How To Conduct a Competitive Analysis (FREE Template) — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00- By conducting a competitive analysis
2. 0:02you can collect the data you need
3. 0:03to make sure your business stays ahead of the competition.
4. 0:06What's up?
5. 0:07It's Jamal from HubSpot,
6. 0:08and welcome back to the channel.
7. 0:09In this video, I'm gonna show you a foolproof method
8. 0:12for conducting a competitive analysis,
9. 0:14and walk you through the six steps of how to conduct one
10. 0:17so that you can strengthen your marketing strategies
11. 0:19and earn a bigger market share.
12. 0:21Through competitive analysis, you can determine
13. 0:23how viable your products and services are,
14. 0:25see how your marketing efforts compare to your competitors,
15. 0:28and discover creative ways to reach new customers.
16. 0:31That's why it's essential to do one for your business.
17. 0:34First things first, though,
18. 0:35if you want to easily follow along
19. 0:36and have a simple-to-use pre-made template
20. 0:39you can download HubSpot's Competitive Analysis Template
21. 0:41in the description below.
22. 0:43With that template, let's dive in.
23. 0:44If you don't already know what a competitive analysis is,
24. 0:47it involves researching your main competitors
25. 0:49to gain insight into their products, sales,
26. 0:51and marketing tactics.
27. 0:52It pretty much helps you determine
28. 0:54your unique value proposition, uncover new opportunities,
29. 0:57and stay on top of what's next for your competitors.
30. 1:00When you're starting your competitive analysis,
31. 1:02the first thing you want to do is identify
32. 1:04which competitors you want to analyze.
33. 1:06Who are your direct and indirect competitors?
34. 1:09You'll wanna look at both for a well-rounded analysis.
35. 1:12Direct competitors offer products and services
36. 1:14that are similar to yours and serve the same customer base.
37. 1:17For instance, Netflix and HBO Max
38. 1:19could be considered direct competitors.
39. 1:21Both companies offer streaming services
40. 1:23to entertain their customers.
41. 1:25Indirect competitors provide a different product than you
42. 1:28in a similar category.
43. 1:29Think of Amazon and Target as indirect competitors.
44. 1:33Though they offer similar products,
45. 1:34Amazon focuses on convenience and fast shipping
46. 1:37so you don't have to leave home.
47. 1:38Whereas Target is a one-stop shop
48. 1:40offering a strong in person shopping experience.
49. 1:43My indirect competitor, Michael B. Jordan,
50. 1:46not because I can act really good
51. 1:48or I'm nearly as handsome as he is.
52. 1:50Really just his hairline.
53. 1:51I envy it greatly.
54. 1:53I'd like to take him outta the running for it.
55. 1:55Once you've narrowed down which direct
56. 1:57and indirect competitors you want to include,
57. 1:59go to their website or LinkedIn page
58. 2:00and do a bit of fact finding.
59. 2:02When were they founded?
60. 2:03How were they founded?
61. 2:05Where are they located?
62. 2:06How many employees do they have?
63. 2:08Use your competitive analysis template
64. 2:09to track what you find.
65. 2:11Step two, evaluate the products
66. 2:13your competitors are offering.
67. 2:14What makes your competitor unique?
68. 2:16Do they offer low or high cost products?
69. 2:19Which of their products serve the same need
70. 2:21for the customer as yours?
71. 2:23While evaluating your competitor's product offerings,
72. 2:25you'll also wanna look at
73. 2:27how they distribute their products.
74. 2:28Are they direct to customer
75. 2:30or do they rely on retail partners?
76. 2:32Use the product data you find to estimate
77. 2:34how much market share your competitors have.
78. 2:36Step three, research your competitor's sales process.
79. 2:39What channels are they using to contact potential leads?
80. 2:43What is their sales process like?
81. 2:45As a business super spy,
82. 2:48do some investigating to see how a new customer
83. 2:50moves through your competitor's sales process.
84. 2:53If the information is available,
85. 2:54you'll also wanna look into the revenue
86. 2:56and sales volume figures.
87. 2:58This data is typically found on the income statements
88. 3:00of company earning reports.
89. 3:02The fourth step is understanding their pricing strategy.
90. 3:05How much are your competitors charging
91. 3:07for products that are similar to yours?
92. 3:09How does your pricing compare?
93. 3:11Do your competitors offer any perks,
94. 3:13such as referral discounts
95. 3:14or a free trial on popular products?
96. 3:17If your competitors sell online,
97. 3:18do they offer free or low cost shipping?
98. 3:20If your competitors do offer enticing discounts and perks,
99. 3:23how can you match or exceed them
100. 3:25in a way that works for your business?
101. 3:27And if your competitors don't offer any special perks,
102. 3:30how can you consider implementing perks to stand out.
103. 3:32Step cinco, which is five in French, do some sleuthing
104. 3:38into your competitor's marketing tactics.
105. 3:40To do this, you can use an online tool
106. 3:42such as ahrefs or Semrush
107. 3:45to check out competitor's web traffic and SEO performance.
108. 3:48How many unique visitors are they getting
109. 3:49to their site each month?
110. 3:51How many keywords their website ranking for?
111. 3:53Or in other words, when a potential buyer
112. 3:55searches for a product or search term in Google,
113. 3:58how likely is it that your competitor's website pops up?
114. 4:01To find this information, pull up your SEO tool of choice
115. 4:04and type in your competitor's URL.
116. 4:06This will give you a snapshot into their monthly web traffic
117. 4:09and the keywords they're currently ranking for.
118. 4:11Head to their social media profiles
119. 4:13and note which platforms they're most active on.
120. 4:15How often do they post?
121. 4:16Are they using paid ads to get in front of new customers?
122. 4:19What is their content mix?
123. 4:21Do they share unique content
124. 4:23or do they rely on user-generated content?
125. 4:26Are they working with influencers
126. 4:27to promote their latest products?
127. 4:29You'll also want to take a look
128. 4:30at any press they're getting.
129. 4:32What's making headlines and getting coverage?
130. 4:34Ooh, and for the sixth step, certainly last but not least,
131. 4:38you're gonna want to conduct a SWOT analysis
132. 4:41to see how your company measures up to the competition.
133. 4:44Take the data you've collected
134. 4:45during the previous five steps
135. 4:46and compare it to your company's performance.
136. 4:48In this step, you'll identify strengths,
137. 4:50weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, SWOT,
138. 4:53for your company and your competitors.
139. 4:56This exercise will help you uncover new tactics
140. 4:58to convert customers that your competition may not be doing.
141. 5:02And it'll help you understand what your competitors
142. 5:03are doing well that you can learn from.
143. 5:05Before you know it you'll have a clear roadmap
144. 5:08of strategies you can implement to win over more customers
145. 5:10and earn greater market share,
146. 5:12which I think we can all agree is a good use
147. 5:14of our spy skills.
148. 5:16And again, to really bolster your espionage skills
149. 5:19and make your competitive analysis easier,
150. 5:21head to the description below
151. 5:22to download our free Competitive Analysis Template.
152. 5:25For more business and marketing tips
153. 5:26hit the Subscribe button so you don't miss a video.
154. 5:28Now, if you'll excuse me,
155. 5:30I'm gonna go try to get cast in Spy Kids 4.
156. 5:33I'm pretty sure there's a third movie.
157. 5:34I don't think there's a fourth.
158. 5:35I'm gonna be the lead actor.
159. 5:37Michael B. Jordan, boom!
160. 5:38Hairline game already on lock.
161. 5:40You guys know what it is.
162. 5:41Until then, we'll see you next time.
163. 5:46- I can't find this client info.
164. 5:48- Have you heard of HubSpot?
165. 5:49HubSpot is a CRM platform
166. 5:51so it shares its data across every application.
167. 5:54Every team can stay aligned.
168. 5:55No out sync spreadsheets or doing databases.
169. 5:58HubSpot, grow better.