Analysing competitors is not curiosity, it is de-risking your own decisions. Before launching a product, entering a market or changing your positioning, you need to know where others are strong, where they are weak and where there is room to be taken. Done properly, a competitor analysis points to opportunities, sharpens your value proposition and prevents expensive mistakes. Here is the process, step by step.
1. Identify the right competitors
Not every competitor is obvious. Beyond the direct ones, someone else solves the same problem in a different way. To map them:
- Search the terms your buyer uses and see who shows up, in organic and in ads.
- Ask your own clients which alternatives they considered before choosing you.
- Use SEO tools to find who competes for your keywords, including competitors you had not spotted.
The goal is not a long list, it is the right list: the few who genuinely contest your market.
2. Map the positioning
Understand how each competitor presents itself and what value it promises. Read the key messages, the value proposition, the tone. What they emphasise ("quality", "price", "speed") tells you where they sit and, by contrast, where there is room for you to be different. In B2B, clear differentiation beats being one more voice saying the same thing.
3. Find opportunities and gaps
This is where the analysis creates value. Cross what competitors do with what their clients complain about:
- A quick SWOT of each competitor (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) organises what you know.
- Their clients' public reviews and feedback reveal where they fail. Recurring dissatisfaction with a competitor is often your opportunity.
- The trends they ignore open space for you to move first.
4. Study the channels
Where do competitors reach the market? Which acquisition channels they use, where they invest, where they are absent. A channel neglected by every competitor can be your advantage. A channel saturated by all of them demands either differentiation or budget that may not pay off.
5. Analyse the marketing strategies
Observe the campaigns, the digital presence, the SEO, the paid ads, the social activity and the content. This shows you their priorities and the audience they chase. Not to copy, but to see where your message can be stronger or reach who they do not.
6. Read the financial and technology signals
When available (listed companies, public records, directories), information on financial health, investments and acquisitions indicates priorities and the capacity to invest. The technology they adopt suggests where they are betting. Public records and business directories help complete this picture.
7. Turn data into strategy
An analysis that sits in a drawer is worth nothing. The final step is to synthesise:
- Organise the findings clearly (a comparative SWOT usually does the job).
- Set measurable objectives in light of what you learned.
- Translate into actions: where to differentiate, which channels to explore, which message to sharpen.
- Monitor and review regularly, because the market does not stand still.
How SmartLinks approaches this
Competitor analysis is not a one-off report, it is an input to the diagnosis that precedes any strategy. In our work it is cross-referenced with data from your own CRM and acquisition, so the conclusions drive real investment decisions instead of sitting in a nice document.
If you are about to make a significant decision and do not yet have a clear competitive map, that is where to begin. Run the Diagnosis.
