A competitor analysis or competitive analysis involves identifying your competitors and how they make themselves stand out in the industry. What are your strengths and weaknesses compared to them? What marketing strategies are they using? How are they luring in new customers?
While you might think you can find out this information just by walking into their store or perusing their social media pages, there can be more to it. Experts like SEO Runners can use a wide range of advanced tools to perform an in-depth analysis of their successes and failures compared to your own. With this information, you can form a plan of attack for getting ahead and potentially even gaining market share.
Great, another thing that’s going to cost me money as a business owner. We get it; you don’t always want to spend money on things you don’t believe your business needs. But you might be surprised by helpful a competitive analysis can be. You might enjoy some of the following valuable benefits.
You might think your business is incredibly strong and doesn’t have any weaknesses, but a competitor analysis can shine the spotlight on how you compare to your direct and indirect competition. If we can identify something they’re doing better than you, we might be able to turn the situation around.
The same goes for any strengths you have compared to your competition. If you’re doing something much better than them, you can understand the importance of keeping up the momentum. There’s power in knowledge.
No business owner ever wants to look like a copycat, so you should never use competitor analysis just to learn about the latest trends and copy them. However, it doesn’t hurt to be aware of them so that you can watch them and see if there’s merit in adopting them in the future. Some trends are passing, while others are here to stay.
Successful business owners are always thinking about their target market. The more you know about the people you’re trying to appeal to, the stronger your position is to adapt your business practices to suit them. Many companies have learned this the hard way, failed to adapt, and were left in the dust by their competition.
Competitor analysis allows you to compare your offerings to those of your competition. You might even then identify gaps in the market for new products and services you never thought to offer.
You might understand the importance of a competitive analysis, but that doesn’t mean you’ll know how to do one. Typically, there are four steps, and our consultants can guide you through each one of them during the analysis process.
Look at your direct and indirect competitors. These are businesses, companies, and individuals your customers might turn to if they don’t shop with you. We can use a range of tools to establish who your competition is.
We’ll need to put our investigator hats on for this step. Gathering information involves learning as much as possible about your competition, such as their:
SEO Runners can help identify you and your competition’s strengths and weaknesses. Compare them to each other to see where you’re both succeeding and falling short.
Now that you know where you and your competition excel and fall short, you can create a plan of attack to help you gain your competitive edge in the market.
Wouldn’t you like to know where you stand in your own industry? It doesn’t have to be guesswork. Talk to the expert team at SEO Runners today to inquire about a custom competitor analysis. With this information, you can learn exactly where you stand now and where you can head to next.