You are not alone in the commercial market, so before considering starting any new business and entering the market, you must be fully aware of your competitors, which leads you to study the most popular concept, which is competitor analysis. Because it helps you gain competitive advantages over competitors, keeping you always at the forefront.
What is Competitor Analysis?
Competitor analysis is the process of studying and exploring competitors to uncover their strengths, weaknesses, products, as well as marketing strategies.
When conducted properly, competitor analysis can provide valuable data that helps guide your strategy and business decisions.
The methods of competitor analysis depend on the nature of your business or trade, and there are essential steps to follow when conducting competitor analysis, which are as follows:
– Understand your business or industry and the way competition operates within it.
– Identify different types of competitors.
– Understand your market and target audience.
– Use the findings to establish proper benchmarks for competition.
– Evaluate your current marketing strategy or develop a new one if necessary.
The Importance of analysing the competitors:
One of the most important questions that you should ask yourself is: What is the importance of competitor analysis, and why do we do it? to implement it correctly, and the importance of competitor analysis lies in the following:
– Following a well-planned approach to entering the market at the right time.
– Developing an actionable marketing strategy for achieving success.
– Understanding competitors and the nature of their business.
– Creating a method for creativity and diversity in the field.
– Identifying the gap between supply and demand in the market to provide new services and products.
– Monitoring business growth over a specific period to measure progress and success.
– Discovering the reasons behind customer attraction or divergence towards competitors’ products to enhance product development and surpass competitors.
Steps for Competitor Analysis:
Once you are ready to go through the competitor analysis phase, you need to follow these steps to successfully structure your search properly:
Identify Competitors:
The first step is to identify the key competitors in your target market. There are likely specific companies, products, or services that offer something similar to what you provide.
Gather Information about Competitors:
Collect basic information about each competitor, such as the products or services they offer, their pricing, target market, and marketing channels they utilize. This can be done by researching them online, examining their social media accounts, and analyzing their advertising campaigns.
Analyze Products and Services:
It is necessary to examine the products or services offered by each competitor and analyze their advantages and disadvantages, as well as the competitive differences provided by the competitor, in order to outperform them.
Competitor Price Analysis:
Monitoring your competitors’ prices and analyzing their pricing policies is important. This includes identifying any additional advantages they offer through promotional offers and discounts.
Researching Competitors’ Sales Results:
Understanding your competitors’ sales results, revenue streams, and sales tactics is one of the key steps in competitor analysis.
Analyzing Competitors’ Content Strategy:
Analyzing your competitors’ content is vital because the quality of their content is a contributing factor to their success. For example, focusing on language, content length, and the information provided can help you improve your own content strategy.
Identifying Technology Used by Competitors:
Using advanced analytics tools to understand customer buying behavior and market trends and employing similar technologies can help you gain a competitive edge and establish a strong presence on social media platforms.
Analyzing Different Types of Content Used by Competitors:
For instance, if your competitors heavily rely on video content in their marketing strategy, integrating more videos into your marketing plan can help you surpass your competition and reach a larger audience.
Conducting a SWOT Analysis:
The SWOT analysis of competitors aims to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, and threats associated with competitors in your market, in addition to identifying opportunities that your company can benefit from based on the advantages of competitors. It also involves identifying threats that can affect your company’s performance as a result of competitors’ actions.
A SWOT analysis of competitors is an important tool for developing an effective competitive strategy and making appropriate tactical decisions.
Porter’s Five Forces Analysis:
Porter’s Five Forces Analysis is an analytical framework used to understand the forces of competition in the market. This analysis involves identifying five key forces that impact market competition: the strength of competition among existing competitors, the threat of new competitors, the threat of substitute products or services, the bargaining power of buyers, and the bargaining power of suppliers.
Porter’s Five Forces analysis helps determine the attractiveness of a specific market, understand the level of competitiveness, and identify suitable strategies to deal with these competitive forces.
Lastly, remember that conducting a competitor analysis is an important step in developing your business or project, as it helps you differentiate your brand and provide the best products and services in the market.
By: Ashrakat Tarik
