information in a spreadsheet.

You may see who your key rivals are based on their market share percentage. Larger competition may teach you a lot about how to flourish in your business. Choose to compete with your top 20% of direct rivals (businesses with comparable market shares) rather than the top 80% of your industry’s competitors.

Identify your rivals’ pricing strategies, as well as where they lie on the quality/quantity scale.

In terms of marketing, what tactics does each of your competitors use? Consider your rivals’ websites, social media, the sort of events they sponsor, their SEO techniques, taglines, and current marketing initiatives, as well as their taglines and their taglines.

Consider your competition’s unique selling proposition (USP) and distinguishing characteristics (Differentiators).

Strengths: Find out how you stack up against your rivals and what works for them. Do customers’ opinions suggest that they have a better product? Is their name well-known?

Identify each competitor’s strengths and weaknesses. If so, does their social media approach seem to be lacking? Is there no way to buy from them online? Do they have an old website? You may use this knowledge to your advantage in the marketplace.

Analyze your competition’s locations and the areas they serve to get an understanding of their geographic reach. Whether or not they have a physical location, how much of their business is conducted online?

Evaluate your rivals’ goals, employee happiness, and business culture to get a sense of what your competitors are doing. It’s important to know if they’re a traditional firm or a new startup. Check through evaluations from current and former employees to get a sense of the company’s culture.

Analyze your rivals’ customer reviews and capture both their positive and negative aspects. In a 5-star system, look for 5-star, 3-star, and 1-star reviews, respectively. Tips: Look for 3-star ratings since they tend to be the most authentic.

Rovner recommends including information in your competitive analysis about related trends in your market and region. This will give you a more complete picture of the entire competitive landscape.

“Make a list of the hazards that might harm your company, as well as the possibilities that you could exploit more effectively than your rivals,” Rovner said..

Use competitor data, such as features, market share %, price, and marketing strategies to identify unique selling points (USPs), as well as the strengths and weaknesses of your ownproduct or service, as well as geographic location, culture, and online reviews.

When creating a competition analysis, what are the stages you should take?

It’s critical to be as neutral and truthful as possible while creating a rival analysis. For the sake of your company and your customers, don’t deliberately understate the strength or success of your rivals, since doing so will only result in false results that will harm your firm.

To do a competitor analysis, Rovner follows these seven steps:

Begin by identifying the items or services you want to assess.

For each product or service, identify every direct and indirect competitor in the market.

3. Conduct in-person and online competition research (to gauge their online presence, or as the only research approach if the product or service is solely offered online). Gather as many perspectives as possible about competitors’ goods and services by forming a group.

To properly document your study, you need to write a detailed summary of your findings. Depending on the product or service, this may contain several types of graphs and charts, as well as plain text. Your paper should be meaningful and actionable but not so long that no one will read it.

Determine how you may enhance your competitive edge. Could you, for example, cut the price of your goods or services to be more competitive or create a new product or service that tackles the area for improvement, increase the quality of your products or services?

Do what you think is proper or required to enhance your product.

To assess whether your modifications were a success, track your sales and profits against the new goals you set.

Make advantage of the facts and best practices you’ve gleaned from a competition study to better your company. Make use of your newly acquired knowledge to set yourself out from the crowd and provide superior service to your clients. Carry out regular competition assessments to keep abreast of market supply and demand as well as improve your competitive awareness.