6 Steps to Conquer Your Competitor Analysis

You may be thinking, “There’s gotta be an easier  way to find out what kinds of marketing tactics  
the competition is using.” Well, actually, there is. 
You can just do online competitor research. 
And that’s exactly what you’re gonna  to learn more about in this video. 
Before we move on, I’m just gonna drop a gentle  reminder here to subscribe to our channel,  
and hit the bell, for more content that helps  you beat your competitors. Now, let’s go! 
Why you need competitor analysis Before we talk about the “how” of  
competitor analysis, let’s talk about the  “why.” Why should you spend time looking at  
what your competitors are doing? When you research competitors,  
you can see what they’re doing that you’re not,  and which of those things are working for them. 
Then, whatever they’re doing right, you can do  better. And whatever they’re doing wrong, you  
can make sure to avoid doing. As a result, you’ll  create more impactful marketing campaigns than  
they could ever dream of and drive more sales. How to perform competitor research in 6 steps 
Now let’s talk about what it looks  like to research competitors.  
The details are different for every company, but  there are six basic steps you’ll want to follow to  
get the best results from your research. 1. Figure out who your competitors are 
The first step is to figure out who  exactly your competitors are. Obviously,  
you can’t really research your competitors  if you don’t know whom you’re researching. 
Just take some time to sit down and draw up a  list of competitors. There’s a good chance you  
already know who your biggest competitors are, but  if you’re unsure, you can do some online research. 
One method is to see which companies’  websites are ranking alongside yours  
in Google search results when you  search for things in your industry,  
or specific products and services you  offer. Another option is to just look  
up lists of companies in your area that  perform the same services as you. So like,  
if you do metal fabrication in Cincinnati, you  can look up “best Cincinnati metal fabricators.” 
2. Figure out what marketing  strategies you want to analyze 
Once you’ve figured out whom to research, your  next move should be figuring out what to research.  
What I mean by that is, you should think about  which of your competitors’ marketing strategies  
you want to analyze. Are you looking at their  search rankings? Their paid ads? Their web design? 
Whatever it is, establish that before you start.  Obviously, you can look at all of their marketing  
strategies if you want, but don’t take on too much  all at once or you’ll get overwhelmed. Tackle one  
strategy at a time, and focus fully on analyzing  that specific part of your competitors’ marketing. 
3. Use digital analysis tools Now it’s finally time to start  
analyzing your competitors. But what does  that look like, exactly? Do you just browse  
their website and see what jumps out at you? No. I mean, you can, but that’s not the most  
efficient method. Instead, you should use digital  tools to help you gather and analyze info about  
your competitors. Some tools, like Semrush and  SpyFu, are built specifically to help you track  
competitor marketing. You can also use our very  own MarketingCloudFX tool to track competitors and  
upgrade your own marketing in the process. Whatever tool you choose, though,  
find something that can automatically  track all the right data points so you  
don’t have to spend hours manually scrolling  through your competitors’ ads or blog posts. 
4. Perform a SWOT analysis When you’re looking at your  
competitors’ marketing, you should consider  doing a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths,  
Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats —  and that’s exactly what you should track. 
For strengths, you’re looking at what your  competitors succeed at doing. That’ll help  
you figure out what you can do to drive  more results with your own marketing. 
For weaknesses, it’s the opposite  — look at what’s not working well  
for your competitors. For example, maybe one  competitor has terrible customer service. That  
tells you that you may want to highlight your  superior service in your marketing campaigns. 
Then you have opportunities and  threats. Opportunities are places  
where your competitors are missing out  on a particular market or strategy,  
meaning you can swoop in and take advantage  of that by doing what they haven’t.  
And threats are where a competitor is at  risk of stealing your leads or clients. 
So, what do you do with the info from a  SWOT analysis? Well, that info basically  
tells you which spots to focus on in your  marketing. You want to spend extra time on  
the areas where your competitors are strongest  and weakest. You can emulate the stuff they’re  
doing well and avoid the stuff they’re  doing poorly, plus you can take advantage  
of their weak spots to really outperform them. 5. Compare yourself and different competitors 
After you’ve looked at some different  competitors, take the time to compare  
them to each other and to your own company.  Figure out which companies are doing best,  
which ones are doing worst, and where you stand  in comparison to them all. The information  
from your SWOT analysis is helpful here. For example, maybe you’re looking at five  
different competitors. Your research reveals  that three of those competitors are doing far  
worse than you overall, while the other two are  outperforming you. That tells you that your main  
focus should be on surpassing the two competitors  who are beating you. There may also be something  
to learn from those struggling competitors, so  don’t completely count them out of your research. 
Find ways to improve upon what those  outperforming competitors are doing,  
and research how you can avoid a downward  trend like those underperforming competitors. 
6. Use your data to upgrade your marketing Finally, be sure to put the info you learn  
about your competitors to good use. Don’t  just see what your competitors are doing,  
say, “Okay, cool,” and then keep doing the  same thing as before. Instead, adapt your  
marketing campaigns to your new knowledge. If one of your competitors is failing to use  
social media, get out there and build a killer  social media strategy. If another competitor  
is running amazing paid ads, go build even  better ones while also strengthening your  
organic marketing tactics. Do what you can  to improve on your competitors’ strengths and  
take advantage of their weaknesses. That’s how  you’ll drive more sales and earn more revenue. 
Well, that about does it for competitor research  in this video. If you want to learn more about  
how to spy on your competitors, or just  how to create strong marketing campaigns,  
don’t worry — you can always  subscribe to our YouTube channel  
or to our email newsletter, Revenue Weekly. Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you next time!