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your COMPETITOR
ANALYSIS
Module 1 – Identify © 2012-‐2015 MY PR plus HOWTOMARKETING™ 1 HOWTO Market My Small
Business
+ WHAT IS A COMPETITOR ANALYSIS + WHY IT’S IMPORTANT + HOW TO UNDERTAKE A COMPETITOR ANALYSIS + WHAT TO DO NEXT
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In this section
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+ A competitor analysis is researching your competitors and understanding their: + Products, services and offerings + Strengths and weaknesses + Customers + Marketing activities.
The purpose is to better understand what you are competing against and how to best compete.
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What is a competitor analysis?
HOWTO Market My Small Business
+ It’s important you know what your competitors are doing because: + It can provide information about opportunities and gaps in the market
+ It can give you ideas on how to better compete
+ It can inform your own products, services and offerings
+ It can also provide insight into your own customers and how to target them.
+ It is critical you monitor your competitors when you are first starting up but also on a regular and ongoing basis
+ It will influence your marketing choices and strategy and can also be used to inform a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of your own business – which we will do in the next section of this module
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Why it ’s important
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+ To undertake a competitor analysis you want to get as much information as possible from a variety of sources
+ You’re looking for information about economic and industry trends, customer requirements, products and services
+ You can collect competitor data first-hand by visiting their store or reviewing their website and publications they may produce
+ Review advertisements in local and trade publications, their flyers and brochures, look at their social media sites or blog if they have one
+ Google them to see if they are mentioned on other review sites or in forums
+ If you can, speak to their customers and ask why they chose them + You may consider hiring a commercial market research agency or even
buy their products and services to compare them with your own.
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Undertaking a Competitor Analysis
HOWTO Market My Small Business
+ In our Marketing 101 section we talked about how publicly listed companies must publish statements about their performance in annual reports
+ Other companies may promote their achievements on their website or in marketing materials to increase their credibility
+ Industry associations often collate benchmark data relating to performance across an entire industry.
+ You may also obtain anecdotal feedback from other people or observations on how your competitor is performing and use this to inform your marketing opportunity.
+ For example, if you are a hairdressing salon, you may notice a competitor has started offering discounts to university students.
+ You could consider a marketing opportunity that offers the same or a further discount, or you could use this information to target a completely different market such as discounts for seniors.
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Competitor’s performance
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+ Choose 3-5 of your major competitors and consider the following factors: + Location + Products and services + Pricing + Quality + Reputation + Sales + Appearance + Marketing activities + Success factors + What they do badly + Customer service + Communication methods + Online and Social Media presence
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Factors to consider
HOWTO Market My Small Business
+ Go to your HOWTOMARKETING™ Master Marketing Strategy Excel Workbook (found at the bottom of each module page)
+ Go to the sheet on the bottom left that says ‘Identify – Competitor Analysis’
+ Fill out each of the cells based on the information you find – follow the prompt questions in red
+ Write a couple of sentences in each cell + You will find a sample Competitor Analysis already completed in the
SAMPLE Master Marketing Strategy Excel Workbook
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Competitor analysis tool
HOWTO Market My Small Business
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+ Insert competitor's name and location + Describe their products/services briefly + Are they the market leaders? Do they have a significant share of the
market? Do they only have share of a specific market segment? + What do you think is their unique selling point? + What marketing strategies do they use? What social media? Where do
they advertise? How do they communicate with their customers? + What do you think are the main contributing factors to their success + What factors can negatively affect their business? + What makes them a competitor for your business? + How will you challenge their strengths and leverage off their
weaknesses? How can you best compete with them?
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The questions
HOWTO Market My Small Business
+ Use the Competitor Analysis to inform your business strategy and make changes to your operations, products and services if needed
+ Use it in the next Section when you undertake a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis on your own business
+ This will then inform your overall marketing strategy + I recommend that you DON’T skip these steps even if you have been
in business a while + Often marketing your business falls down when you didn’t take the
time to fully get to know what you are dealing with internally and externally and lay a strong foundation and knowledge base
+ The physical exercise of getting these ideas down on paper (or on screen) can make a huge difference and put issues and solutions in perspective
+ Involve other people you trust in the process as well
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What next?
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+ WHAT IS A COMPETITOR ANALYSIS + WHY IT’S IMPORTANT + HOW TO UNDERTAKE A COMPETITOR ANALYSIS + WHAT TO DO NEXT
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RECAP – In this section
HOWTO Market My Small Business