What is this?

Carrying out an analysis and benchmarking activity helps to better understand one's competition, what are one's performances compared to them within the market in which one is operating.

While it is useful to carry out a competitor analysis and benchmarking activity, it is necessary to realize that it is an ongoing and constantly evolving process for the simple reason that competing companies, just like yours, change their strategies, they update them perhaps several times a year, the promotional initiatives and the characteristics of the product vary rather than the method of providing their services. Perhaps they are already doing very similar things and are, in turn, monitoring their competitors.

It would therefore be important to keep the campaigns updated and to repeat the analysis and benchmarking activities over time.

The more knowledge and frequency of these activities you have, the less likely you will be surprised by their activities which you will be able to cope with more quickly and effectively.

Where do we start from?

The analysis takes known competitors into consideration but is able to bring out who in the market appears to be a competitor unknown to us.

The first thing to do is list the most prominent known competitors. Secondly, list the products or services provided or for which you want to understand who is competing.

Classify the competition

Cross-referencing data from your company's list of products/services with the list of products/services emerging from competitors is very important to obtain a classification of who can potentially be attractive for your own target or your customers.

What would your customers buy as an alternative to your offer?

Evaluate the competition

When evaluating the competition, it is good to ask yourself a few questions, to be sure you are not overlooking important aspects:

• Who are my competitors really?
• Are the products/services they sell similar to mine?
• What are their strengths and weaknesses?
• What opportunities could I seize with them?
• What is the market share they have?
• Based on the strategies adopted, which ones have been effective against them?

These are questions to ask as a basis as they allow you to identify the largest competitor with the smallest competitor.

It also allows you to get a good idea of ​​where your company stands in relation to others in the market.

Define a goal

When facing a competitive analysis process it is always important to have a defined purpose.

Be clear about the reasons that lead to the analysis, such as thinking of starting from something you want to improve your products or services, compared to your competitors.