What are the most effective ways to keep up with your competitor's product offerings?

1 Use product comparison tools

One of the easiest ways to keep up with your competitor's product offerings is to use product comparison tools that allow you to compare features, pricing, reviews, and ratings of different software solutions. Some examples of these tools are Capterra, G2, and Software Advice. These tools can help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your competitor's products, as well as the gaps and opportunities in the market. You can also use these tools to benchmark your own product against your competitor's and see how you stack up.

2 Follow their online presence

Another way to keep up with your competitor's product offerings is to follow their online presence, such as their website, blog, social media, newsletters, and webinars. These channels can give you insights into their product updates, announcements, launches, and customer feedback. You can also learn about their marketing strategies, value propositions, and target audiences. You can use tools like Google Alerts, Feedly, and Mention to track their online presence and get notified of any changes or news.

3 Sign up for their free trials or demos

A more direct way to keep up with your competitor's product offerings is to sign up for their free trials or demos and experience their product first-hand. This can help you understand their product features, functionality, usability, and design. You can also evaluate their customer service, onboarding, and support. By signing up for their free trials or demos, you can also discover their pricing models, plans, and discounts. You can use tools like Mailinator, Guerrilla Mail, and 10 Minute Mail to create temporary email addresses and avoid spam.

4 Conduct customer surveys and interviews

A more in-depth way to keep up with your competitor's product offerings is to conduct customer surveys and interviews and get feedback from their actual or potential users. This can help you understand their pain points, needs, preferences, and satisfaction levels. You can also learn about their switching costs, loyalty, and referrals. By conducting customer surveys and interviews, you can also validate your assumptions, hypotheses, and value propositions. You can use tools like SurveyMonkey, Typeform, and Qualtrics to create and distribute surveys and interviews.

5 Perform a SWOT analysis

A more strategic way to keep up with your competitor's product offerings is to perform a SWOT analysis and identify their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This can help you assess their competitive advantages and disadvantages, as well as their potential risks and opportunities. You can also use this analysis to formulate your own product strategy, positioning, and differentiation. You can use tools like SWOT Analysis Template, MindMeister, and Canva to create and visualize your SWOT analysis.