Digital competitive analysis (also called competitive research) is an in-depth investigation which focuses on collecting and reviewing information about your competition.
This analysis has the purpose of helping you figure out:
- what your rival companies are doing
- what are their strengths and weaknesses
- how you can stay ahead of the competition
- how to analyze the market landscape to visually assess competitors’ positioning
Performing a digital competitive analysis goes beyond doing a few Google searches. That’s why we wanted to write this article so we can show you how to perform a research which will help you develop a sustainable competitive digital strategy. Identifying and analyzing important factors such as customer satisfaction and market presence is essential for understanding your position within the market landscape.
Compiling a competitive analysis report will help you summarize your findings and inform your strategic decisions.
Introduction to Digital Competitive Analysis
In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, understanding your competition is more important than ever. Digital competitive analysis is a vital part of any successful business strategy, providing the insights needed to navigate the competitive landscape and make informed decisions. By analyzing both direct and indirect competitors, businesses can uncover valuable information about market trends, customer preferences, and emerging threats. This process not only helps you identify your current market position but also reveals opportunities to develop a sustainable competitive advantage. With a thorough digital competitive analysis, you can refine your marketing strategy, boost customer satisfaction, and ultimately grow your market share in an ever-evolving marketplace.
Why You Need to Perform a Digital Competitive Analysis
A comprehensive digital competitive analysis empowers businesses to truly understand their target market and stand out from the crowd. By identifying key competitors and analyzing their marketing strategies, product offerings, and customer feedback, you gain a clear picture of where your business fits within the market. This process highlights your own strengths and weaknesses, as well as those of your competitors, enabling you to make data-driven decisions that fuel growth. Additionally, by monitoring market trends and tracking shifts in customer behavior, you can spot market gaps and new opportunities to differentiate your brand. Ultimately, digital competitive analysis is essential for shaping a business strategy that adapts to change, meets customer needs, and positions your company for long-term success.
Identifying Your Digital Competitors
To build an effective competitive analysis, you first need to identify who your digital competitors are. This means looking beyond just the obvious direct competitors—those offering nearly identical products or services to the same target audience—and considering indirect competitors as well. Indirect competitors may offer different solutions but still compete for the attention and spending of your target audience. Start by conducting primary and secondary research: use search engines, social media platforms, review sites, and industry reports to find companies operating in your space. Pay attention to who is active in your market, what they offer, and how they position themselves. By gathering this information, you’ll be able to map out the competitive landscape and develop strategies to outperform both direct and indirect competitors.
Tips for Performing Effective Digital Competitive Research
Effective digital competitive research requires a structured approach to ensure you gather all the relevant information needed to make informed decisions. Begin by clearly defining your target audience and understanding their needs and preferences. Next, research your competitors thoroughly—collect data on their marketing strategies, product offerings, and customer feedback from various sources. Conduct a SWOT analysis to evaluate both your own strengths and weaknesses and those of your competitors. Keep a close eye on market trends and shifts in consumer behavior, as these can impact your business strategy. By following these steps, you’ll gain a complete picture of the competitive landscape, allowing you to identify opportunities, address challenges, and build a strong competitive advantage.
Building a Competitive Strategy
Once you’ve gathered insights from your digital competitive analysis, it’s time to put them into action by building a robust competitive strategy. Start by identifying market gaps and opportunities that your competitors may have overlooked. Develop a unique selling proposition (USP) that sets your business apart, and craft a pricing strategy that appeals to your target customers while differentiating you from the competition. Analyze the marketing channels your competitors use—such as social media, email campaigns, and content marketing—and determine how you can leverage these platforms more effectively. By focusing on these areas, you can increase your market share, enhance customer satisfaction, and drive sustainable growth through a well-defined marketing strategy.
Product and Service Analysis: Comparing Features and Offers
A key part of digital competitive analysis is evaluating how your products or services stack up against those of your competitors. Take a close look at the features, pricing, and overall value offered by both your business and your competitors. Consider aspects such as product quality, customer support, warranties, and any unique benefits like free trials or loyalty programs. By comparing these elements, you can pinpoint areas where your offerings excel and identify opportunities for improvement. Highlighting superior features or exclusive benefits in your marketing strategy can help you attract new customers and build loyalty. Regularly analyzing competitors’ products and services ensures your business remains competitive and continues to meet the evolving needs of your target market.
Why You Need to Perform a Digital Competitive Analysis for Your Target Market?
Chances are that there are quite a few companies out there which are offering the same products or services as yours.
Simply knowing what they offer or looking at their website isn’t enough – you need to dive deeper.
This is going to help you identify industry trends and most importantly, the campaigns and strategies your competitors are implementing to attract new customers.
Let’s talk about the best practices when conducting your own digital competitive analysis.
Tips for Performing a Digital Competitive Research on Direct and Indirect Competitors
1. Identify your competitors
Even if you may have an idea of who your rival companies are, it’s important not to skip this step and do your research properly. We recommend identifying 5-10 competitors.
Use online tools and search engines to find competitors, including new competitors and major competitors, and consider both direct and indirect competitors who target the same audience. Identify your main competitors as well as other brands that may not be direct competitors but still attract the same audience. Conduct thorough market research and market analysis, utilizing both primary research and secondary research methods to gather comprehensive data. Be sure to include your own company in the analysis for an apples-to-apples comparison and to understand your relative market position. Organize all the data you find about the competition in a spreadsheet, and use a competitive analysis framework to structure your research for more effective results.
To start, you can add basic info such as the name of the company, location, value proposition, service/product offering, strengths and weaknesses.
2. Examine the competitors’ website and user experience
The easiest way to start the digital competitive analysis is by looking at their site. Here are some of the most important aspects you need to pay attention to:
- Does the site have a modern design?
- Is the site updated often?
- How are the services/products presented?
- Do they use stock photography or high-quality images created by them?
- What type of language it’s used to communicate details about the products/services?
- What type of content are they publishing? How often are they doing it?
- Is the content they’re publishing better than yours?
- What sort of calls-to-action do they use?
- Do they have a pop-up on the site? If not, are they using another way to build an email list or leads?
- Are their social media icons visible on the site?
- Is the site optimised for mobile visitors?
- Is there an easy way to contact a member of the team?
- How many contact options do they provide?
- Do they have an SEO structure? (you can look at page title, URL architecture, H1 tags, internal links, categories, tags)
As part of your website analysis, evaluate the competitor’s brand voice, review their press releases, and consider their company mission to understand their marketing tactics and overall marketing efforts. Take note of how competitors offer different features and benefits, and compare product features and important features to identify their unique selling points.
These preliminary questions are exactly what you need to you can kick start your digital competitive analysis.
3. Identify the competitors’ position in the market
This is important because it’s going to help you understand why customers are drawn to a particular company and figure out what you can do to stand out and attract more customers.
To identify their market positioning, you can use these questions as guidance:
- Are customers buying from them because they offer an affordable product/service, because of the experience or the high-quality they provide?
- How is their product/service different from the competition?
- What key features and benefits are they emphasising in their marketing copy?
- What makes their product/service unique (according to their copy)?
Analyze the competitor’s product strategy and observe how industry leaders position themselves in the market. Consider how a broader approach to marketing, such as targeting families or entering new markets, can differentiate a competitor. For example, supply shortages like those experienced with the PlayStation 5 can significantly impact a competitor’s market presence and customer perception.
To get an even better understanding of how your competitors communicate, we recommend the following:
- Sign up to their email list. Analyse the type of content you’ll be receiving and the type of messages they are using to transform leads into customers.
- Read their blog. It’s important to read their most popular articles, or case studies, in case they have this type of content.
- (optional) Test the purchasing experience. If your competitors are selling affordable products, then it’s going to be easy to purchase one of the items they have available. By doing this, you can check not only the quality of the product but also the packaging, how long it took for the product to be shipped and the overall customer service experience. If your competitors are offering services or products which cost a large amount of money, then you can do some research online to see if there are customers who have detailed their personal experience.
4. Analyse the competitors’ social media presence
Social media platforms represent a great way for companies to interact and connect with current and potential customers.
Because of this, it’s important to determine how your competitors are using social media and integrate it into their marketing campaigns.
The first thing you need to do is check to see how easy or hard it is for your competitors to be found on social media. Then, it’s time to see whether their profiles are active or not.
If they are, you’ll want to analyse them closely so you can assess whether they are using social media profiles effectively.
There are many companies out there which created social media profiles when they first started. However, nowadays it appears that these businesses are not publishing content anymore. If this is the case regarding one of your competitors, then you can definitely leverage their weakness to your advantage.
When it comes to active social media profiles, take a look at the type of content they’re posting and which posts have the most engagement. Also, you need to pay attention to how many followers they have on each profile and which one has the highest following.
As part of your analysis, review the competitor’s marketing efforts, marketing tactics, and how they use press releases to communicate with their audience. Evaluate competitors strengths and benchmark against industry leaders to identify areas for improvement. Keep in mind that competitor analysis can be time consuming, but using structured frameworks and digital tools can make the process more efficient and actionable.
It’s important to study the competitors’ profiles and learn from what they’re doing – perhaps you can get a few ideas on what you can do to improve your online presence.
What to Do After Performing the Digital Competitive Analysis Using Primary and Secondary Research
When you’re done with the research, you will have a much better understanding of what the competition is doing.
By looking at all the information you gathered, identify at least one area where you can improve. It can be anything from content creation, search engine optimisation or social media engagement. Reviewing a competitive analysis example can help illustrate how to apply these insights effectively and guide your next steps.
Remember you don’t need to spy on your competition every single day, but it’s important to keep tabs on what they’re doing every once in a while. For more detailed insights, consider a deep dive into specific competitors or their strategies to uncover new opportunities.
If your goal is to shape a strong digital presence, then you need to create new opportunities for your audience.
Read more here on Digital transformation: How to maximise the leverage within your organisation. Additionally, you can contact us here for a no-obligation assessment of your digital ecosystem and online presence. Our team can help by creating an action plan to align your brand identity and customer touchpoints against your goals.