How to Use a Competitor Analysis Framework Effectively

Whether you’re looking to grow a start-up or diversify your established business into new markets, competitor insights will be vital. 

With a sound knowledge of your rival’s strengths and weaknesses, you’ll stand a better chance of making smart data-driven marketing decisions.

However, you might well wonder about the best means of researching the competition and using that research for the growth of your business. 

That’s where Data and Insight services are of value, with a focus on developing effective strategies and campaigns.

Read on as we highlight the importance of competitor analysis, covering various research approaches, and how to make the most of your findings.

The Importance of Competitor Analysis

As mentioned, competitor analysis will involve the review of your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses. 

It should also enable you to identify brand differentiating opportunities and improvements that you can make for a greater presence.

Other advantages of competitor analysis include:

• Enabling the definition or refinement of your unique selling proposition (USP)

• Helping to identify your ideal customers

• Strengthening your understanding of market trends

Your market insights can be used to strengthen customer relationships, find opportunities to stand out in highly competitive markets, and stay competitive in fast-paced industries.

As the legendary military strategist Sun Tzu said, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear a hundred battles.”

Building Your Competitor List

First up, you need to identify your brand competitors. 

This might include any other businesses that are targeting the same customer segments as you.

Such businesses might come under the following categories:

• Primary - direct competitors offering the same types of products and/or services as you 

• Secondary - competitors offering similar products and/or services to different audiences

• Tertiary - competitors that are in some way related, but not in terms of products/services or target audiences.

While it’s important to be aware of the competition, you should be wary of comparisonitis. 

This can affect businesses at all stages, with direct comparison to how the competition present themselves across different channels.

Everything might not be as positive or impactful as such promotions would have you believe.

Effective Research Methods

There are various ways of gaining competitor insights.

As a first step, you should have discussions with your potential and established companies. Which other brands are mentioned when they talk about their pain points?

You can also explore platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook to find other related businesses.

Further insights could be gained through Google and the keyword research tools (to find other companies focused on terms related to your business).

It’s best to limit the research, following up with more in-depth analysis of your direct and indirect competitors.

You can rely on the support of De Bono Marketing Communications, with our expertise in data-driven approaches, such as:

• Competitor analysis

• Focus groups and surveys

• Market research

• Research reporting

Structuring Your Findings

Having narrowed down your research, the next step will be to compile the insights into a clear and easily understandable competitor matrix. 

This will allow for quick comparisons, with gaps and trends being easily identified.

Categories of the competitor matrix may include:

• Overview data (such as the founding date, company size, revenue, and customer base)

• Choice of channels for customer acquisition and engagement

• Product/service offerings, pricing, features, and sales approaches.

 Again, you can take various approaches to the analysis of your customer data. 

The SWOT analysis can be used to home in on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats specific to your company’s market standing.

Porter’s Five Forces is another valuable framework, focusing on the threat of new entrants, bargaining power of suppliers, level and intensity of competition, and bargaining power of customers.

Rivals may also be considered in relation to the 7Ps of marketing, as follows:

• Product: Which features do customers see as most valuable?

• Price - Which pricing model is adopted ( one-off, freemium, subscription)

• Promotion - Which channels and marketing methods do they use to best effect?

• Place - Are the products/services sold online, in store, or through a hybrid approach?

• People - Who represents the company and interacts with customers?

• Process - How effectively are the products/services delivered?

• Physical evidence - How well are the competitor’s offerings backed up with visuals, trust signals, and customer proof?

Realising the Value of your Insights

No matter the level of competition, analysis should help you find opportunities to stand out.

You can expect valuable insights into your market positioning and key points of difference.

Other uses for your competitor insights may include:

• Supporting internal business decisions (specific to everything from recruitment to pricing strategy and use of promotional channels)

• Developing pitches (showing your understanding of the market size and opportunities for unique positioning)

• Maintaining your market standing (keeping the analysis up-to-date and monitoring for new opportunities).

In short, the use of a competitor analysis framework will allow for smarter strategic decisions of value to your business.

It all makes for data-driven, efficient communication that drives innovation and growth.

From research to implementation, De Bono Marketing Communications promises support every step of the way.

Get in touch to find out more about our data and insight services.