How can you identify your competitors for a competitive landscape map?

This one is tricky. I generally broad base my definition of the competitor. I use the concept of what need the consumers have and then define the competitors. So for chocolates, its actually a combination of hunger fill and indulgence. Which makes even french fries, a shake or even ice-cream my competition. For a very famous books brand I remember we even factored the movies as a competitor.

With a market research you get the most important benefits! Especially when you are on a start up in hospitality industry! By doing a proper market research you get the opportunity to decide either if you want to be the leader, the cheap or the one for majority! Their is no good or bad being cheap or the leader! After all if your maths make sense you are always benefician! Also making the right market research you get the opportunnity to be able to have the knowleghe on how to be competitive! and the most important on how to create a value for money envirovment for you business! Wish now is the no.1 thing that customers are looking foor in there majoriti!

Define Your Market: Clearly define your market in terms of the products or services you offer. This will guide your search for competitors. Primary Research: Gather first-hand information through surveys, interviews, or direct observations. Engage with customers, suppliers, and industry experts to gain insights. Secondary Research: Utilize existing sources like industry reports, market analyses, trade journals, financial reports, and online databases. Online tools like Google, LinkedIn, and industry-specific platforms can be very useful.

Define the market based on the product/service and customer segment (demographic & interest). It will help you shortlist the key players in the market. The SWOT analysis will finally help you analyse the competitors based on strength, weakness, opportunities, and threat.

For competitor audience data, Traffic Analytics provides a ton of insights that can help you understand your market’s audience and where it corresponds to each of your competitors. In particular, the Audience Insights report offers all of the data you need to understand your competitors’ relationships to the market audience.

Defining your market involves identifying your target audience based on demographics, interests, and needs. Online tools like Google Analytics, social media insights, and surveys can help gather data. Analyze this information to tailor your products or services to the identified market segments.

-Use Google Search with keywords linked to your business, examining the top search results. -Collect customer opinions through online surveys, interviews, and reviews on various platforms. -Analyze keyword competition using tools like SEMrush. -Employ social media analytics to identify competitors based on audience similarities. -Gather internal insights from your sales team about common competitors and seek advice from industry experts for a comprehensive understanding.

Product/Service Type: Identify companies offering similar products or services. Market Segment: Look at the customer segments targeted by competitors. Geographic Scope: Determine if competitors operate locally, nationally, or internationally. Price Range: Categorize competitors based on pricing strategies. Distribution Channels: Consider where and how competitors distribute their products. Brand Positioning: Analyze how competitors position themselves in terms of brand image. Market Share: Assess the size and influence of competitors in the market.

Industry Analysis: Start with a broad industry analysis. Understand the industry you operate in, its size, growth, and trends. This will give you a general sense of who the players are.

All the comments in the section are accurate. I would like to add something: You are no the one who identify "who is" or "who isnt" your competitor, the consumer does! If a consumer evaluate my product along side another to make a purchase decision, that is my competitor. Even if it is no even close to my category!

SWOT analysis is one of the best ways to understand the strengths and weakness of competitors, understand depth about their USP's , strategies and further also have a comparative analysis in place about all the unique value propositions of the companies.

Identify Competitors: List direct and indirect competitors. Include both traditional and emerging players. Gather Information: Collect data on their products, pricing, and market share. Analyze their marketing strategies and target audience. SWOT Analysis: Assess their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Understand how these factors impact their competitive position. Customer Reviews and Feedback: Scrutinize customer reviews to identify satisfaction levels. Learn from both positive and negative feedback.

Incorporate AI-driven analytics for deeper insights. . Leverage AI tools like Brandwatch for social listening, Crayon for market intelligence, and Sentiment Analyzer for customer feedback analysis. These platforms utilize advanced AI algorithms to sift through extensive data from social media, market reports, and customer interactions. They offer rapid and comprehensive insights into market trends, competitor strategies, and consumer sentiment. This enables businesses to proactively adapt to market changes, identify emerging niches, and fine-tune their strategies in alignment with evolving customer preferences.

To visualize your competitive landscape, create a matrix or chart comparing key competitors based on factors like market share, product features, pricing, and customer reviews. Tools like SWOT analysis or radar charts can help highlight strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Use visual aids such as graphs or diagrams to make the information easily digestible.

Competitive Advertising: Look at where and how similar companies are advertising. This can reveal competitors trying to reach the same target audience. Keyword Research: Use SEO tools to see which companies rank for the same keywords as your business. This is especially useful for online businesses.

Conduct competitive advertising analysis using Meta and Google Advertiser libraries by identifying and scrutinizing competitor ads. Analyze ad content for messaging, visual elements, offers, and call-to-actions. Infer target audience strategies and monitor ad frequency and duration. Compare findings with your strategy to spot industry trends and gaps.

Creating a competitive landscape map involves identifying main competitors. You should start by searching extensively for companies in your industry with similar products or services and understand their size, market presence, and key offerings. Try to identify professionals in competitor organizations and understand their skills and roles. Combining all of these can give you a clear view of your competitive landscape, facilitating effective market positioning.