How to identify and analyse your real competitors

Ahhh!! Competitors!!!

They’re everywhere – doing their thing...

Marketing and selling their products and services in front of your target audience – yes, OUR target audience!!

It’s so frustrating – right?

Well, actually... competitors can also be good for OUR business...

They can be an invaluable source of information and inspiration – and ultimately help us plan our marketing and sales strategies!

How?

To begin, we need to consider who exactly we're competing with...

Initially it may seem obvious who your competitors are. But it’s not always straightforward as so many factors affect customers’ purchase decisions.

For example... thinking like one of your customers, what are their options? Say they work long hours, yes they could purchase from you – but who else offers the same solution? Who offers more? Your competitors may not be the same as you first thought.

If we then take a closer, more in-depth look at which competitors ACTUALLY DO pose a threat to us and how they operate within our market, we can actually use this research to our advantage.

We gain much clearer insight into:

• What makes our brand different to theirs – helping us to define our competitor differential or USP as it's more commonly known;
• What different options are available in the market - from a customer’s perspective - are there many or few - is the market niche or saturated?
• What types of new ideas, concepts and trends are being formed within our market;
• What types of marketing content they are using and whether it’s ‘working’ for them;
• What their marketing and sales strategy is and how it compares to us.

So next time you find yourself feeling frustrated and demotivated with a competitor – consider the above and turn it to your advantage!