Competitive Analysis & Market Analysis Intelligence

Gil Gruber, MBA

With over 20 years of diverse marketing and sales experience, Gil’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to serial success in various business ventures, recognized on the “Maverick of the Morning” CNN show and awarded with the “Best of the Web” from Forbes. Gil is a frequent speaker at conferences, associations, and international events about emerging trends in B2B marketing and business expansion. His book “Turn On Marketing” is available on Amazon.

10/10/2019
( Last updated 16/02/2024 ) -
Reading time: 4 minutes

Competitive analysis is the deliberate, dedicated effort towards monitoring the current and future steps of your competitors. Any company which directly rivals your business, and with whom you compete for market share, is considered competition. Competitive marketing research of rival companies – known as competitive intelligence – is useful in anticipating their actions, and will contribute highly when determining your own business positioning strategy.

Benefiting from competitive intelligence requires efficient integration of analyzed information into your existing marketing infrastructure. Business decisions should be made on the basis of how your company fits within the market you are targeting.

What Are the Benefits of Performing Competitive Market Research and Analysis?

1. Competitive intelligence validates your advantages in the market
2. Competitive analysis casts light on where you could improve your company’s offering
3. Competitor analysis allows you to learn from the success of your competitor
4. Competitive research gives you insight into market trends

When Is the Right Timing for Competitive Analysis?

Competitive market analysis should be performed on a regular basis to remain current with industry trends. Some companies believe that competitive analysis should be done only when the strategy is revised. However, things change quickly in today’s market, and it is important to stay on top and exert a proactive effort. For instance, when you decide on your strategic approach, it is important that your marketing message stands out from the competition. When you update your branding identity, it is crucial that you set yourself apart from the look and feel of your competitors. Even for inbound marketing campaigns, such as SEO and blog writing, competitive research and intelligence should be applied by investigating the keywords your competition is using.

Some competitive market analysis can be achieved using marketing automation, while others require sporadic or focused efforts.