If you want a sharper go-to-market and product strategy, a repeatable five-step competitive analysis gives you signal without noise. In this guide you will identify the right competitors, collect data that matters, turn findings into positioning and pricing moves, and set up a simple cadence so insights keep flowing. Use the steps below as a plug-and-play system you can complete in days, then refresh in hours.
New to the concept? Start with a quick primer on competitive analysis, then come back to apply the five steps below.
Start with outcomes: what a competitive analysis should answer
Before diving in, clarify the decisions your analysis must inform. That focus keeps you from collecting data you will never use and aligns stakeholders on success criteria.
- Which segments and jobs-to-be-done are best for you to win now
- Where competitors outperform you and where you can outflank them
- The price bands and packages customers expect in this market
- Messaging angles and channels that actually convert
- Early warning signals that a rival is moving into your lane
Step 1: Identify and segment competitors
List 8-12 competitors and segment them so you do not overreact to distant players or overlook disruptive substitutes. Segmentation also drives your research depth per competitor.
| Type | Definition | How to find | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct | Sell similar products to the same audience with overlapping use cases | Category keywords, comparison pages, analyst lists, customer mentions | Primary benchmark for features, pricing, channels and win-loss |
| Indirect | Solve the same problem in a different way or adjacent category | Problem-focused searches, forums, app stores, integrator marketplaces | Reveals switching threats and alternative value stories |
| Secondary | Compete for wallet share or platform control across parts of the stack | Partner directories, ecosystem maps, investor theses | Shapes bundling, partnerships and long-term platform risk |
| Tertiary | Influencers and substitutes that shape perception or demand | Communities, thought leaders, templates, DIY approaches | Guides education content and community-led growth |
Find competitors fast
- Run problem-first queries like “how to [job]” and check who ranks and advertises
- Scan “Alternatives to [Brand]” and “Best [Category]” listicles to spot patterns
- Review partner and integration pages of known players to map the ecosystem
- Search marketplaces and app stores for your category and use-case keywords
- Ask sales and success teams which vendors prospects compare you with
Want practical tactics for step one? Use the ideas above to identify and segment rivals with speed and confidence.
Step 2: Gather data on offerings, pricing and customer value
Collect only the signals that help you make decisions. Aim for consistent fields across competitors so you can compare apples to apples and spot differentiation opportunities quickly.
What to capture
- Product and feature set by plan, including gating and limits
- Pricing architecture: tiers, add-ons, discounts, free vs paid usage thresholds
- ICP and segment focus: company size, industry, regions, buyer roles
- Distribution: sales motion, self-serve vs sales-led, partners and marketplaces
- Onboarding and activation: time-to-value, demos, trials, templates
- Proof points: case studies, certifications, security pages, awards
- Roadmap signals: recent releases, changelogs, product announcements
- Support model: channels, SLAs, documentation depth, training
Sources you can trust
- Official websites: pricing pages, feature matrices, help centers and changelogs
- Public disclosures: press releases, earnings calls, investor decks
- Owned content: webinars, product tours, conference talks and slide decks
- Third-party datasets: keyword tools, traffic estimators, backlink indexes
- Community intelligence: forums, user groups, analyst notes and integration hubs
- First-party insights: win-loss interviews, customer conversations and demos
Normalize your findings in a simple spreadsheet so each row is a competitor and each column a field. That structure enables quick scoring, gap analysis and clear handoffs to product, marketing and sales.
That structure makes benchmarking and weighting straightforward; for an objective framework, see the Competitive Profile Matrix guide.
To speed up collection and comparison, put these fields into Competitive analysis tools that combine reliable data sources with repeatable workflows.
Step 3: Analyze marketing, SEO and online presence
How competitors go to market often reveals more than their features. Examine positioning, the content engine, search strategy and experience from first touch to conversion.
Content and messaging
- Positioning: category claim, target persona and jobs-to-be-done
- Value narrative: pains they emphasize, proof they highlight, outcomes promised
- Content mix: playbooks, templates, benchmarks, events and newsletters
- Conversion paths: primary CTAs, offers, forms, and friction points
SEO signals
- Core keywords and topic clusters they own or pursue
- Search intent coverage across the funnel: informational, comparison and transactional
- Backlink sources and digital PR patterns that drive authority
- Technical hints: site speed, architecture, schema and internal linking depth
Visuals and UX
- Brand system: color, typography, iconography and illustration patterns
- Page patterns: hero structure, social proof placement, navigation clarity
- Interactive elements: calculators, demos, sandboxes and product tours
Summarize each competitor’s marketing engine in a one-pager: who they target, what they promise, how they prove it and where they distribute. That artifact fuels messaging tests and channel bets.
To uncover content gaps and prioritize opportunities revealed by competitor activity, see How to run a content audit for SEO.
Step 4: Synthesize insights into strategy – SWOT, positioning and gaps
Turn raw observations into choices. Use a lightweight framework to connect your strengths to market gaps while neutralizing competitor advantages.
Build a one-page SWOT
- Strengths: where you demonstrably win today – speed, simplicity, integrations
- Weaknesses: friction points and capability gaps that slow adoption
- Opportunities: underserved segments, emerging workflows, pricing whitespace
- Threats: bundling by platforms, category shifts, fast-follower feature parity
Add a short evidence line under each bullet so the SWOT stays grounded in facts, not opinions. Then prioritize the two or three plays that move the needle within a quarter.
Map the landscape
Create a simple 2×2 positioning map for your category – for example, Ease of Adoption vs Depth of Capability. Plot each competitor and your current position. If everyone clusters in one quadrant, you have a chance to stake an open position and tailor messaging, packaging and onboarding to own it.
Turn insights into plays
- Pricing and packaging: realign tiers to match willingness to pay and usage thresholds
- Product: double down on a signature capability or integrate to remove switching costs
- Channels: invest where rivals underinvest – community, partners or field events
- Messaging: claim a distinctive promise tied to measurable outcomes
- Enablement: arm sales with crisp talk tracks against top 3 objections
To translate insights into a prioritized roadmap and action plan, explore Content strategy features.
Step 5: Operationalize and keep the loop running
Competitive analysis is not a one-off. Assign ownership, define a refresh cadence and make insights easy to consume so teams actually use them.
- Cadence: monthly light refresh, quarterly deep dive, ad-hoc alerts for major moves
- Signals: track pricing changes, notable launches, leadership hires and partnerships
- Dashboard: a shared sheet or workspace with fields, links and last-updated dates
- Enablement: short battlecards and a living FAQ for sales and success
Lightweight artifacts that stick
- Competitor briefs: one page per rival with positioning, traps and counters
- Deal talk tracks: what to ask, what to show and how to reframe
- Executive summary: top risks, top opportunities and next actions
As you execute, structure pages and updates to build topical authority with Internal linking for topic clusters.
FAQs
What are the 5 steps of a competitive analysis?
A practical sequence is: 1) Identify and segment competitors. 2) Gather data on offerings, pricing and value. 3) Analyze marketing, SEO and online presence. 4) Synthesize insights into SWOT, positioning and plays. 5) Operationalize with a refresh cadence and enablement.
What are the 5 forces of competitive analysis?
Porter’s Five Forces assess overall market pressure, not specific competitors: threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, and competitive rivalry. Use this alongside your five steps to gauge category dynamics.
What are the 5 C’s of marketing analysis?
The 5 C’s help you scan context: Company, Customers, Competitors, Collaborators and Climate. They complement your competitive landscape analysis by framing internal capabilities and external factors.
What are the 5 steps in the marketing research process?
Typical stages are: 1) Define the problem and objectives. 2) Develop the research plan. 3) Collect data. 4) Analyze and interpret. 5) Report and act on findings. You can plug competitive research into this structure for rigor.
