How much do you know about the companies you’re directly competing with? It probably isn’t as much as you think. There are so many ways that smart competitor analysis programs can extract vital data on your nearest rivals. But why is this so important? Why should you dedicate so much time to monitoring the performance, strengths, and weaknesses of other brands?
Finding Out Who Your Biggest Rivals Really Are
Ideally, you know who your biggest rivals and threats are within your industry. However, you might be surprised where some companies rank and who you must watch out for. If you’re an emerging clothing or beauty brand looking to make an impression with a key demographic, you might assume that the global names with nearby outlets are at the top of the tree. But what about that trendy new store that launched last month? They may be small, but have they taken on a large number of loyal consumers in a short space of time? You can also check out the competition on a more low-level local market. Anyone can put up a banner saying they are the best service provider in town, but the online data can show who’s telling the truth. Someone will have more engagement on Facebook pages, better local SEO, and better reviews. Competitor analysis data will show you who.
The point is that unless you run effective competitor analysis tests like competitors.app and analyze the data, you can’t be sure. You need to be able to line every rival up side-by-side objectively and see how they perform. If it’s what you expected, that’s great, and you can continue working to compete with that brand. If not, and there’s a shocking result with the amount of traffic or social media engagement, you can rethink.
Analyzing Strengths With Effective Data
Whether that leading rival is a big-name brand or a trendy newcomer, they’re at the top of the market because they’re doing something right. Once you find out what that is and get a better idea of their winning strategy, you are in a better position to compete. There are several forms of data you can take advantage of to learn more. It’s important to look at all the content online and their marketing to see how they engage with customers. Are they really consistent and friendly with their social media posts? Do they have an impressive email marketing scheme? You can also use tools to go into the internal SEO tools for website content and navigation. The right links and keywords could be the difference-makers for converting traffic into sales.
The right software makes a big difference here. Effective competitor analysis tools use AI and sophisticated programming to gather large quantities of valuable data. The best examples cover as many areas as possible, collecting competitor mail, analyzing keywords, and alerting users to any changes to a rival website. It’s a comprehensive and detailed approach that leads to plenty of insights.
Analyzing Weaknesses And Gaps
This is one of the main reasons why companies turn to competitor analysis and monitoring tools. If you aren’t the one leading the way in a chosen market, it means there is room for improvement. You can start to determine weaknesses in your strategy and the size of any market gaps with your own research. Audits of your SEO approach and the state of your website will go a long way. However, you can put your performance in greater context with other brands with those insights from competitor monitoring. Something will show up in the reports that make your team stop and ask a simple question: “Why weren’t we doing that?”. Hindsight is 20:20, but the reports can bring out glaring weaknesses in marketing, product development, website development, and more.
Having said that, there may be a chance that you will get a positive insight there, too. These reports can also highlight the weaknesses of key rivals – because no one is perfect. Something surprising in their social media approach or website design could make you say: “we’re glad we weren’t doing that!” Exposing these weaknesses offers two opportunities for brands. You can learn from the mistake and do the opposite in your next strategy. Or, you can find a way to exploit it and show them up.
Creating A Strategy For Future Growth
The end game here is to learn from all that analysis and make improvements. If there’s a big discrepancy in search engine rankings because of poor SEO and keyword creation, that’s a priority moving forward. Your SEO, web development, and marketing teams can get on the same page to create cohesive content that reaches the top of Google’s rankings. If they have a much higher engagement rate with social media posts and emails, see what makes them so much more appealing. Marketing, product development, and branding teams can come together to create something better. This doesn’t mean you have to imitate those in higher positions. Customers will see straight through that. You just have to appreciate their work and use their tools to create something that works for your brand.
Also, remember that this new strategy isn’t a short-term one-time thing. The efforts made now to close the gap on your competitor could pay off. You might strike gold and overtake them with a brilliant new website upgrade and product promotion. The problem is that any new feature or product runs the risk of getting stale. Also, you could find a new rival with a brand new approach that poaches customers.
Keep Analyzing And Adapting
Competitor analysis is a brilliant way to learn more about your rivals while learning about your shortcomings. The clear picture provides a fresh perspective and a new direction for a brand. With the right team to handle the information and build a strategy for growth, you might catch up or overtake your nearest rival. Just make sure to keep up with the analytics for your brands and those in direct competition. You want to stay on top and not get usurped by someone better.
