Learn from the Rest and Become the Best! The Importance of Competitor Analysis in the World of e-Commerce.
It seems that as technology develops, the number of ways that we are able to work on and expand our businesses continue to grow. This is because they have a larger range of opportunities available when it comes to the likes of research, promotion and overall conversion. An example of this can be seen in competitor analysis. There is a famous saying that states you should chase the game and not the competition; however, this doesn’t necessarily apply in the world of business.
It’s always good to have a bit of competition as it encourages us to always try and achieve our very best in what we pursue. You want to be fighting for the top spot in your industry and trying to do better than your competition when it comes to promoting your business, generating sales and improving your reputation. Of course, whilst this is clear, the question remains, how do you do it?
You can build a lot more knowledge around your business and understand how to create a marketing strategy in a much more efficient way if you are able to carry out effective competitor analysis. This means that you are putting in research with your industry’s main rivals, seeing how their business is currently doing and working out where your brand can fit in with that. Essentially, in considering your competition, what can your brand do in order to stand out and thrive?
What Actually is Competitor Analysis?
It is first worth clearing up what competitor analysis actually is. It’s quite self-explanatory, in that it means you evaluate your competition and work out what their strategies are. It is an effective research method as it will give you good insight into how your rivals are doing and what your brand is like relative to theirs. This means you will develop a better understanding of your own business, specifically your strengths, weaknesses, your position in the market and how your goods and services rank against theirs.
Throughout the process of competitor analysis, you are going to need to:
- Identify who your opponents in the market actually are, and judge what you think of their brand
- Analyse how they are doing in terms of success
- Evaluate what their strategies are and why they are working
- Understand better their strengths and vulnerabilities
- Be sure to make some business decisions that are going to help you beat them
- Compare their business to your own
- Evaluate the kind of brand recognition that your rivals have
When you are carrying out all these different tasks, it means that you are finding out your brand’s rates, what their earnings are, share prices and most successful practices. You will also have to take into account how they are perceived by the public, what their distribution methods are and much, much more.
Why Should Your Business Perform Competitor Analysis?
But it’s not about the competition, it’s about you, right? Well, yes, the success of your business of course depends on the overall quality that you can offer your customers but there is a lot more to it, including how you brand yourself, how you are perceived and how people come across your business. If you are lacking in these areas, then you will not be as successful as you could be and this is where competitor analysis comes into play.
When you have a better understanding as to what your competition does, you are going to be in a much better place when it comes to improving your own marketing strategy. You will also more than likely come across opportunities your rivals have missed; however, you will only find them once you know more about what your rivals do. Every industry has areas of untapped opportunity, but you’ll only find out what they are when you expand your understanding of that industry.
This is especially the case when it comes to the world of E-Commerce. You don’t have the option to lose concentration for a second as the ways in which you can succeed in generating sales online are constantly developing. Your rivals are going to be aware of this and as such, you need to keep track of how e-Commerce is changing and what your competitors are doing in order to keep up with these changes.
When you are carrying out competitor analysis on a regular basis, not only are you going to have one up on your competition, but you will remain in the race for profit and make it so you are more likely to succeed.
How Do You Carry Out Competitor Analysis?
Now that we have covered what competitor analysis is and why it is important, you need to know how you go about carrying it out. You will need to complete the following steps:
- Identify who your main competitors are
- Compare your position in the market with theirs
- Compare the traffic efficiency of your sites
- Compare what keywords you and your competitors are using in order to rank on Google
- Compare your use of backlinks
- Compare the overall efficiency of your SEO
Do You Need Assistance with Competitor Analysis?
As previously mentioned, the quality of your business’ products and services is going to speak for itself. Competitor analysis comes into play when you are developing marketing strategies and understanding what you can do with SEO in order to drive traffic to your site. This can be tricky to do whilst still efficiently running your business.
If you need help with competitor analysis and marketing, then you should consider enlisting the assistance of a successful marketing firm such as YouYaa. YouYaa will consider the market that you operate in and work out how you can effectively brand and market yourself in order to improve how your business operates as a whole. If you have any other questions then do not hesitate to get in touch.
