Why competitor analysis frameworks are important when wanting to grow

All businesses need to undertake a competitor analysis framework. Beyond simply identifying competitors, it also allows you to identify opportunities, risks and your route to success. This article asks why competitor analysis frameworks are important when wanting to grow.

It’s important to understand your market and determine your next steps by evaluating a competitor’s offer. And not just their strengths and weaknesses with a poorly constructed SWOT analysis…. Sorry list. This article looks at how you can use a competitor analysis framework. From tech startups, established businesses, brands or sole practitioners, a framework is useful. The framework is usually composed of five stages:

Firstly, list your competitors and their products. Then, describe their marketing efforts. Note their strengths and weaknesses. Then draw your conclusions and determine your next steps.

First, you must list your competitors

Competitor analysis frameworks are needed to win more customers, capture market share and enhance your competitive advantage. However, it is not accidental or guesswork. You must first identify who your competitors are before you begin. Ask who they really are, not who the boss thinks they were. 

They can be classified into two categories—direct and indirect competitors. Identifying your direct rivals is important as you are battling them for customers every day. An indirect competitor targets what you do in two different but similar ways:

• They target a different customer base while selling similar products.
• They offer other products and services but share a customer base.

Before starting, conduct research to identify your competitors. You shouldn’t rush this step. It’s critical to obtaining high-quality and helpful information. Never assume anybody is your competitor. Or dismiss business as irrelevant without looking and double-checking.

• Who are the companies that you already compete with? 
• Which names come up in customer conversations? 

Look for them on a search engine to get a visual idea of your industry or market segment. In addition, you may also want to look at key individuals in your industry or market segment. 

2. Rank them

Now that you have created a list of competitors… now rank them.

Don’t waste valuable hours and resources researching companies that aren’t on your level. Rank your competitors based on how much market share they have. How strong their offering is, and what their online/offline presence is like. Rank them in any way you want. A way that’s suitable for your needs. 

However, keep an eye on the ones you dismiss. Like a Pyramid, have your most important competitors at the top. Your least crucial at the bottom. The importance you place on them has nothing to do with size, track record, and experience in the market. Some new start could be a greater threat than the monolithic rival you have always been up against. 

And things change, so don’t ignore any of them. But also, resist the temptation to obsess about them. Monitoring each competitor’s every move will fog your judgment and distract you. Again use the pyramid principle to determine actions. 

3. Describe your top competitors and their product offering

So you know who your competitors are and how much competition they provide. Now it is time to get down to business and find out what products and services they offer. It’s important to gather this data without bias or preconceptions. And contribute to a larger competitor analysis allowing you to make inferences later.

A brief strapline can convey a lot of information about a product’s offer. You want to gather information about the products and services relevant to you. Of course look at their features and benefits. But also isolate what features and benefits are missing. Could this be an opportunity for you? Or a landmine to place under their sales pitch? There are various methods to obtain this data. Here are some examples:

• Look them up on Google (doh, of course, why didn’t you think of that
  
  

  Sponsor Ads

  • Ad Space Available - Rent it Now!
  
  

  About Octopus Intelligence    Octopus Competitive Intelligence

  18 connections, 0 recommendations, 58 honor points.
  Joined APSense since, May 3rd, 2021, From Nottingham, United Kingdom.
  
  Report this Page

  Created on Nov 21st 2022 06:15. Viewed 98 times.

  Share on APSense

  Comments

  No comment, be the first to comment.
  Please sign in before you comment.