In today’s dynamic business environment, competitive analysis is more than a checkbox—it’s a strategic necessity. Whether you’re launching a new product, entering a new geographic market, or pivoting your business model, understanding who you’re competing with—and how—is essential to reducing risk and identifying opportunity.
What Is Competitive Analysis?
Competitive analysis is the process of identifying and evaluating your current and potential competitors to better understand their strategies, strengths, weaknesses, market position, and customer base.
Why It’s Critical for Market Entry & Business Development
- Identify unmet customer needs
- Understand pricing benchmarks
- Spot saturation risks or niche opportunities
- Avoid repeating failed strategies
- Benchmark your value proposition
6 Key Steps to Conduct Competitive Analysis
1. Identify Your Competitors
Classify them into direct, indirect, and emerging competitors. Use tools like Google, Crunchbase, and SimilarWeb.
2. Analyze Their Offerings
Review products, features, pricing, and positioning through websites, app stores, and review platforms like G2.
3. Evaluate Their Market Presence
Assess visibility, traffic, and brand strength via SEMrush, Ahrefs, and BuzzSumo.
4. Study Their Customers
Analyze reviews, testimonials, and feedback from platforms like Reddit or Trustpilot.
5. Assess Their Strengths & Weaknesses
Use SWOT analysis or a competitor feature matrix to benchmark against your own product.
6. Map Strategic Gaps
Overlay customer needs with blind spots in competitor offerings to uncover positioning opportunities.
Bonus Frameworks
- Porter’s Five Forces
- Strategic Group Mapping
- Perceptual Mapping
Quick Competitive Checklist
Competitor Types
Google, Crunchbase, SimilarWeb
Offerings
G2, App stores, product pages
Brand Reach
SEMrush, BuzzSumo
Customer Insights
Reviews, social, Reddit
Strengths/Weaknesses
SWOT, comparison matrix
