Competition analysis
Competition analysis, also called competitive analysis, is the systematic process of researching and evaluating your competitors to understand how they position themselves, where they are strong, where they are weak, and what opportunities that creates for your own business.
It covers a broad range of inputs: product features and pricing, messaging and brand positioning, content and SEO strategy, advertising spend and channels, customer reviews and sentiment, hiring patterns, and any publicly available business signals. The goal is not to imitate competitors but to understand the landscape you are operating in well enough to make sharper strategic decisions.
Good competitive analysis separates what competitors are doing from what is actually working. Many businesses assume their competitors’ choices are strategic when they are sometimes historical accidents or constraints. The most actionable insights come from combining competitive intelligence with your own customer and market data: what do your customers say they were considering before choosing you, and why did they choose you over the alternatives?
For B2B marketing teams, competitive analysis informs positioning, content strategy, and campaign planning. Knowing which keywords your competitors are targeting and which content they are producing tells you where you can differentiate and where you need to compete directly. Monitoring competitor messaging over time tells you how they are responding to the market, and gives you early signals of strategic shifts that might affect your own programme.
What should a competitive analysis include?
A thorough competitive analysis typically covers: product or service comparison (features, pricing, positioning), website and content strategy (what topics they cover, how they rank, what assets they have), messaging and value proposition (how they describe themselves and what claims they make), marketing and advertising activity (which channels they invest in, what their ad creative looks like), customer perception (reviews, case studies, testimonials), and digital footprint (domain authority, social following, share of voice in relevant conversations).
How often should you update your competitive analysis?
For a stable, mature market, a formal competitive review every six to twelve months is usually sufficient, supplemented by ongoing monitoring of key competitors. For fast-moving markets or categories with active new entrants, more frequent reviews are warranted. Tools like Google Alerts, social monitoring platforms, and SEO tools that track competitor keyword movements can keep you informed of significant changes without requiring a full analysis exercise every time something shifts.
What is the difference between direct and indirect competitors?
Direct competitors offer essentially the same product or service to the same target audience. Indirect competitors solve the same underlying problem in a different way, or serve an overlapping but not identical audience. Understanding both types matters for positioning. Your messaging needs to differentiate from direct competitors at a feature and value level, but also needs to address why your approach is better than the indirect alternatives your prospects might consider.