Market analysis and competitor study

A foundational part of crafting a brand strategy relies on market orientation, i.e. the process
of identifying and meeting the stated or hidden needs or wants of customers.
However, a critical part of your strategy is also associated with choosing how you want to
compete, which naturally requires an understanding of the competition.
Focusing attention on your current and potential competition will help zero-in on specific
claims that you believe distinguish your brand from its competitors. The more you can
understand the brands that directly and indirectly compete in your area of business or
industry, the better you’re equipped to capitalise on opportunities and mitigate the threats
to your own business. That way you can ensure you are one step ahead of the game and the
competition.
Why would you do competitor analysis?
Competitor analysis is used by the most successful businesses to remain forward-looking – it
helps businesses revise their strategy based on the insights they have uncovered, and amplify
what works. It helps businesses understand how they can improve by better serving their
customers, based on customer feedback around other competing businesses in their market.
Businesses are better off if they know how they are competing for share of mind and wallet,
and why.
Businesses risk not understanding when and why consumers prefer their competitors, not
identifying their own competitive vulnerabilities and not seeing new threats and
opportunities when they don’t execute regular competitive analyses.
When marketers have such a strong knowledge of the brand, this can create a belief that
competitor analysis is not needed. This is a common misconception. As humans, we are
complex beings and this means that decision making isn’t always straightforward or rational.
By asking your customers about their beliefs, attitudes, behaviours and experiences, toward
you and your competitors, you can build an accurate picture of how to become a more
significant part of your customers’ everyday lives.
How do you identify your competitors?
Direct, indirect, aspirational…they all matter, and it’s important you understand their
significance to what you’re trying to achieve, and where and how you will decide to compete.
Firstly, it’s critical that you ask your customers and step into their shoes. The reason for this is
because you are the brand, not the customer. What we assume isn’t always true. People
don’t stick to categories the way we often think they do – sometimes they think outside of
the box. And so businesses should too.
Only by talking to them can you reflect their point of view and understand their behaviours,
your (the business’s) role within that and the wider competitive landscape.
Secondly, undertake desk research. Read feature articles about your industry, trend reports
and get a gauge for what’s here and now, and also on the horizon. That way you can stay one
step ahead of your competitors and lead the market.
With this in mind, keep the lens wide and maintain an open mind. Try to take as broad a view
of the competitive landscape as you can. Not only will you understand the context in which
you operate better, but you will learn more too. Some of the best businesses take ideas that
are working well in other markets and replicate it in their own.
For example, rather than looking to understand a brand’s share of the beer market, think of
the competition as ‘share of throat.’ Why? Because not everyone likes beer, but they might
like wine or gin – and these are often in competition with beer as someone’s drink of choice.
What are the different aspects of a competitor to analyse?
Marketing research, as applied to competitive analysis, is key to helping us understand
consumer sentiment toward brands and products, as well as those of our competitors and
how they influence the market.
This is because you’re asking the people that actually use them, or those who choose not to,
and gaining valuable insight into why.
But this can be broken down into specific topics.
Who is the target audience of your competitors?
What do people like/dislike about the product/service/brand sentiment?
Why do people like/dislike the product/service/brand? And why do they use/not use the
brand?
When do people use them? Are there particular circumstances or occasions of use?
How much would a customer spend, and why?
Are they front of mind for the customer when it comes to buying or using a product/service?
But most importantly, how does this stand up against you?
How do you conduct competitor analysis?
An effective way of conducting a competitor analysis is to break it down in stages, using the
questions above as your framework.
Firstly, ask yourself – What do I already know?
Begin by conducting stakeholder interviews and tap into their vision and experience of the
brand. See the market landscape from their perspective – it might be different to yours or
your colleagues’. Then undertake desk research to get more insight into any broader trends
that may be emerging, as well as review recent marketing research that may contain
information about your competitors. It is key to begin any new marketing research efforts
with some clear ideas about what you might find.
Secondly, ask yourself – what don’t I know?
But how do I know what I don’t know? – you might ask. Begin by casting your net wide, and
then bring it in as you hone in on the information important to your business.
What Is Marketing Competitor Analysis And How To Do It
In order to run a business smoothly, you need to do a lot of things. These things include doing
a certain analysis. You forecast your profitability, decide what combination of resources to
use, assign the work order to different employees and so on. The business does a SWOT
analysis which is basically finding out the strengths and weaknesses of the company. It also
manages to identify possible threats and opportunities the business might face due to
external factors. Doing such things will help you to form a marketing strategy. With this
strategy, you will look to run your business.
However, all these are for your own company. Marketing competitor analysis is done with
relation to your competitors. That is to say, you do the analysis of your competitor’s firm. In
marketing competitor analysis, you assess the strengths and weaknesses of your rivals. You
try to figure out what situations may provide an opportunity for them. Find situations which
are likely to become a threat for them as well.
HOMEMARKETINGWhat Is Marketing Competitor Analysis And How To Do It
What Is Marketing Competitor Analysis and How to Do it PESTLEanalysis Contributor May 21,
2015
In order to run a business smoothly, you need to do a lot of things. These things include doing
a certain analysis. You forecast your profitability, decide what combination of resources to
use, assign the work order to different employees and so on. The business does a SWOT
analysis which is basically finding out the strengths and weaknesses of the company. It also
manages to identify possible threats and opportunities the business might face due to
external factors. Doing such things will help you to form a marketing strategy. With this
strategy, you will look to run your business.
However, all these are for your own company. Marketing competitor analysis is done with
relation to your competitors. That is to say, you do the analysis of your competitor’s firm. In
marketing competitor analysis, you assess the strengths and weaknesses of your rivals. You
try to figure out what situations may provide an opportunity for them. Find situations which
are likely to become a threat for them as well.
A marketing competitor analysis is a critical part of your own marketing strategy. By doing
the analysis, you can formulate how to run your business. This can be seen as a reactive
approach. That is to say that you are basing your strategy as a reaction to how your
competitor will run his company.
How to do a Marketing Competitor Analysis
The first step of performing a marketing competitor analysis is to identify your current
competitors. Not only that but you also need to identify your potential future competitors.
There can be two ways of doing that;
Look at them from a customer’s point of view
Look at them from their point of view
By looking at them from a customer’s point of view, you are looking at their major strengths
and flaws. In other words, you are doing the first part of the SWOT analysis. You think like a
customer would. Why would a customer go for their services? Is it because they do things
differently or their quality is top notch? Either way these things are like strengths for the
competitors. You put yourself in the customer’s shoes and wonder why you would go for
them instead of coming to your own company.
n the other hand looking at them from their point of view will help you understand their firm
better. You look at their assets and how you would play them in the marketing field. You try
to see what their weaknesses are and how you would compensate for them. Once again, you
are doing a SWOT analysis for your competitors
Competitor Array
Another interesting technique to determine the marketing competitor analysis is by using the
competitor array. It’s a simple tool where you follow a few steps to determine how your
competitors are doing. The steps include the following;
Define the industry: The nature of the industry you and your competitors are in. The scopes
available to produce your goods and services.
Find out your competitors: An industry is likely to have multiple competitors. You need to
find out who is your genuine competitor that can match your level.
Determine the customers: Find out who your customer base is and what their level of
expectation is
Key success factors: You find out what factors are the leading prospects in becoming
successful. It does not matter if those factors have been used by you or your competitors.
Rank those factors by weighing them
Rate your competitors: You give your competitors a rating based on how much they each
weight on those key factors.
This process will help you realize which competitor is contributing more in the market. It is a
big part of the marketing competitor analysis. Once you figure out who is the leading pack
among the rest, you can make your marketing strategy based on them.