If you want to stay ahead in marketing, you need to know what your competitors are up to. But with so much data out there, where do you even start? In this detailed guide, we break down how to conduct competitive analysis in marketing, the best tools to help, and the global factors that could make a big difference to your next campaign. Let’s get into it.
Jump to:
Competitor analysis involves studying your rivals to enhance your own strategy. It’s not just about identifying their wins and mistakes but understanding how they’re shaping the market and uncovering opportunities you might have missed. Why does it matter?
1. Finding market gaps: Studying your competitors can reveal unmet customer needs, whether it’s a missing product, a weak customer experience, or an untapped audience. These gaps are opportunities for you to step in and offer something better.
2. Understanding local markets: What works in one country won’t always work in another. Looking at local competitors helps you understand cultural preferences, buying habits, and which digital channels matter most in different regions.
3. Avoiding costly mistakes: Learning from your competitors’ missteps can save you time and money. If they’ve struggled with regulations, launched a campaign that flopped, or picked the wrong platform, you can sidestep the same pitfalls.
4. Refining your positioning: If a competitor dominates the market with a particular message, how do you stand out? Analysing their approach helps you sharpen your brand’s positioning and make sure your marketing isn’t just more of the same.
5. Spotting trends before they take off: Keeping tabs on the competition helps you notice shifts in the market early. If your rivals start testing new platforms or adjusting their strategy, it’s a signal to pay attention and act before the trend goes mainstream.
6. Making smarter marketing investments: If your competitors are spending heavily on certain platforms or ad formats, there’s probably a reason. Understanding their approach can help you decide where to invest your budget for the best return.
Competitor analysis may seem complex but breaking it down into clear steps makes it manageable. Here’s a structured, multi-step approach to help you gather insights and stay ahead.
1. Identify your competitors
Start by mapping out the competitive landscape:
Pro tip: Use tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and SimilarWeb to uncover competitors beyond the obvious ones.
2. Define your research goals
Before diving into data collection, set clear objectives – for example:
Pro tip: Having a focus helps filter out unnecessary data.
3. Gather competitor data from multiple sources
Instead of relying solely on website visits, collect data from various touchpoints (to match your research objectives):
Pro tip: Subscribe to their newsletters, follow their social media, and even make a purchase to understand the full customer experience.
4. Analyse their branding and positioning
How do competitors present themselves? Assess:
Pro tip: Look at how competitors localise their messaging across different markets.
5. Benchmark Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Compare your business against competitors using measurable KPIs:
Pro tip: Track their blog engagement (comments, shares) to see what content resonates with their audience.
6. Evaluate their content strategy
Content is key to marketing success. Analyse:
Pro tip: Use tools like DragonMetrics to see which competitor content is performing best.
7. Assess their customer experience and support
How do competitors engage with and support their customers?
Pro tip: Test their support by submitting a query or complaint to gauge response quality.
8. Study their pricing and promotions
Understanding pricing is critical. Compare:
Pro tip: Use a spreadsheet or dashboard to track price changes over time.
9. Analyse their advertising and marketing tactics
Competitors’ paid marketing strategies can reveal where they’re investing.
Pro tip: Use Facebook Ads Library and Google Transparency Reports to view competitors’ paid ad campaigns.
10. Examine their technology and tools
Behind every successful competitor is a tech stack. Investigate, where possible:
Pro tip: Tools such as BuiltWith or Wappalyzer can uncover the technologies competitors rely on.
11. Identify market trends and opportunities
Look beyond competitors to broader industry trends:
Pro tip: Read industry whitepapers and reports to stay ahead of trends.
12. Turn insights into an action plan
Now, convert research into strategy:
Pro tip: Present findings in a competitor analysis report to share with your team.
13. Continuously monitor and update your insights
Markets change, and so should your competitor analysis:
Pro tip: Track new competitors as they enter the market.
Even the best marketers can fall into common traps when analysing competitors. Here are some mistakes to watch out for:
1. Focusing only on direct competitors: Many businesses track only their direct competitors – those offering the same products or services. But indirect competitors, emerging brands, and substitutes can also disrupt your market. A broader view gives you a more complete picture.
2. Relying too much on surface-level data: Looking at a competitor’s website, social media, or ads is useful, but it doesn’t tell the full story. Without deeper insights – such as SEO performance, customer sentiment, or conversion rates – you might draw the wrong conclusions.
3. Ignoring local market differences: What works for a competitor in one country might not work elsewhere. Consumer behaviour, cultural preferences, and regulations vary across markets, so a one-size-fits-all analysis can lead to poor strategic decisions. It’s crucial to understand how your competitor set varies around the world.
4. Overestimating a competitor’s success: A flashy campaign or a high follower count doesn’t always translate to business success. Without real performance data, it’s easy to assume competitors are outperforming when, in reality, they might be struggling with engagement or ROI.
5. Focusing only on weaknesses: While spotting a competitor’s mistakes is useful, you also need to learn from their successes. If they’re excelling in a particular area – whether it’s customer experience, content marketing, or paid media – it’s worth understanding why.
6. Neglecting to update your analysis regularly: Competitor analysis isn’t a one-off exercise. Market conditions change, new competitors emerge, and strategies evolve. Regular check-ins help ensure you’re not basing decisions on outdated information.
Depending on your goals, industry, and market, different models can help you break down the competition in useful ways. Here are some of the most effective approaches, including SWOT analysis, Porter’s Five Forces, and competitive benchmarking in marketing:
SWOT analysis
SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, and it’s one of the simplest yet most effective ways to assess a competitor. This model helps you build a clear picture of where a competitor excels, where they struggle, what opportunities they might not be taking advantage of, and what risks they face.
For international digital marketing, SWOT analysis can highlight market-specific challenges. For example, a competitor might have strong brand recognition in their home country but struggle with localisation in overseas markets. Spotting these weaknesses gives you a chance to gain an edge.
An example SWOT analysis for one of Oban’s B2B clients
Porter’s Five Forces
Michael Porter’s Five Forces framework helps you analyse the bigger picture – how competitive a market is and where a business fits within it. The five forces are:
1. The bargaining power of suppliers: Do a few key players control access to vital resources, technology, or advertising channels?
2. The bargaining power of buyers: Do customers have lots of alternatives, or are they limited in choice?
3. The threat of new entrants: How easy is it for new businesses to enter the market and compete?
4. The threat of substitutes: Are there alternative products or services that could replace yours?
5. Industry rivalry: How intense is the competition, and what strategies are businesses using to win market share?
For international markets, this model helps you assess barriers to entry – like regulations, cultural differences, or well-established local brands that might make expansion tricky.
Competitive Benchmarking
Benchmarking means measuring your performance against competitors using key metrics. This can include:
Competitive benchmarking is especially useful in international digital marketing, since a competitor might dominate in one country but struggle in another – spotting these patterns can help you tailor your strategy.
Perceptual Mapping
This technique helps you visualise how customers perceive different brands in a market. By plotting competitors on a map based on key attributes – such as price vs. quality or innovation vs. tradition – you can identify where your brand sits and where there might be gaps in the market.
For international marketing, perceptual mapping can reveal how brand perception varies between countries. A brand that’s seen as premium in one market might be viewed as mid-range elsewhere.
The GE Matrix (McKinsey Matrix)
This model helps you to prioritise business investment by evaluating:
For digital marketers, the GE Matrix is particularly useful in:
Growth-Share Matrix (BCG Matrix)
Developed by the Boston Consulting Group, this model classifies products or business units into four categories based on market growth rate and market share:
For international marketing, this can help companies decide which markets to prioritise and where to scale back.
PESTLE Analysis
PESTLE stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental factors. This model helps assess the external forces affecting a market and how they impact competition.
For global businesses, PESTLE is crucial since what works in one country may not work in another due to legal restrictions, economic conditions, or cultural differences.
An example PESTLE analysis might reveal:
So, which model should you use?
Each model offers a different angle on competitor analysis, and often the smartest approach is to combine them. SWOT provides a quick snapshot, Porter’s Five Forces analyses market dynamics, and benchmarking helps measure direct performance. For international expansion, PESTLE and the GE Matrix can highlight opportunities and risks. Using the right mix of frameworks gives you a clearer picture of the competition and helps you make better strategic decisions. Working with Local In-Market Experts will help you gather on-the-ground insights to inform your analysis.
Fortunately, there are a number of tools available that can simplify the process of competitor analysis in marketing. Here are some to consider:
1. SimilarWeb: This tool allows you to analyse your competitors’ website traffic, user engagement, and referral sources. You can see where their traffic is coming from geographically, making it easier to spot opportunities in under-served regions.
2. AdLibrary: Want to know what ads your competitors are running? AdLibrary lets you see Facebook and Instagram ads across the globe. This transparency can provide a glimpse into their advertising strategy and creative approach.
3. Google Trends: Google Trends helps you track the popularity of search terms over time. Use this to gauge interest in your competitors’ keywords and products or to spot emerging trends in the market.
4. SEMrush & Ahrefs: Both of these tools are useful for SEO analysis. You can track competitor backlinks, keyword rankings, and overall domain performance, helping you identify areas where your SEO strategy can be improved.
5. DragonMetrics: If you want to dive deeper into your competitor’s UX, DragonMetrics offers a user-friendly tool to compare the user experience of websites and see where you can improve your own.
Platform analytics tools like Facebook Insights, Instagram Insights, and LinkedIn Analytics also offer valuable data on competitor performance, including engagement, audience demographics, and content reach, helping you spot trends and refine your approach.
When you’re transacting across multiple markets and languages, competitor analysis in marketing takes on an entirely new dimension. Local nuances, cultural differences, and market trends all play a role in shaping your competitors’ success.
Language and content: Ensure your competitor analysis includes a review of how well competitors are localising their content. Are they providing content in the local language? Are they adapting their messaging to fit cultural preferences? For international brands, getting language and tone right is crucial to forming meaningful connections with local audiences.
Local market dynamics: In some markets, there might be a heavy reliance on mobile commerce, while in others, traditional e-commerce might dominate. Your competitors might have tailored their strategies to reflect these differences, and your analysis should account for these local variations.
Regional tools and platforms: Depending on the region, competitors might be using different tools or social platforms to engage customers. For example, LINE and WeChat dominate certain Asian markets, while Instagram and Facebook are more prevalent in the West. Understanding these preferences can help you adjust your strategy for specific regions.
That’s where the insight of Oban’s LIME network comes in. With over 450 Local In-Market Experts around the world, we can help you navigate the complexities of competitor analysis across diverse markets.
. . .
Competitor analysis is a powerful tool for businesses looking to improve their marketing strategy and stay ahead of rivals. By using the right tools and relevant models, and incorporating international insights, you can make more informed decisions that drive growth. At Oban, we understand that every market is different. If you’re ready to get serious about your competitor strategy, get in touch to see how we can help.
