The Ultimate Guide to Competitive Landscape Analysis

For any business, it is important to perform some research and analysis so that they can customize their product/ services and set the price point accordingly. It is here that Competitive landscape analysis comes into the picture.

What is Landscape Analysis?

As the name suggests, this type of analysis is performed for identifying the resources, strengths, and requirements of a specific community. The analysis provides a framework for crafting a product or service making sure that it meets the needs of the community.

What is Competitive Landscape Analysis?

A competitive landscape analysis evaluates the competitive environment for offering a comprehensive glimpse of the industry you operate in. It helps a business get hold of the market and competitors and assists in discovering who their major competitors are. Competitive analysis also offers an insight into where the competitors position themselves along with the strength and weaknesses of the competing products.

Competitive landscape analysis framework also consists of getting familiar with the latest trends and developments in the industry. It helps a business understand its own position in the landscape, buyers’ psychology about the competitors, and how industry might transform in the future. Landscape analysis is an ongoing process of researching and evaluating the competitors for gaining an insight which ultimately helps in forming an excellent business strategy.

It helps in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the competitors and monitors how they have evolved. It enables a business to identify the changes competitors have made during their journey and what lead to their upward trajectory.

The analysis of competitive landscape must consist of:

• The top competitors
• Competitor products and services
• Strengths and weaknesses
• Strategies used for achieving the objectives
• Market outlook

How to Do Competitive Landscape Analysis

1.  Identifying the Competitors

The first step towards competitive landscape analysis is to choose at least the top 10 competitors and categorize them as direct, indirect, aspirational, and perceived. Direct competitors offer similar products or services to the same target audience, while indirect competitors may have different products but cater to the same customer needs. It forms the base of your competitive landscape analysis. And PriceIntelGuru can help you achieve just the right number of impactful results you always wanted.

2.  Analyze Competitors Content

Identifying the competitors is not enough. The next step is to monitor their content on various channels such as websites, social media, advertising, etc. Have a look at their blog posts, press releases, website, e- books, podcasts, videos, infographics, etc. Try to gauge how competitors are positioning themselves in the market and how they are communicating their position to the target audience. This is to get a better insight into their strategies and know what can be done to improve your own pricing needs.

3.  Track Competitor Social Media Activity

By tracking the social media channels of the competitors you can get an idea about the brand’s persona, how they engage with the audience, and their existing marketing strategies. It gives an idea about their strategies and their outcome.

4.  Review their Strategies

Try to look at the competitor from the customer's viewpoint. See how their advertisements work and gauge their strategies. Having an idea about the strategies used by the competitors enables you to apply the same to your business.

5.  Evaluate Competitor Pricing

It is extremely important to conduct pricing analysis to find out the prices of similar products. It helps a business in deciding a price point for their product to improve sales and revenue. Overcharging can lead to losing the buyers and undercharging leads to compromised revenue and profit.

It is competitive price research that helps a business in pricing the product competitively to sustain itself against the competitors.

Importance of Competitive Landscape Analysis

For any business in a competitive market, it is essential to adopt a forward-looking approach. The competitive landscape analysis helps in determining the next strategy for your brand. Businesses can’t afford to rely on mere gut instincts. In this day and age of data, insights should be derived for making informed decisions. Data also helps in identifying opportunities and mitigating risks which might not be on your radar yet!

Here’s a look at the competitive landscape analysis example:

During the early 2000s, Netflix was only growing and had limited subscribers. The founders of Netflix met the CEO of Blockbuster, the most popular US video store in the hopes of selling their DVD-by-mail rental company. Blockbuster declined the offer. In 2021, Netflix has transformed and is now worth billions while there is just one Blockbuster store in Oregon.

Netflix took into consideration their customer’s views and anticipated their need which was the desire to watch movies from the comfort of their homes. This shows the significance and urgency of performing competitive landscape analysis regularly. Feedback data plays a crucial role in making business decisions.

1.  Determine Future Direction

Competitive landscape analysis helps a business in looking beyond the present and sees what opportunities are present in the future. A company that listens to the customer regularly can anticipate the needs way before they are known widely. With the help of landscape analysis, a business can learn more about its competitors as well as their customers.

2.  Establish Unique Value Proposition

It is a business that does the UVP for their business. It can be related to the products, services, company, or operations. Customers can find many similar products on Amazon which are also available at Walmart. However, Amazon has carved a niche for itself owing to the fast delivery speed and easy returns. Competitive landscape analysis helps in identifying the company’s UVP and how to market it to the customers.

3.  Understand Market Perception

Competitive landscape analysis enables you to step back and see how the customers perceive your brand as compared to the competitors. It also helps in discovering why customers are more likely or less likely to buy your product. Once you get an idea of where you stand on their list, you can create strategies for moving upwards in their priority list.

4.  Competitive Benchmark

A business needs to know where they stand before improving its position against its competitors. It is known as a competitive benchmark. Firstly, a competitive benchmark offers a gist of where you started so that a business can set goals and track its progress over time. And PriceIntelGuru’s competitive analysis provides a benchmark for businesses to assess their own performance in the market. To begin with, by comparing key metrics such as market share, customer satisfaction, or revenue growth with their competitors, businesses can see their progress and set goals for improvement.

5.  Better Strategic Decisions

Basically, competitive landscape analysis provides businesses with the necessary information to make strategic decisions. And it enables them to identify opportunities, mitigate risks, allocate resources effectively, and position themselves in a competitive market. Overall, competitive landscape analysis is a vital tool for businesses to stay informed, adapt to market dynamics, and gain a competitive advantage. It enables businesses to make data-driven decisions, foster innovation, and drive growth in their industry.

6.  Better Consumer Experience

Competitors always keep track of each other. And by analyzing how competitors engage with their customers, handle customer complaints, or provide post-sales support, businesses can identify best practices and areas for improvement in their own customer experience through competitive monitoring. That’s how you can have increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Better Market Positioning with Competitive Landscape

By continuously analyzing the market, monitoring competitors, and adapting strategies accordingly, businesses can seize opportunities, mitigate risks, and remain agile in an ever-changing landscape.

So, embrace the power of competitive landscape analysis as a compass that guides your business toward success. Let it empower you to make informed decisions, capitalize on your strengths, and outperform your competitors. With a thorough understanding of the competitive landscape, you have the key to unlock new opportunities and achieve sustainable growth in your industry.

So, get clicking and schedule a free demo today!

‍