Reporting on your competitor analysis, presenting it to your manager, is a vital part of the process. To show you how great your reports can look - download three simulated Talkwalker reporting templates.
Market impact demonstrating strategy across networks, compared with competing brands.
(simulated Talkwalker report).
Let's talk about how to conduct competitive analysis. I don't mean a quick scan of their social media accounts when you arrive at work. That is NOT good competitive analysis. That's just being nosey.
The best competitor analysis collects digital consumer insights that'll help you make informed data-driven decisions about your brand's content marketing strategy. Good competitor analysis is performed regularly and helps you outsmart your competitors.
Social media... it’s a start, sure. A quick look at what they've posted, customer engagement, support issues. But reading the occasional blog post isn’t enough. Competitive analysis should be an in-depth study of your industry and its members - their strengths and their weaknesses.
Only then will you be able to identify opportunities for improvements within your marketing campaigns - targeting, SEO, content, leads, conversions, revenue, product development, etc.
Think you know everything there is to know about competitor analysis? Are you sure? This guide must have pride of place in your marketing library, alongside your Guide to Competitive Intelligence.
"How to conduct a competitor analysis. Great post here from Talkwalker. Good resource to look at for your client work."
Karen Freberg's blog | @kfreberg
Be objective... be probing... be honest
First draw up a list and create a profile of your brand’s competitors. The biggies, plus those that compete indirectly with yours, and potential competitors that could enter your market. Those that offer products and services that are targeting the same audience as you. Don't forget to include information on start up companies that will emerge in the coming year.
BTW - I realize it’s hard, but you’re going to have to take a step back and analyze the market, honestly. You can’t afford to be precious about your company. You don't do yourself any favors.
Highlight competitors that will pose the biggest challenge...
Competitor analysis should be performed on a regular basis - and I don’t mean once a year. It should be an ongoing process, and with the abundance of martech tools, there’s no excuse.
Including competitive analysis in your marketing plan demonstrates to investors that you’re aware of the competition. That you have a clear picture of the marketplace, along with plans in place to compete at the same level as established brands.
Throughout this guide, I've used Quick Search - Talkwalker's social media search engine - to show how effective competitor analysis should be done.
Some might say I'm biased. Some might say I recognize a good tool when I see one.
"Quick Search provides such an easy and user-friendly opportunity to deep dive into your competitors' social sphere; letting you harness their strengths and weaknesses to improve and cultivate a winning marketing strategy. For a specific breakdown of the importance of this, you should definitely check out Talkwalker's latest article on the necessity and implications of competitor analysis for your business and brand."
Community + Advocacy @HubSpot | @ThatChristinaG
Talkwalker's Quick Search - compare upto 5 brands at a time for fast competitor analysis.
BTW - if you need help with setting up a comprehensive marketing strategy, I've just the thing for you - From marketing strategy to marketing plan - your complete guide. It walks you through reporting on last year's marketing results, generating new ideas, choosing your strategies, setting your goals, structuring your plan, and proving your ROI. There's also an exclusive marketing strategy eBook you can download.
It can be complicated and it is time-consuming. If you follow this competitor analysis guide you’ll understand how to identify, analyze, and determine what’s important. It provides real-life examples, a competitor analysis template, and competitor analysis tools in action.
Table of contents
Competitor analysis definition => identifying and evaluating your competitors, their strengths and weaknesses. How they compare to your brand.
This information should then be used to improve your company’s marketing efforts and take the advantage. It has to be an essential part of your marketing plan. If it isn’t, you’re working in the dark. Without it, how will you know what makes your product unique? How will you know why customers choose your competitors over you? How will you know the direction of product development your competitors are taking? So many questions can be answered.
BTW - Check it out, if you don't think there's a difference between competitor analysis and competitive intelligence!
Your competitive analysis should include...
To prove your customer experience efforts are working, you need to measure CX metrics. But which ones? Check out these 19 customer experiences metrics to monitor, to prove your working in the right direction.
“You meet the nicest people on a Honda”
Harley, Indian, Triumph - big, throaty bikes ridden by leather-clad guys - dominated the American market. Honda, wanting to expand its motorbike business in the US, analyzed the competitive market and found an area in which it could excel - small bikes. Back in Japan, Honda’s success meant that it was able to increase output, while reducing costs. Honda’s larger bikes couldn’t compete with the likes of a Harley, but its smaller bikes were a hit with younger buyers looking for a cheap alternative. Competitor analysis won the day!
Why?
Because if you don’t know what they’re doing, what strategies they’re following, you won’t be able to outsmart them.
A competitor analysis will...
Competitor analysis is market research. Finding opportunities and risks associated with various strategies, such as a product launch.
Once you’ve identified your competitors, you can dig deeper and gain a better understanding of what type of content they’re publishing.
Analyzing their content will show you the direction they're taking and whether consumers are engaging with it. What types of content creation do your competitors focus on? Are you providing the same, or missing opportunities? Have they found a niche that you've not thought of.
Once identified, look at the quality and how it compares to yours. Look for how often they’re blogging, where they're guest posting, when they're updating existing content, as well as what topics they’re discussing.
How are your competitors talking to consumers - messaging, tone of voice, language? Analyze their websites - site structure, navigation, SEO strategy. What marketing material do they produce? What's their paid ads plan? Social media channels - a biggie - which channels and what strategy? If you find things that they're doing better than you, or opportunities you've missed, copy and do it better.
Don’t just blog because you want to add more content or you're looking to play the SEO game. It won’t generate more traffic if your content isn’t remarkable, and doesn’t resonate. Google isn't stupid. Nor are consumers.
Competitor analysis is essential if...
Your competitors are posting at the same rate as you, with similar content. Why are your competitors ranking higher in search engines? What are they doing differently to you? This is when you need to explore their SEO strategies. Find out what keywords they’re using, how they’re managing links, etc.
Your goal? To outrank them in SERPs. Here’s what you should be checking.
Where are your competitors using keywords?
Check the following...
To monitor your competitors’ SEO strategies - keywords they're targeting and ranking for - you’ll need a tool like Ahrefs...
Monitor your competitors' SEO strategies with Ahrefs.
Features include:
Ahrefs helps you research organic traffic, keywords, so you can out rank your competitors.
Not only should you check the SEO structure of the content but also the keywords your competitors are using. It’s called keyword gap analysis and it’s to determine which keywords your competitors are ranking for, that your website isn’t. Part of your competitor analysis is to find where the competition ranks in SERPs, and earn a higher ranking.
Once you have the results of your keyword gap analysis, you’ll be able to remodel your site. Look at the metadata, the site architecture, repurposing existing content that’s ranking badly, and writing new content that incorporates the missing keywords.
If the new keywords have high search volume, look for keywords with lower search volume - usually, long-tail keywords.
Think like a human, not a search bot!
Take a look at your keyword analytics, specifically the search queries that have resulted in your organic traffic. Pull out the following information...
Using Quick Search, I’ve done a search for social media listening. The results below, show keywords/phrases trending in the industry which can be checked against your list of keywords. Any missing, create content and get them on your website - fast!
Quick Search reveals keywords and phrases trending in the social media listening industry.
It doesn’t have to be an industry search. Enter a product name, for insights on all the surrounding themes.
In the example below, I’ve searched for the BlackBerry Motion, a smartphone launched in 2018. With this data, BlackBerry has the top keywords being used in consumers’ searches. By incorporating them into its SEO strategy, ranking well in SERPs is more likely because the website contains searched phrases and keywords.
BlackBerry competitors performing the same analysis, will find keywords and phrases that consumers are using when they search for the BlackBerry Motion. To grab these consumers during their searches, competitors should include the keywords in the content on their website. Again, their websites will hold the answers to consumers' questions.
Yep, it's a battle of the keywords!
When searching for BlackBerry Motion, consumers are using keywords that include: battery life, security updates, anti scratch, energy efficient.
The next step of your competitor analysis should be to determine how the competition are using social media. Their activity and the social media landscape as a whole, in your industry. The results of this analysis will help you improve your own social media strategy.
Knowing what’s working for your competitors and what isn’t, will help you plan your brand’s social media presence. Once you’ve analyzed and found areas that you can exploit, shape them to suit your brand and your audience.
Of course you have competition - local, national, or international - your brand will be competing with other brands.
Once you’ve established who the competition is, you need to get started with your competitive intelligence or research - collecting and analyzing data about your competitors.
You’ll be looking at data that’s available to the public, so nothing dodgy - annual reports, company profiles, product brochures, press releases. Check out reports published by companies like Hoover’s and Dun & Bradstreet. Local newspapers are also packed with valuable insights. Access online databases such as the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Standard & Poor’s.
I’m guessing you’ve a rough idea how many Facebook followers your competitors have, how frequently they tweet. It’s a start, but you must go deeper. Social media listening brings deeper, more valuable digital consumer insights. With the right tool, you’ll understand how consumers feel about your competitors’ products and services. You'll also identify emerging trends, and discover new brands arriving on the scene.
Unlike reading published reports and online databases, a social media competitor analysis means you’re seeing results in real time. Finger on the pulse, your reaction time will be fast.
Your social media competitor analysis report should cover the following...
In your dreams!
For example… you’ve just opened a restaurant in a small town, where there doesn’t appear to be any immediate competitors.
What about the bar around the corner, the cinema opposite, the hotel just out of town? What about the online pizza delivery website?
Knowing who your competitors are, what products they offer, prices, opening hours, customer service, etc., will help make your business stand out. Once you’ve established strengths and weaknesses, you can attack vulnerable areas with focused marketing campaigns, flexibility around your products and services, tweaks to prices or hours.
Compare your strengths and weaknesses with those of your competitors. Find areas you can specialize in, focus on, exploit.
Dig deep into your competitors’ products and services. What features do they have, that your product doesn’t? What value does it give to consumers? How are they developing and marketing their products?
Don’t go soft on me, this is where you have to be brutally honest. I know you love your brand, but if you’re not objective, any results you get, will be worthless.
List your competitors strengths and weaknesses. Should you be threatened by their strengths? Which weaknesses can you exploit?
Now you know the things you should be looking at, an easy way to compare is with a competitor analysis template. List your competitors on the left. At the top, list the target market, price, USP, social media presence, distribution method, sponsorship, influencers, etc. Below, to show you what I mean, I’ve started a comparison between Coca-Cola and its top competitors.
Competitor analysis template for Coca-Cola and its top competitors.
What should you be comparing?
How much people are talking about your brand, in relation to your competitors. A strong share of voice isn’t necessarily a good thing, if a high percentage was caused by a crisis situation. But, these insights will give you a clearer picture of your brand awareness, compared to your industry.
I’m going to use Quick Search to compare Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Dr Pepper, Red Bull, and Gatorade - for a period of 13 months.
Competitor analysis - Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Dr Pepper, Red Bull, and Gatorade over 13 months.
While Coca-Cola is the king of fizz, Pepsi hit the headlines in April with 2.5M mentions. In a competitor analysis study, Coca-Cola should ask - what happened to cause this peak? Should we be copying this tactic to increase our brand mentions?
If only Daddy would have known about the power of #Pepsi. pic.twitter.com/FA6JPrY72V
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) April 5, 2017
All becomes clear when we dig deeper.
This in an example of when a strong SOV was caused by a crisis situation.
DON’T COPY!
Playing devil’s advocate - Pepsi should have immediately dusted off its crisis management plan.
Hey, if you're concerned about the best way to deal with a crisis situation, I've written - 11 steps for PR crisis management. It demonstrates what you should do to be prepared for the inevitable public relations crisis. It's worth a read, it's gonna save your brand's reputation and your business.
Sentiment analysis is the next biggie. The emotions expressed in comments about your brand. Again, it’s you vs your competitors. It’s important to track sentiment over time. It'll help you understand how your marketing campaigns are affecting consumer perception of your brand, in comparison to your competitors.
Quick Search sentiment analysis of McDonald's vs Burger King over 13 months.
Looking at the sentiment towards McDonald’s and Burger King over a 13 month period, McDonald’s has 62% negative sentiment compared with 40.5% for Burger King.
The cause can be identified if I dig deeper with Quick Search. McDonald’s suffered a slump on October 9, when a YouTube video was published that ridiculed the brand.
While Burger King peaked with a positive tweet from someone you may have heard of.
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) October 21, 2017
Taking a deeper dive into sentiment analysis to findout what’s driving consumer emotions. Look at the key topics of the conversations to identify what consumers are saying about your brand, product, or services. This brand intelligence will reveal the words and phrases that consumers are using, giving you a better understanding of where your brand fits. It will also open up opportunities where you can position your brand and join conversations, previously unheard.
First past the chequered flag - Red Bull!
Looking at the top themes - mentions over 13 months - surrounding our five brands, remembering who’s the king of fizz, Red Bull beat Coca-Cola - 99.6% to 99%.
As leader of the pack, Coca-Cola has to identify why it’s lost out to Red Bull and what’s missing from its marketing strategy.
Hmmmm, sponsor a Formula One team, maybe?
Who are your competitors' customers? Are they the same as yours? The same demographic?
Refocus and target to increase your customer base. For instance... your existing customer base is made up of young people, whereas your competitors have an older demographic. Can you target this older group and introduce new consumers to your product? Are you missing out on countries? Locations you’re failing to target with your marketing, and where your competitors are doing well?
Quick Search competitor analysis of Nike, adidas, and Reebok, to show share of countries.
Nike leads the sports footwear industry. Snapping at its heels are adidas and Reebok. The Quick Search result show the share of countries/regions for the brands is close. But, should adidas and Reebok target the 5M+ audience in South Korea, in their future marketing campaigns?
Find out what your audience is interested in and you’ll have the secret to keeping them engaged. Social media analytics can show you your audience’s interests and those of your competitors. This will give you insights in how to appeal to your competitors’ fans. You can also segment the audiences to fine tune.
Coca-Cola v Red Bull - audience interests
May not be a surprise, that the Red Bull audience is interested in sports, despite also being a popular mixer in bars. Red Bull being a main competitor of Coca-Cola, the king of fizz's marketing strategy to target sports lovers to increase its market share.
I'm assuming/hoping that you've done a SWOT analysis of your brand, and filed it in your marketing strategy. Now you need to do one for your competitors.
SWOT - strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It’s an audit that identifies the internal and external factors affecting a team’s future performance. Internal factors are strengths and weaknesses, while external factors are opportunities and threats.
By looking at your competitors' SWOT, from a customer’s point of view, you’re analyzing their strengths and weaknesses. It’ll help you understand their business better. What are their assets? How could your business exploit them? Find their weaknesses and work out how your company would address them. Take a customer journey and ask...
SWOT analysis - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.
While doing your competitor analysis, SWOT results should be taken into consideration. For this to be effective, external factors should also be assessed. This is where PEST should be brought into play. PEST analysis is an element of risk/crisis management that ensures a company is prepared for a change in external factors - listed below.
Will a change be considered an opportunity to do better, or will it be seen as a threat? How will they handle a change?
Answers to these kind of questions will demonstrate how your competitors operate, and this can become part of your marketing strategy. Supposing there’s a change and your main competitor can’t handle it. But, your company can rock it and come out on top.
Politics - government regulations that will affect the market - political stability, tax laws, trade restrictions, safety regulations, and employment laws.
Economic - issues that will impact your industry - inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, economic growth, unemployment rate, policy changes.
Social - analyze the socio-economic environment of your industry - customer demographics, culture and lifestyle attitudes, languages, and education levels. Recognize consumer behavior and what motivates them to purchase.
Here're examples of brands that failed to do their homework. Potentially, jeopardizing sales and inviting lawsuits.
Technological - how tech impacts the launch of a new product or service. This would include technological advancements, lifecycle of technologies, and money spent on R&D by the government.
If you don’t keep up with modern digital marketing techniques - optimizing your site for mobile devices, etc. - you’ll lose customers to your competitors.
PEST analysis - Political, Economical, Social, Technological.
Check out these tools! I've used them all, and I can honestly say, that without them you're going to struggle to perform a comprehensive competitor analysis. This is just a handful, check out the Top 14 competitor analysis tools for more.
Get an instant overview of your brand online. This search engine provides extensive coverage of social networks, news sites, blogs, and forums. You can enter multiple competitors brands and compare sentiment @ 90% accuracy, engagement, audience demographics, mentions, and more.
Quick Search - Coca-Cola & Pepsi share of countries/regions.
SEO competitive analysis provides data about what tactics are working in the industry. Recognizing your competitors’ strong and weak areas, means you’ll have an understanding of how hard it’ll be to outrank them. Backlink analysis will reveal which websites are linking to your competitors, and not you. Moz SEO tools include Keyword Explorer, Open Site Explorer, MozRank, MozBar, link building, site audits, page optimization insights. Moz also offers a suite of free SEO tools for link building and analysis, keyword research, webpage performance, local listing audits, and a whole lot more!
Perform an SEO audit of your competitors' websites with Moz.
Day Digital offers many services, including SEO strategies to boost the ranking of your website, on all search engines. You'll find information on link building, on-page optimization, PPC, and social media outreach. While there is no guarantee with SEO, Day Digital works towards improving SERP rankings and increasing traffic using social media.
Boost your website's page ranking and rise above the competition.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a website crawler - with perhaps the coolest name ever. Use this tool to crawl competitor sites for key onsite SEO elements. Including, canonicals, page titles, meta descriptions, and headings. You’ll find insights into their optimization, plus learn of potential keywords that your site can target.
Crawl your competitors' websites to identify their SEO strategies.
Like Google Alerts, but better. Set up alerts to receive mentions of your brand and those of your competitors - from websites, blogs, forums, and Twitter. Yep, I said Twitter. You’ll easily see what content your competitors are tweeting and what people are saying about them.
BTW - this one’s a freebie.
For the best results, choose specific keywords for you, your competitors, and your industry...
Your brand
Your competitors
Your industry
SEMrush provides a competitive research solution for your entire company. With a full set of tools, marketing managers will have an overview of any industry’s competitive landscape and break down a typical marketing mix in the market. Available data will create a foundation for tactical decisions in SEO, advertising, content and social media marketing, affiliate and partnership management, PR, and media buying.
At a strategic level, SEMrush can help business development teams and business owners to research new market opportunities and prepare for business expansion.
Competitive research solution for the entire company.
Majestic is a link intelligence database that’ll give you detailed analysis of external links and anchor text used by your competitors. Analyze backlinks and domain link counts so you can understand what your competitors are doing to track performance.
Detailed analysis of your competitors' external links and anchor text.
To help with your competitor analysis, I’ve created a competitive analysis template. Click below and fill it with the results of your competitor audit.
Download my competitor analysis template
You can tailor the template to suit your business.
It won’t happen overnight, it’s an ongoing process. Performing regular competitor analysis will give your company the advantage it needs to outsmart the competition. Watch and learn. Monitor your progress by installing tracking - Google Analytics, SEMrush, Moz, Webmaster Tools. Watch your competitors and industry with Quick Search and Talkwalker Alerts. See what’s working and what isn’t.
Don't forget to download your free social media reporting templates!