{"id":2475,"date":"2019-03-29T12:27:24","date_gmt":"2019-03-29T12:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sunwebtechnologies.com\/articles\/?p=2475"},"modified":"2020-12-24T11:27:33","modified_gmt":"2020-12-24T11:27:33","slug":"competitive-analysis-for-successful-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sunwebtechnologies.com\/articles\/competitive-analysis-for-successful-business\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Conduct Competitive Analysis to Run a Business Successfully."},"content":{"rendered":"<p name=\"0650\" class=\"graf graf--p\">Napoleon once said, \u201cNever interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake\u201d. Winning becomes so much easier if your competitor is making a mistake. But what if it\u2019s you who is actually making a mistake while your competitors are making merry? There\u2019s no way you are going to figure it out until you know what your competitors are up to. And to know your competitors well, you must conduct a deep <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Competitor_analysis\" data-href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Competitor_analysis\" class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Competitive Analysis<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p name=\"c4f1\" class=\"graf graf--p\">Whether you are a veteran having many years of experience in the marketplace or a newbie getting ready to bring your product to the market for first time, chances of other companies offering a similar product or service as you are pretty high. You can consider these companies as your potential targets with whom you have to compete in the market.<\/p>\n<p name=\"dd43\" class=\"graf graf--p\">Establishing an edge over your competitors is mandatory to survive in today\u2019s competitive market scenario. But the main concern is how to get that extra edge over others?<\/p>\n<p name=\"dcbd\" class=\"graf graf--p\">The solution lies in conducting a deep analysis of your competitor\u2019s strategy. Knowing what your competitors are doing, how they think about the market, what tactics they are using, etc. can make all the difference in the battle for acquiring customers.<\/p>\n<blockquote name=\"bcdc\" class=\"graf graf--pullquote\"><p>The weakness of your enemy forms the part of your strength.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p name=\"910b\" class=\"graf graf--p\">Finding the greatest weakness of your competitor is the key element of success. Take notes of chinks in their armour and never stop learning from them.<\/p>\n<figure name=\"20e7\" class=\"graf graf--figure\"><img class=\"graf-image\" data-image-id=\"0*jFIC1zTCjbPyPuVh.jpg\" data-width=\"1024\" data-height=\"681\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/max\/800\/0*jFIC1zTCjbPyPuVh.jpg\" \/><\/figure>\n<p name=\"befe\" class=\"graf graf--p\">Competitive analysis is not just about skimming through the competitor\u2019s profiles on social media but also acquiring complete knowledge and insights about their business. This, in turn, will help you to make better decisions for your marketing strategy. Competitive analysis is a continuous process and should be conducted regularly. It helps you outsmart your competitors and stay one step ahead of them.<\/p>\n<p name=\"98ae\" class=\"graf graf--p\">The good news is you don\u2019t have to spend thousands of dollars or days to analyze your competitors. By spending a couple of hours online and using a few free tools you can get most of the information you need to get a full picture of your competitor\u2019s strength and weakness. Based on the information, you can formulate a plan to exploit their weakness to your advantage.<\/p>\n<p name=\"1e87\" class=\"graf graf--p\"><strong class=\"markup--strong markup--p-strong\">Why Competitive Analysis?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p name=\"6a25\" class=\"graf graf--p\">Competitive research or analysis is part of strategic research through which you collect and analyze the information about your rival firms. Conducting competitive research is completely legal as long as you collect information available in public domain. Once you conduct competitive research you will be able to answer these important questions:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"postList\">\n<li name=\"18f7\" class=\"graf graf--li\">How my company stands out? What makes it unique?<\/li>\n<li name=\"3a5d\" class=\"graf graf--li\">How does user experience on my website differ from the competitor\u2019s website?<\/li>\n<li name=\"0778\" class=\"graf graf--li\">What customers think of my company compared to that of my competitor\u2019s?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p name=\"4078\" class=\"graf graf--p\">Here\u2019s a simple 7 step framework about how to do a competitive analysis:<\/p>\n<h3 name=\"775d\" class=\"graf graf--h3\">Choose Your Competitors<\/h3>\n<p name=\"1f60\" class=\"graf graf--p\">Before you start with competitor research, the foremost requirement is to make a list of top ten market competitors. To identify the competitors you can use the free online tools such as Alexa, Amazon, SEMRush, SimilarWEB or simply Google search. Look out for the competitors who:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"postList\">\n<li name=\"5801\" class=\"graf graf--li\">Sell similar type of product or service<\/li>\n<li name=\"c7c2\" class=\"graf graf--li\">Targeting the audience of similar or slightly different demographics<\/li>\n<li name=\"6430\" class=\"graf graf--li\">Are both new or experienced in the marketplace<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p name=\"bb30\" class=\"graf graf--p\">You should be careful while sorting out the list of competitors. In other words, if you are making shoes in a small warehouse, don\u2019t choose Nike or Adidas as your competitors unless you are directly competing with them. If your customer base is mainly local, regional and limited to a certain demographic, then select local or regional competitors for your analysis.<\/p>\n<h3 name=\"bb44\" class=\"graf graf--h3\">Categorize Your Competitors<\/h3>\n<figure name=\"5424\" class=\"graf graf--figure\"><img class=\"graf-image\" data-image-id=\"0*i_QrNV59bOtAi3XW.jpg\" data-width=\"1000\" data-height=\"773\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/max\/800\/0*i_QrNV59bOtAi3XW.jpg\" \/><\/figure>\n<p name=\"9a2c\" class=\"graf graf--p\">Now that you are done with choosing the right competitors, it\u2019s time to categorize them. This will help you to determine how they can impact your business. You can categorize them in the following three groups:<\/p>\n<ol class=\"postList\">\n<li name=\"abc6\" class=\"graf graf--li\"><strong class=\"markup--strong markup--li-strong\">Primary Competitors<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p name=\"761a\" class=\"graf graf--p\">These are your direct competitors, offer the same product &amp; service, aim for the same target audience and make earnings the same way you do. For example, Apple is a direct competitor of Samsung in the Smartphone marketplace and Adidas is a direct competitor of Nike.<\/p>\n<p name=\"082d\" class=\"graf graf--p\">2.<strong class=\"markup--strong markup--p-strong\"> Secondary Competitors<\/strong><\/p>\n<p name=\"6a86\" class=\"graf graf--p\">These are almost the same as direct competitors; they don\u2019t offer the product or service as you do, but they fulfill the need of the same customer base as yours. For example, Dominos and McDonalds are indirect competitors they sell pizza and hamburgers respectively, but they both the target the same audience.<\/p>\n<p name=\"44ae\" class=\"graf graf--p\">3.<strong class=\"markup--strong markup--p-strong\"> Tertiary Competitors<\/strong><\/p>\n<p name=\"9f2a\" class=\"graf graf--p\">Tertiary competitors are also known as replacement competitors. They can create obstacles in the market analysis because of their unpredictability. They don\u2019t target the same customer base and sell slightly different product and service as you do. They can replace your product with a newer, faster and more productive solution and there\u2019s very little you could do to prevent consumers to prefer those options.<\/p>\n<h3 name=\"063f\" class=\"graf graf--h3\">Describe Their\u00a0Offering<\/h3>\n<p name=\"cd8a\" class=\"graf graf--p\">This is one of the easiest steps to follow as most of the companies provide their offering on the public website. You can download the brochures and data sheet easily from the respective website to get a clear understanding of the product or service they are offering.<\/p>\n<p name=\"008c\" class=\"graf graf--p\">Make sure to build a list of their product and compare them with your offering. This process will give you a fair idea about the dissimilarities between you and your competitors.<\/p>\n<h3 name=\"ba21\" class=\"graf graf--h3\">Summarize Their Online\u00a0Presence<\/h3>\n<p name=\"b011\" class=\"graf graf--p\">This is one of the most important aspects of competitive research. Everyone starts their buying process with an online search. It\u2019s mandatory for you to understand your competitor\u2019s online presence and by comparing it with your presence, you can have a fair idea about your product positioning.<\/p>\n<figure name=\"49c7\" class=\"graf graf--figure\"><img class=\"graf-image\" data-image-id=\"0*KK6pkPVNP_9o6HqB.png\" data-width=\"1024\" data-height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/max\/800\/0*KK6pkPVNP_9o6HqB.png\" \/><\/figure>\n<p name=\"bf5d\" class=\"graf graf--p\">Few factors that you can consider while investigating their online presence:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"postList\">\n<li name=\"8c45\" class=\"graf graf--li\">Lookout for their website structure<\/li>\n<li name=\"4f19\" class=\"graf graf--li\">Analyze their keyword performance<\/li>\n<li name=\"9169\" class=\"graf graf--li\">How much and what type of content they are sharing<\/li>\n<li name=\"65ba\" class=\"graf graf--li\">Ways to engage their site visitors- email, phone number, and contact form<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 name=\"354a\" class=\"graf graf--h3\">Keep A Tab On Their Strengths<\/h3>\n<p name=\"7f88\" class=\"graf graf--p\">To beat your customers, it is essential to know their stronger attributes. Be honest while compiling the list of their strengths compared to your company. Some of the aspects to include in their strength are Company size, value proposition, quality standard, pricing, delivery time, etc.<\/p>\n<p name=\"634f\" class=\"graf graf--p\">Some other strengths to mention in the list, while doing a competitive analysis are web traffic, ease of doing business, keyword ranking, quality content, ways to engage visitors, etc.<\/p>\n<h3 name=\"70a6\" class=\"graf graf--h3\">Keep A Tab On Their Weaknesses<\/h3>\n<p name=\"71dc\" class=\"graf graf--p\">Knowing the weakness of your competitors may help you to identify your own strengths. Perhaps, you can turn their weakness into your strength to gain a competitive advantage over them. To identify their weakness you can look Into aspects like Small team size, Building size, Low net profit, Poor sales effort, etc.<\/p>\n<p name=\"655f\" class=\"graf graf--p\">Be sure to make a list of their weakness in their online presence as well. That includes poor website structure, mobile unresponsive website, confusing and frustrating interface, slow page loading time, Lack of useful content etc.<\/p>\n<h3 name=\"895f\" class=\"graf graf--h3\">Identify Area For Improvement<\/h3>\n<p name=\"80d2\" class=\"graf graf--p\">After completing all the above steps, you now have a better idea and understanding of what your competitors are all about.<\/p>\n<p name=\"f686\" class=\"graf graf--p\">Gather all the information about each competitor and make a list of areas that need improvement. And after analyzing your competitors, you surely would find some aspects you need to improve on. Providing a better and improved version of the product would easily convince customers to choose your product over competitors.<\/p>\n<h3 name=\"05c2\" class=\"graf graf--h3\">Conclusion<\/h3>\n<p name=\"d7b2\" class=\"graf graf--p\">You won\u2019t get success overnight. Competitive analysis is an ongoing process. It should be conducted at regular intervals to gain the advantage needed to outsmart your competitors. Take necessary measures and track your progress by using tools like Google Analytics, Moz, Webmaster tools. This will give a fair idea about what\u2019s working for you and what isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p name=\"ffbb\" class=\"graf graf--p\">In case, you need some help in conducting a competition analysis, feel free to <a href=\"https:\/\/sunwebtechnologies.com\/\" data-href=\"https:\/\/sunwebtechnologies.com\/\" class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">drop us a message<\/a>. Our team of seasoned product managers and business analysts would be happy to help you anytime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Napoleon once said, \u201cNever interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake\u201d. Winning becomes so much easier if your competitor is making a mistake. But what if it\u2019s you who is actually making a mistake while your competitors are making merry? There\u2019s no way you are going to figure<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[53,50],"tags":[32,33,34],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v15.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Conduct Competitive Analysis to Run a Business Successfully. - Sun Web Technologies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Competitive research or analysis is a part of strategic research through which you collect and analyze the information about your rival firms.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sunwebtechnologies.com\/articles\/competitive-analysis-for-successful-business\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Conduct Competitive Analysis to Run a Business Successfully. - Sun Web Technologies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Competitive research or analysis is a part of strategic research through which you collect and analyze the information about your rival firms.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sunwebtechnologies.com\/articles\/competitive-analysis-for-successful-business\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sun Web Technologies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sunwebtechnologies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-29T12:27:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-24T11:27:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sunwebtechnologies.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/competitive-analysis.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n<meta property=\"fb:app_id\" content=\"523433374533625\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sunwebchd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sunwebchd\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sunwebtechnologies.com\/articles\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sun Web Technologies\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sunwebtechnologies.com\/articles\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sunwebtechnologies\/\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/sunwebtechnologies\/\",\"https:\/\/in.pinterest.com\/sunwebchd\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sunwebchd\"],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sunwebtechnologies.com\/articles\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sunwebtechnologies.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sun-web.png\",\"width\":640,\"height\":640,\"caption\":\"Sun Web Technologies\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sunwebtechnologies.com\/articles\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sunwebtechnologies.com\/articles\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sunwebtechnologies.com\/articles\/\",\"name\":\"Sun Web Technologies\",\"description\":\"All the cool stuff from Design, Development &amp; 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