3 Branches of a Competitor Analysis

How can you find a gap in the market to provide a new or innovative solution to your clients’ problems or needs? Conduct a competitor analysis to understand your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses in comparison to your own, which will then help you to identify potential opportunities for your company. Account for both direct competitors, businesses that sell a product or service comparable to yours, and indirect competitors, businesses that sell a different product or service than yours that still satisfies the same needs as your audience, in order to get a pulse on all players in the game.

After compiling a list of 3-5 competitors, you can begin to put together a competitor analysis and dive into their:

• Products and Services
• Sales Tactics
• Marketing Strategies

Additionally, it’s helpful to revisit the analysis each year as the market changes and new competitors arise in order to ensure your company is adapting and identifying new opportunities as needed. In this blog, we’ll cover the components of a competitor analysis and how to develop one for your organization.

Components of a Competitor Analysis

Products and Services

When a client or customer opts for your product or service rather than your competitor’s, there are a few reasons why they may have done so:

1. Your price was better.
2. Your product or service’s features / benefits were more attractive.
3. They resonated with you and felt more aligned with you than a competitor.

Understanding what your competitors offer and how they package it is crucial for positioning your company against them in the market. It’s important to take a look at their:

• Price
• Features / benefits
• Process
• Quality
• Innovation

You likely won’t run your business exactly the same as your competitors, and that’s okay. In fact, that’s actually preferred! Doing something differently is what will help you to attract the right clientele.

If your service is priced higher but is more robust than your competitor’s, clients may still be inclined to opt for your company over someone else’s because you’re offering more than the rest. This also ensures that you’re not undervaluing yourself with your prices. Additionally, you’re able to understand your unique selling proposition, the thing that makes people go, “Wow, that’s different,” making what you offer highly desirable.

Sales Tactics

Once you know what your competitors sell, it’s important to figure out how they sell it. Which methods or channels are they using to get seen in front of their audience, and more importantly, how effective are those methods or channels? Take a deep dive to determine:

• Their sales process: when they get a lead, what’s their nurturing strategy?
• Their sales channels: do they focus on cold calling, cold emailing, social media, etc.?
• Their locations: if they’re a brick and mortar, where are they located? What are the benefits of that location? Do they have more than one location?
• Their promotions: do they offer discounts or promotions regularly? What do those look like?
• Their partners: who are their referral partners? Do they offer some type of referral program?
• Their team: do they have a sales team who handles this, or do other team members focus on sales development?

Each leg will help you to see what’s effective and ineffective for your competitors, giving you an idea of what you can incorporate into or remove from your sales strategy. However, remember that what works for one company might not always make sense for another, so spend some time analyzing if any of these tactics are the right fit for your organization before moving forward on them.

Marketing Strategies

Developing a great product or service is one thing, but getting people to know about that product or service is another. How are your competitors growing their audience and building brand awareness? Keep an eye out for:

• Press releases they send
• Blog posts they publish
• Social media posts they share
• White papers or other lead magnets they create
• Podcasts they produce
• Videos they record
• Paid ad campaigns they run
• Press features they secure

And more. The more an organization is able to do, the better results they’ll achieve. Having an understanding of the marketing strategy your competitors execute will give you an idea of what you could deploy for your own organization.

Using a Competitor Analysis to Your Advantage

Captivating the Audience with Your Differentiators

What’s the best part about developing a competitor analysis? It helps you to realize what makes your organization unique — in a good way! When you’re aware of your differentiators and how they benefit your audience, you’re able to use that to your advantage in your marketing strategy to attract the right clientele.

Looking for the right partner who can help you to stand apart from others in your industry? Request a consultation with us to learn how we can help you develop a marketing strategy that will establish your organization as an expert in the space, build brand awareness in front of your target market, and portray the value that your products or services bring to the table.