Understanding your competitors is fundamental for understanding market dynamics, informing strategic planning and benchmarking performance. It can help you identify market trends, assess risks and spot
opportunities for innovation by analysing competitors’ strengths, weaknesses and strategies. But before trying to gain competitor insight, it’s crucial to clarify your objectives. Here we break down some of the key objectives of competitor analysis, and the questions you need to ask to achieve these aims.
Identifying Opportunities through Competitive Insight
Are you trying to identify unmet needs, or opportunities for new products or services? If you’re looking for areas which are currently underserved, you will want to understand the needs your competitors are currently trying to meet. This will allow you to complete a mapping exercise and give you an indication of where the gaps would be for a new offering.
It’s worth approaching this through a few lenses – just because a competitor is targeting customers in a particular geography, this doesn’t mean there is no opportunity. We were approached by a pet treats brand looking to identify geographies with significant growth potential. We explored level of competition in target geographies at different price points, for different pets and through different channels to help build a picture of level of opportunity for each potential market.
Key Questions for Harnessing Competitive Insight
Questions you may want to ask to identify key growth areas and opportunities include:
- Who are your competitors targeting? Are they focusing on the entire market or specific segments?
- What specific problems are your competitors addressing? How effectively are they solving these issues?
- At what price points are competitors positioning their offerings? Are they targeting premium customers or competing on price?
- What niche are your competitors occupying? Can you differentiate your company from their offering?
- How do customers view your competitors’ products or services?
Approaches that would help you answer these questions include desk research into competitor materials such as websites, apps, and communications with customers. You may also want to speak with current and prospective consumers to understand how they view the competition. This insight can reveal areas where the market is underserved, presenting opportunities for you to innovate and grow.
Competitive Insight for Market Share Expansion
Are you aiming to outcompete and increase market share from competitors in existing markets? If your goal is to grab market share within existing markets, you will need to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors. This will allow you not only to understand areas where you can win, but also areas where you may need to improve your offering or pull back.
We have worked on questions like this with breakdown cover businesses, FMCG manufacturers, supermarkets, B2B financial services providers and energy suppliers among others. They all had some sector-specific questions, but theircommon questions about competitorsare a good guide if you’re looking to outcompete:
- Are your competitors’ offerings meeting customer needs? How do they fare in terms of quality and innovation?
- How good are they at bringing new products / services to market?
- Which platforms are your competitors using for marketing? How consistent and persuasive are their marketing efforts across these platforms?
- How reliable is their level of service? Are they known for consistent delivery?
- What (if anything) is their ‘secret sauce’?
Speaking with both current and prospective customers may enable you to gain insight into these questions and understand how they perceive the market and key competition. Understanding these elements can help you identify where to focus on your strengths, and how to stay on top of industry trends to react quickly and gain market share.
Leveraging Competitive Insight for Strategic Advantage
We worked with a leading European FMCG company to help them inform and shape their future strategy across key categories over a 5-10 year horizon. It’s helpful when placing these longer bets to understand what the shape of the market is likely to be over that horizon. Our work involved understanding which categories competitors were investing in and where they competitors expected to be the most successful.
Key questions we would recommend asking to understand your competitor’s future direction:
- What are your competitors likely to concentrate on in the next 1-5 years? Are they looking at new products, new markets, or any M&A activity?
- How have they responded to significant industry shifts in the past? This can give clues about their future strategies.
- Have they made any notable hires recently? This might indicate new areas they are planning to strengthen.
For these questions, you may want to look at their annual reports, investor announcements, or press releases. You may also be able to speak to those who have a good understanding of the way the business works, such as former employees. Recent announcements of new hires, or job postings, may give you an indication of areas they are looking to invest in going forward.
Once you’ve gathered and analysed this information, assess how it aligns with your current goals and priorities. This process not only helps you understand your competitive position but also highlights areas for improvement and innovation.
At White Space Strategy, we excel in transforming insights into actionable strategies that foster growth and success. We have the expertise to engage with key industry players, competitors and customers to obtain nuanced insights, and the commercial acumen to group research together to drive clear recommendations.
If you’re looking to enhance your understanding of the competitive landscape and leverage this knowledge for growth, reach out to us for tailored guidance.