Dynamic Digital Marketing

Chapter 3Carry out market and competitor analysis

‘Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’

Albert Einstein, physicist

Every business measures its success against its competitors, so you must aim to keep ahead of what they are doing and monitor to see how you compare. It is wise to look at the good, the bad, and the ugly because some competitors may perform better on specific elements – don't neglect the newer or smaller competitors.

Remember that in the world of digital marketing there is no monopoly online, so the new kid on the block could be tomorrow's market leader.

Competitor analysis and benchmarking success factors

Choose a few competitors and create a grid (Figure 3.1 can be used as a template) to record your findings. The best way to carry out research is to look at the motivation you have identified for your own customer avatars and then for each persona carry out a customer journey in their shoes. Look at your competitors and where you appear and rank versus them and evaluate their offering objectively and honestly, considering their branding, tone, messaging, and propositions as well as how the customer experience feels.

Key questions to consider:

1. It is important to look at all channels: how do they appear within social networks and how do they communicate with their audience?
2. Is their email and content marketing tailored to each specific customer journey?
3. Do they have good presence in search engines?
4. Are they using ...