If you work in a competitive industry, you need to know who your top competition is and what they offer that’s similar or dissimilar to you. Then shape your business accordingly. Here are some strategies for research and response. 

Be honest about who you compete with. Who’s pricing is similar to yours? Where are your lost clients going? You may want to think of yourself as a luxury service, but question your own perceptions.

Get someone to shop your top three direct competitors. This can be a friend or someone you pay for their time. It might be better to have someone objective!

Here’s what they might evaluate:

• What’s the response time to new inquiries?
• How does the pricing and product compare? 
• What does the checkout process look like? What are the payment options?
• How does their branding compare to yours? Is it more polished? More creative? More youthful?
• What are employees and ex-employees saying on GlassDoor? You can learn about the internal culture to find out what’s working, and what’s not.
• Look at their company LinkedIn pages, and other social platforms. Of the posts that get a lot of engagement: What are they talking about? New products? Trends? Special offers and perks? What hashtags are they using? This will tell you what’s hot in your niche. Also, LinkedIn also has a new tool for seeing competitor analytics! From your LinkedIn Company Page, go to the Analytics tab, and select Competitors from the drop-down menu.
• Is the competition getting a lot of interaction a platform you’re ignoring? Maybe you’ve ignored Pinterest, SnapChat, YouTube or TikTok, but your competitors are doing well there. “To determine if a new social media platform is worth your time, check your competitor’s engagement rates on those sites,” says Christine White, of Hubspot. Remember, we only care about the posts that people interact with. Ignore any posts that have few likes, comments, or reposts.
• What features does your competition have on their website that your site lacks? For example, if everyone else lists pricing, maybe it’s time for you to try that, too. (You can always remove it, if you don’t like the results.) Or maybe they have a quiz for analyzing what types of services they need. Or maybe they have an inspiring case studies page about past client successes.
• Look at the competition’s reviews on Yelp and Google. In this process, you may also find out where some of your lost prospects ended up buying. Reverse engineer the competition’s wins: what do people rave about in the Yelp or Google reviews. Likewise, their weaknesses could be something you start to emphasize in your branding as a differentiator. For example, if a competitor prohibits recording Zoom meetings, you could advertise that you encourage clients to record Zoom meetings.
• Google the company, and see what websites are linking to your competition. Try to figure out why that’s not you, and contact the websites to get added. Backlinks help your Search Engine Optimization.

Be as objective as you can. It might even be painful. Of course you love many of the decisions you’ve made about your business. Your style is probably echoed throughout your branding, from the home page to your email signature. After all, this is your company! But is it time to rebalance your personal style against what’s objectively best for your business? 

• Should you add or adapt your services or pricing?
• Are your packages confusing, compared to your competition’s pricing?
• Should you stop using amateur photography?
• Should you put your own face on more marketing, to build more personal connections?
• Should you reach out to the websites that link to your competition? 
• Should you adjust your marketing platforms and style? Update your branding? Hire someone to improve your social media? 
• What do you need to change about your website? Does it have too little information? Are people asking you the same questions because they aren’t finding the answers easily on your website?

Let’s innovate for the long term! Now let’s shift that thinking into high gear. You’ve learned more about your niche. 

• How can you further differentiate yourself? 
• What’s something no one else offers?
• Is there a BIG shift that you should start working towards now? Maybe a rebrand? Maybe adding a new line of services? Maybe teaching a course?
• What trends are emerging that could kill your company, and how can you reinvent yourself to be the provider who comes out on top? 

Adaptation is the only way to turn big threats
into big opportunities.

One last step. Set Google Alerts for yourself and your competition. This will help you stay abreast of any relevant news.

It’s painful to self-critique, but without it, you’re looking at your niche with blinders on. Act boldly and confidently to see what the facts reveal. Then you’ll be able to win more customers and succeed long term. When you adapt to the market, you and your customers win.