I promised you
last week that I'd write a post about doing competitive analysis, so that we could answer three very important questions.
- Where are you in the competitive space?
- Who are the other players and what do they offer right now?
- How are they getting the word out?
Today, I'm going to tackle the second question only. This is usually the most practical place to start. After all, you can't answer the other two questions until you know the answer to this one. A few thoughts on this:
- Don't forget that your customer always has the option not to buy whatever it is you're marketing. This is actually your first, and your largest competitor. You'll have to overcome your customer's resistance to spending money, eating dessert, going shoe-shopping, getting a manicure, etc., etc. Don't worry, I'll cover this in a future post.
- Next it's time to look at where people are buying products similar to yours, as well as products that are different than yours, but solve the same problem. For example, if you sell pies, don't just look to other piemakers. Check out cake bakeries, and any other place people might get dessert - ice cream shops, cupcake trucks, regular restaurants, and the grocery store.
- Look carefully at product offerings by the competitors you've identifed. What's different about your pie? How does it solve the problem of what to eat for dessert better than other pies? What other problems can be solved with pie? Are there better ingredients? Is it handmade? Is it a great value? Is it customizable? Is it more convenient? Also, why is pie a better choice for dessert than cake, ice cream, or anything else?
These are thoughts to get you started as you begin your own competitive analysis. If you have any questions, please
let me know.
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