If you want to have the competitive advantage in your industry, country or globally then you need to know what everyone else is doing out there – and I mean everyone else, not just your direct competitors. While it is super critical to keep your finger on the pulse of your direct competitors, and to track them over time with multiple check-ins throughout the course of a year, it is equally critical to be aware of what else is happening in the consumer world, and who is doing it. That’s why we always like to kick off our client, and internal projects, with a competitive review and analysis.
When conducting a competitive review try to evaluate yourself against the competition through the consumers’ point of view.
- User Experience: Is it easy to take action? Is the journey visually pleasant? Are all your needs met?
- Content Experience: Can you find information easily? Is it categorized, easy to scan, searchable? Is the tone of voice appropriate?
- Interactive Experience: Are forms comprehensive and quick to complete? Are tools or other applications helpful, intuitive or a hindrance? Is there help readily available?
In addition to identifying bad and best practices, strengths and weakness of your competitors, and areas of improvement and of opportunity for your brand, you will also find that competitive reviews are beneficial in:
- Discovering emerging trends
- Catching innovation waves as they develop
- Forecasting what will come to your market
- Staying on top of progressive technologies
- Following the evolution of consumer behaviours.
As you can see, competitive reviews benefit the brand in multiple ways, providing actionable findings which will empower you in making better business decisions and improvements to your product and/or services. When was the last time you conducted a competitive review? Are you overdue?