How to Find Out Who Your Direct Competitors Are

In the world of business and advertising, there’s a continuous battle for the attention of potential customers. Which means, your business consistently needs to outperform your competitors for you to become an industry leader.

Consumers will always compare your service to another; so it’s time you started analysing, too!

Often, this can be exhausting, but it does not necessarily have to be that way! Knowing and understanding your rivals is one of the main approaches you can take to not only promote your own business, but also help you identify how unique your business is.

So, whether you are successfully running Facebook ads but want to take it beyond, intend to be one step ahead in search engine optimization, or just want to do some observing of other businesses, here are our top tips to finding out who your direct competitors are.

Understanding the Type of Competitors You Can Face

There are two main types of competitors that you can face, they can either be direct or indirect.

Direct competitors are businesses who sell a similar product or service in the same industry type as you. These are the ones that you should keep a close eye on as customers will often compare your products and theirs during the conversion journey before making a purchase.

Indirect competitors are companies that don’t essentially offer a similar product or service to yours. However, they contend with you digitally for visibility and for web space. These are the rivals that you would target with SEO tactics.

Why Keep an Eye on Competitors?

Keeping a close eye on your competitors is advantageous as it can help you fill in any disparities in your marketing. It can also highlight sections where you can enhance the way your products or services meet consumer demands.

Running your company and promoting your solutions to clients is a fragile balance between focusing on the value and individuality of your own business while also concentrating on what your direct competitors are doing.

As a digital marketing agency, we know the significance of standing out. Therefore, it is imperative for you to utilise this information to boost your own unique selling points.

You should collect information about how your competitors run their companies, how they interact with their consumers, and the sort of marketing efforts they undertake. You should use these insights to make sure that your business is viable and not too similar to your rivals.

Modelling your business in the same way as your competitors could cause you to eventually lose your own visibility and influence. Hence why you should only monitor your competitors and their business model but never directly duplicate it.

A picture containing schematic Description automatically generated — Keep an eye on competitors’ social media to see whether they do things differently.

Recognising Direct Competition

When recognizing competitors that are directly competing with your business, you must begin with analysing your product. A deep understanding of your product and the benefit it brings to your audience or customers is essential in identifying your direct competitors.

So how do you identify direct competitors? Fortunately, there are several methods to keep an eye on your competition and use these insights to improve your own business. Here are a few methods we recommend:

Customer Feedback

Your customers are vital in revealing direct competitors. Once they have settled on your business and product, you can question them about which other businesses/products they were assessing. Customers can often disclose unexpected direct competitors that you may have not paid attention to or didn’t know about.

In addition, during the sales process, your sales team can also ask prospective client’s which companies they’re considering. If they have not yet decided on your product, and you know which business or product they are considering, your team will be able to better respond to their needs.

Whether it’s a straightforward consumer survey asked for after a purchase or a response questionnaire with an incentive – communicating with prospects will be key in finding out who you’re up against.

Market Research

Look at the market for your product and assess what other businesses are offering products that compete with your business. Speak to your sales team to learn about competitors who are often mentioned by prospects throughout the sales process. From there, you can learn more about these companies, their product and advertising efforts, and develop strategies to beat them.

Ask yourself questions about competitors’ products: is their pricing strategy superior to yours; do they have better custom services; how do they advertise through online-platforms? Assessing your competitors’ business model can help you reflect on your own strategy and may give you the answer that helps you get an edge.

Perform market research on your competitors to see how they perform.

Online Forums And Social Media

With the growth of influencer marketing at an unprecedented rate, social media has become an undeniable force in shaping or breaking brands. Social media is used more than ever for product research, online shopping, and brand engagement.

This means that managing your own online reputation and checking how your competitors use social media is invaluable. Also, it is imperative to realize where your competitors are, where they are visible, and what they do to attract customers in social media.

This is because your potential customers will regularly go to obtain guidance and suggestions through social media sites and apps, or on public forums like Quora or Reddit. By examining the discussions your consumers have on these sites, you’ll be able to further pinpoint your competitors.

Social media is also a great point of outreach. Through Facebook business pages, customers can leave reviews of you or your competitors. Completing regular audits of these reviews can help you determine where your business needs to improve.

Final Note

When it comes to marketing and competition, it is essential to approach competitive analysis strategically. You have all the tools you need to develop a thorough understanding of your direct competition and build a stronger marketing strategy based on that knowledge.

Of course, competitor analysis is also familiar to us as an experienced digital marketing agency. This is an essential part of how we strive to enhance the effectiveness of our campaigns.

If you want to learn more about our innovative marketing strategies and how we use market insights to drive your business, contact our team at Floodmaker.