How to Do an Effective Competitive Analysis

And there we go. This can also work by searching company names, as competitors will often bid on each. Throw in a few things (the keyword list you created in the previous section will be useful here) to see what comes up.

Why do we do this as well look at normal Google results? Because some companies might not be ranking for certain terms, either because they’re too new or not putting much effort into SEO. Meanwhile, chucking money into ads can be a quick way to get noticed.

Make sure you do the searches multiple times to see as many ads as possible. It’ll also give you some insight into what terms your competitors are targeting.

Content tools

Tools like BuzzSumo, that allow you to analyze content, can be a good way to find competitors too. For example, searching relevant business and industry terms will give you the most shared content on those topics.

From there you can sift through the articles and blog posts for mentions of companies other than yourself. There’s likely to be a bit more rubbish to rummage through with this, but it’s important not to leave any stone unturned.

Head to our content competitive analysis section later on to see how to use these tools to learn more about your competition.

Prospects and customers

The people you’re trying to sell to or have sold to, can also help you discover competitors. Simply asking them about competitors will furnish you with some names.

Be sure to keep this up, as well. New companies will be proactive in approaching your clients, so they can often be the first warning of a new rival on the scene.

You can do this as part of your sales process by asking about previous suppliers when getting customer info. Also, if you’ve got a particularly good relationship with a client, just ask them to send over any sales material they get sent by other firms.

Trade publications

If there are any publications in your industry, physical or digital, make sure you’re checking these regularly. Competitors will pop up, but they’ll also help you keep an eye out for new companies or others changing up their plans that might affect you.

Social media and forums

This is in a similar vein to speaking to prospects and customers, but you won’t be talking to them directly here. We talk about anything and everything on the internet, especially now we have things like Twitter and Reddit. This means there’s a wealth of info out there.

We got into more detail on using this for a competitive analysis later, but it can be good for finding competitors initially.

Use the search functions for various platforms and forums to dig up mentions or discussions on products and services. Have a read around and you’ll likely find some competitors pop up – for example, when people ask for recommendations. Our Twitter search guide will come in handy here.

It’s even better if there’s a subreddit dedicated to your industry (such as this one on smart home devices for an example). You’ll be able to discover plenty of competitors this way. Here’s a guide on Reddit if you’re not familiar.