Competitor analysis
Strategy and planning
Strategy and planning
A competitor analysis maps who else is asking for the same customer, what they offer and promise, and where there is room you can take.
Start with the right list. Your direct competitors do the same job for the same customer — not always the same set as the companies bidding on your keywords, and sometimes the alternative is 'do nothing' or 'do it in-house'.
Per competitor look at offer and price level, the promise on their site, their proof (cases, reviews, client names), the keywords and ads they run, and how their enquiry process works. Do it thoroughly once, then briefly on a schedule; you are watching for shifts, not building a dossier.
The output is a decision, not a report: where you will genuinely differ, and what you choose not to compete on.
In practice
Copying what competitors do. Copying makes you comparable, and comparable gets picked on price.
Related terms
- Market researchMarket research is gathering data on customers, competitors and the market so decisions rest on facts rather than assumptions.
- PositioningPositioning is the place you occupy in your audience's mind: who you're for, how you differ, and why that difference matters.
- Share of voiceShare of voice is your share of all visibility in a category: which part of the ads, search results or conversations is about you.
- SWOT analysisA SWOT analysis puts strengths and weaknesses (internal) next to opportunities and threats (external), so you can make choices that match what your organisation can actually deliver.