What is Competitive Analysis?
Competitive analysis (also competitor analysis) is a strategic tool for systematically identifying and evaluating the competition. It examines direct and indirect competitors regarding their products, prices, strengths, weaknesses, strategies, and market shares.
As part of strategic planning, it provides essential insights for brand positioning, business model innovation, and the development of a differentiating USP. Michael Porter’s Five Forces model is one of the best-known frameworks for competitive analysis.
Objectives and Benefits
A thorough competitive analysis pursues several strategic objectives:
- Differentiation: Understand what the competition offers – and where there are gaps for your own positioning
- Identify market opportunities: Identify unmet customer needs and underserved market segments
- Anticipate threats: React early to new competitors, disruptive innovations, or changing market dynamics
- Pricing: Align your own pricing strategy with the market
- Benchmarking: Measure your own performance against the best in the industry
- Convince investors: Show in your pitch deck that you understand the market
Methods and Frameworks
Various proven methods structure the analysis:
- Porter’s Five Forces: Analyzes five competitive forces – rivalry, new entrants, substitute products, supplier power, and buyer power
- SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats – for each competitor and your own company
- Strategic Group Analysis: Clusters competitors by similar strategies (e.g., premium vs. discount)
- Blue Ocean Strategy Canvas: Compares competitors based on relevant value factors – and reveals differentiation potential
- Benchmarking: Systematic comparison of processes, products, and key figures with the best in the industry
- Perceptual Mapping: Visualizes the market positioning of all relevant competitors on two axes
Step-by-Step Guide
- Identify competitors: Direct competitors (same offering), indirect (alternative offering), and potential (new market entrants). Also consider substitute products
- Define analysis dimensions: Product, price, distribution, marketing, customer reviews, market share, strengths, weaknesses, business model
- Collect data: Websites, social media, press releases, industry reports, customer reviews, job postings (indicate strategic direction)
- Conduct analysis: Systematically evaluate data – create a competitive matrix, identify patterns, understand customers’ Jobs-to-be-Done
- Draw conclusions: Where are the opportunities? Where are the threats? How can your own Value Proposition differentiate?
- Derive measures: Translate results into concrete strategic decisions
Digital Competitive Analysis
In the digital age, numerous data sources and tools are available:
- SEO analysis: Analyze competitors’ keywords, rankings, backlink profiles, and content strategies
- Social media monitoring: Observe the reach, engagement, and tone of competitor communication
- Website analysis: Compare traffic estimates, technology stack, and conversion elements
- Review mining: Systematically evaluate customer reviews on Google, Trustpilot, and industry portals
- Price monitoring: Continuously monitor competitors’ prices and offers
Digital competitive analysis provides objective data that complements traditional market research.
Utilizing Results: From Analysis to Strategy
Analysis is only the first step. Here’s how to strategically use the results:
- Sharpen positioning: Which position is still vacant? Where can you become a niche leader?
- Innovate business model: Which models do competitors use? Is there potential for platform models or servitization?
- Re-evaluate target groups: Are there customer segments neglected by the competition?
- Continuous monitoring: Competitive analysis is not a one-time task, but an ongoing process
Avoiding common mistakes
- Only analyze direct competition: Indirect competitors and substitute products are often overlooked
- Data without interpretation: Collecting alone is not enough – strategic classification is crucial
- One-time analysis: Markets change – the analysis must be regularly updated
- Copying instead of differentiating: The analysis should highlight gaps, not tempt you to imitate competitors
- Ignoring your own strengths: Competitive analysis must always be combined with an analysis of your own strengths
We support you with data-driven analyses and strategic consulting for your differentiation in the market.
Frequently Asked Questions about Competitive Analysis
How often should a competitive analysis be conducted?
A comprehensive analysis should be carried out at least annually. Digital monitoring measures (SEO, social media, prices) should be updated continuously or quarterly. In the event of market changes or before strategic decisions, an ad-hoc analysis is recommended.
Which tools are suitable for competitive analysis?
For SEO analysis: Ahrefs, Semrush, Sistrix. For social media: Hootsuite, Brandwatch. For traffic estimates: SimilarWeb. For general research: Google Alerts, Crunchbase. The choice depends on the industry, budget, and depth of analysis.
How many competitors should I analyze?
Focus on 5–10 relevant competitors: 3–5 direct competitors, 2–3 indirect, and 1–2 potential new market entrants. Depth is more important than breadth – a thorough analysis of fewer competitors is more valuable than a superficial analysis of 50.
What is the difference between competitive and market analysis?
Market analysis examines the overall market – size, growth, trends, customer segments. Competitive analysis focuses on the players in the market – their strategies, strengths, and weaknesses. Both complement each other and together form the basis for strategic decisions.