A competitive brand analysis provides you with insight into businesses that operate within your industry and gives you valuable insight into your target market and what drives them to purchase. 

In a competitive analysis, you identify your top competitors, and research all the aspects of their company (that you have access to of course, nothing illegal here I promise).  This includes their websites, branding, products, sales and marketing plans. The more you know about your competitors, the more you learn about how they interact with your target market and can make adjustments to your own strategy 

A competitive brand analysis also allows you to identify trends that could be beneficial for your business. Is there a product or service that you see is lacking in your industry that consumers are asking for? Are there certain behaviours you’re seeing from your target market (ie working from home)? Are the consumers in your industry buying more online? From their desktop, their tablet or their phone? All these insights can have huge implications for your brand and your bottom line

So now that you know all the benefits, it’s your turn conduct a competitive brand analysis for your business. Here’s how to do it:

Put together a list of all your competitors in your industry.

Gather together all the information about what they offer, are there similarities, differences, gaps that neither of you are addressing? Do you appeal to the same target market?

Examine your competitors marketing campaigns

Did you know that you can see what ads your competitors are running on social media just by logging into facebook? Yup you can. Go to your competitors facebook page, and scroll down to advertising. There, you’ll see all the campaigns they have running. Look at their ads. Are customers reacting positively or negatively to their advertising in the comments? Check their likes, shares, comments. Is it radio silence or are people really resonating with what they have to offer?

Check your competitors overall engagement with its customers

Similarly, while you’re on Facebook, have a look around and see what they’re posting. Are people reaching positively or negatively? Are people responding at all? Do the same with Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest! There’s so much valuable insight you can get just from doing a little bit of digging. Is there something you can do better? Is there something they’re doing better? What kind of content are they posting and are consumers engaging with it?

What kind of products are your competitors offering?

Are the products similar to your own? What is the price point? Can you offer better value? These are all answers that should inform what you offer your own customers. Do you need to upgrade your product to keep up with the times? Are there improvements you can make to your product that would go above and beyond what your competitors offer?

SWOT Analysis

Rather than just focusing on the marketing and products your competitors offer, it’s a good idea to look into the health of the business analysis by conducting a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)

Strengths:

Have they had any achievements this year? What are their best sellers? How are they standing out in the market? What is resonating with their customers?

Weaknesses

How can they improve their business? Is there a gap in their product offering? Their marketing? How are they reacting to negative feedback? Is their business model sustainable?

Opportunities

Are their products really helping their consumers? Can their operations be streamlined in some way?

Threats

Are their products out of date? How are they dealing with competition in the industry? Are they prepared for disruptions?

With this data now in hand, you know a whole lot more about your target market and your own industry. At least I hope you do. Knowing your ideal customer, knowing what they want and what they’re looking for by delving deep into your competitors own data you are arming yourself with the nothing but more knowledge for your own business and how you fit into your industry

I don’t recommend doing this more than once a year as it’s easy to fall into a comparison trap, and that’s not what this exercise is all about. This is all about having the power to make informed decisions in your business, not to beat yourself up (or your competitors). Remember there is always room for what you have to offer the world.