Regularly reviewing your marketing is essential to its effectiveness.
That’s why one of the first things I do when taking over the marketing of a business is a comprehensive review of everything already in place, looking at what’s working, what isn’t and new areas to expand the reach to more potential customers.
Part of this review is an in-depth competitor analysis.
What is a competitor analysis?
A competitive analysis means looking at those businesses sharing your part of the market – your competition – and analysing their sales, marketing and product. It looks at their pricing and offers, technology, review sites, their main marketing channels and presence on social media, and overall their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT).
Why is a competitor analysis useful?
Completing an annual competitor analysis is a really useful exercise and I'm always surprised how much can change in a year.
It allows you to look strategically at your own services and where it fits in the overall market of your specialism. What opportunities are others taking advantage of? What are you doing better and what are you doing worse than them? Is there something that’s missing that you could be doing to provide a better product or service for your customers and thereby put you ahead of your competition?
After the year we’ve all had, there’s no better time to do a competitive analysis, adding into your checklist how your competitors have reacted and adapted to Covid-19.
What are the benefits of doing a competitor analysis?
There are numerous benefits to doing your research, namely:
You’ll be able to identify gaps in the market
There is potential to develop your offering
You could discover ways to reduce your costs
It can support the creation of your marketing strategy
You can see what trends are influencing your industry
How to undertake a competitor analysis?
First and foremost, when I do this for my clients we look at defining who their competitors are and what factors they want to measure.
Once a list of direct competitors is formed, we’ll add in the questions we want the answers to for each of them, such as their pricing and offer, social media strategy, customer service, sales channels and content plan. After you’ve pinned down your major competitors and what you want to know about them, it’s a simple case of doing a bit of research and inputting that information to be able to analyse the data.
Remember, this is not about copying the competition or pitching their ideas to your clients. It’s more about seeing what's working for them, their strengths and weaknesses and aligning your strategies to gain advantage. They will more than likely be doing the same about your business, and don’t forget: competition is a good thing. It ultimately gives customers choice and forces businesses to improve what they do.
Need support putting your competitor analysis together? Do give me a call on 07929 905229 as I’d love to talk through with you how I can generate new business using my experience in strategic marketing.
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