Small businesses often find it very difficult to obtain good analysis and research on their competitors. This article provides guidance on how to do it.
Businesses naturally focus on themselves. However, it can often be useful to take a wider view of the industry in which you operate, to see what competitors are doing and whether they are likely to be a threat or not. It can also tell you about likely changes in your market.
The first step is to identify who the competitors are.
Finding your competitors
Using your preferred search engine, type in your market or product and see who comes up. Refine the search, either geographically or for particular sections of the market. This will tell you who you are competing with. Offline directories like Yellow Pages or Business Pages can also be used for this, but you’ll probably want to look at them online anyway afterwards, so save yourself some time.
Don’t forget to search on specific products you offer or closely matched products – you may be surprised by how other people view your product or who is selling it as an addition to their own.
Internet searches
As well as knowing who your competitors are, this will also tell you what they offer and their proposition. The proposition is important to know because it's the basis on which you are competing with them. For more details on developing propositions, read What's Your Unique Selling Point?
Visit Google blogs and subscribe to their feed service. You’ll then be automatically updated if anyone is talking about your market or competitors within it.
Scanning
Review the places where your customers are likely to look and see what competitors are doing. You’ll get a good idea of the types of marketing activities they do and how they position themselves.
Mystery Shopping
Devise a script covering what you would like to know and get a family member or friend not connected with your business to call or visit each competitor. See what aspects of their service or sales process are better or worse than yours.
Those which are better indicate areas of your business where you need to improve. Anything which is worse can provide you with aditional information for developing your proposition or for use in advertising material.
Secondary Research
There will be lots of published information on your market sector and what competitors are up to. See Using Publicly Available Research for more details on the sources available and how to interpret it.
Making Sense of the Information
Once you know who your competitors are, make a file with a summary note of what they offer. Then, give each competitor their own section and include details of all their marketing and perhaps products or anything else useful.
Conduct the competitor research as often as you feel necessary, perhaps monthly or six-monthly and update your findings. Used in conjunction with secondary research, you then have a framework around which to base your analysis of the market and competitors, helping you decide what you need to do next.
Some market research companies can conduct the research and analysis for you, if you don’t have the time or the skills to do it yourself. Alternatively, they may assess certain parts of it only, e.g. just their advertising or direct mail activity. Decide which level is the most appropriate for you.
Now that you know how to review competitors and the market, don’t forget to review your customers by following the advice in Finding out Who your Customers are.
