“If you’re a true warrior, competition doesn’t scare you. It makes you better.” – Andrew Whitworth
Competition is the backbone of our society as Americans. We compete for elections, medals, prestige and power, so when it comes to business, it is no surprise that we compete in that arena as well. Any business owner will tell you that competition is a normal, everyday part of what they do. As true as that is, one thing you must do in order to get a leg up and ensure you’re doing everything you can to remain relevant is to complete competitor analysis. Whether it’s for social media, digital media, or traditional, your advertising efforts aren’t complete in 2024 without a thorough investigation of what competition lies ahead.
Knowing who your competition is is one thing, but knowing everything about how they work and who is buying from them is another. We’ve laid out 5 easy steps below to help you complete a comprehensive competitor analysis that will help to take your business to the next level.
How to Perform a Competitive Analysis
- Identify Your Top Competitors
- This one seems obvious, am I right? But sometimes the most obvious steps are the most forgotten. If you haven’t taken time lately to discuss who your top 5 competitors are, then now is your chance. Find the companies that are providing similar products and services as you are and then start to narrow in on their audiences, behaviors, and more.
- Defined the Competitive Goal & KPIs
- Before starting the actual analysis, you need to know what you’re trying to accomplish going in. Are you looking to improve your social messaging? Are you trying to optimize your paid ads? What is it you’re trying to accomplish? When you can answer that question, you can officially begin the audit. Without a definitive answer, you’re just wasting your time.
- Choose the Platforms You Want to Monitor
- Once you’ve identified your competitors, you then need to decide on where they’re advertising the most. Is it TikTok? Is it billboards? Is it on websites and apps? Find out where your competitors are, and if it makes sense for you to be there, then join in. A little healthy competition never hurt anyone.
- Check Out Their Content Strategy
- Odds are, your competitor’s messaging is going to be similar to yours, because they’re trying to sell the same products to the same people, but it’s important to focus on how they’re doing that. Focus on things like their messages, formatting, captions, hashtags, and overall campaigns to get a better sense for how they’re channeling their energies into reaching your target audience.
- Understand How People Engage With Their Content
- We live in a social society, and because of that, people are always looking to share, like, or comment on the next great online adventure. Go to their social pages and investigate how their followers interact with their content. See what they are reacting the most to, and go from there!
Although a competitive analysis is trickier than just 5 steps, these few tips can help guide you toward discovering who your competition is and how you can improve your efforts in comparison. Unfortunately your business’s competition isn’t going away anytime soon, but with a little hard work, and a whole lot of investigating, you can learn the ins and outs of their business and improve yours while you’re at it.
Ready to tackle your competition but not sure you have enought time? Contact us!
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