8 Competitive Insights Examples And Where To Find Them

Disclaimer: I know you’ve been reading (maybe scanning at some point; I know I have) tons of articles that mention staying ahead of the competition or a particularly ________ [insert whatever term here] competitive landscape (never an expression was so overused, a tête-a-tête with fast-paced, perhaps).

So you may be tempted to dismiss (another overused term, if you ask me) competitive intelligence altogether (sure, all landscapes are competitive, so none are.)

Well, no. Not really, no. Please don’t.

See, the thing is, when you have competitive insights (that is, info about what your competitors are doing), you’ll just find it easier to do everything else (because, let’s face it, chances are if you’re reading this you’re not a competitive intelligence analyst, you’re probably a product manager, a marketer, a sales rep, a RevOpper if that term ever existed.)

So in the next 2,000 or so words (I strive for conciseness, but I fail every time–the TOC will help you get to the juicy part and avoid the blurb) (I think the blurb is juicy as well, but you can’t please everybody, or so I’ve been told,) let’s see eight competitive insights examples and where to find them.

Author’s note: sorry-not-sorry about all these brackets; it’s my thoughts emerging in spite of my better judgment (don’t pretend it never happens to you) (I can hear you!)

Understanding Competitive Insights

What is a competitor insight? Let’s get this out of the way first.

When talking about competitive insights, we’re basically thinking about the data and information you collect about your competitors.

Let’s ask the AI for more info:

By understanding their strategies, strengths, and weaknesses, you can make informed decisions that improve your business performance and market position. Effective use of competitive insights and market analysis helps you stay ahead (yup, see?) by anticipating changes and capitalizing on opportunities.

We’ll see the competitive insights examples in a bit. (Want to skip all the theory blurb? I won’t be offended; just click here.) (No, really. Go here; no harsh feelings.)

But before that. There are fundamentally four things you need to know about competitive insights, which are how to gather and analyze them, where to use those insights in your day-to-day work life, and what you should be doing to do all the previous right.

Wait!

First, you need to know who your competitors are –> this is really the first thing you should be doing, and it’s, very conveniently, the first Unkover article.

Now you’re ready for point 1.

1. Gathering competitive insights

All you really need to know about gathering competitive insights is that the choice you have is to either do it manually or use a competitive intelligence tool.

We discussed here what you should look for in a CI tool, so I won’t delve into it too much, but of course, the TL;DR is “it depends.”

On a number of things, too. Your budget, sure, but also your time and your role and what you are looking for in the tool. There’s no use in spending a large part of your allocated budget (we’ve all had these painful conversations) if you need to just look at a few data points to draw insights about, say, market shifts, your competitor’s content, and their overall strategy.

And yes, I’m paving the way for my pitch for Unkover, but here’s the thing. If you do require a complex program for which you need a full-time team, then by all means, go for it. But more often than not, all you need is a tool that can give you quick and reliable data on your competitors to inform your decision-making process.

And that’s definitely Unkover. With a 3-minute (yup, three) setup, you immediately get to:

• Stay informed on competitors 24/7 without lifting a finger, allowing you to make agile decisions and outpace your competition. –> that’s automation, folks!
• Receive real-time updates when competitors change their messaging or pricing, ensuring you can adapt quickly and maintain a competitive edge. –> via email or Slack, your choice.
• Understand your competitors’ financial health and growth potential, which will help you anticipate market shifts and plan strategically. –> same, Slack or email (or both).
• Gain insights into competitor customer sentiment, enabling you to refine your product and service offerings based on valuable feedback. –> aka, an actionable digest of their G2 reviews.
• Tailor your content marketing efforts to outperform competitors, driving higher engagement and conversion rates through strategic planning. –> meaning, we’re analyzing all their content for you.

And that’s only for starters. We’re working hard to deliver new features every week and looking to add tons of value in the next few months.

All you need to do:

1. Sign up here (14-day free trial, no credit card required, maybe a couple of questions asked to improve Unkover based on your feedback)
2. Add your competitors.
3. Get notified by email and/or Slack when a change occurs.

That’s it. Your part is done; now, it’s up to Unkover. Grab your free trial, and let us know what you think!

2. Analyzing your competitive insights

And here you are, up for another three points of theory blurb. I congratulate you on your courage and will try to make it as painless as possible. (Here‘s your way out to the competitive insight examples.)

This second point is really about what to do with the insights you gathered with Unkover (too cheesy a reference?)

There are a few things you can do:

• Identifying your key (5 to 10) competitors who are most relevant to your market should be enough.
• Conducting a SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with each competitor.
• Using the data points you gathered to spot emerging trends and shifts in the market and anticipate changes.
• Examining the features, pricing, and user feedback of your competitors’ products. Identify gaps that you can exploit.

All of this should inform your competitive analysis (we discussed it here and here if you’re a fan of spreadsheets). (Yes, there will be an Unkover pitch. You know the drill by now. We really believe it can make your work life better.)

3. Using competitive insights

Well, the answer to “where to use the competitor insights I gather” is everywhere, quite literally. Here are some of the most popular examples, but the reality is that you should always keep competitive insights in mind when making business decisions.

• Incorporate competitive insights into your strategic planning process. Based on what you learn, adjust your business strategy.
• Use insights to guide your product development. Innovate to fill gaps and improve upon your competitors’ offerings.
• Tailor your marketing strategies based on competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. Highlight what sets you apart.
• Equip your sales team with detailed competitor information. This helps them address customer objections and close deals more effectively.
• Adjust your pricing strategies based on the competitive landscape. Ensure your pricing reflects the value you offer while staying competitive.

4. Best practices for competitive insights

And that’s really the tricky part. Because we always wish these tasks were one-offs, you set it up, and that’s it. (Well, if you use Unkover, some of these are taken care of.)

What it comes down to is:

• Continuous monitoring: that’s the Unkover part. We monitor your competitors for you and let you know when changes occur. If you had to do it manually, you’d spend hours every week scanning their websites, social media, and the likes (plus, you’d have to organize it and store it somewhere.)
• Talk with other teams: while, of course, this means that you’d need to set up a recurring meeting to align with other departments, when using Unkover, all the information is available company-wide, so you’d just need to align, not explain.
• Make competitor insights part of your own business strategy. Whenever you devise your marketing strategy, or your value proposition, or market positioning, make sure to incorporate the competitive data you gathered and analyzed.
• Rinse and repeat: There’s no other way of saying it. You need to regularly revisit your key competitors and all the competitive intel you gather, consider market dynamics, and consider customer feedback and other external factors to be able to adapt to changes.

8 Competitive Insights Examples

Understanding the competitive landscape (sic!) requires more meaningful insights than just surface-level observations, says the AI–and I agree. Here are specific examples of competitive insights and how to use Unkover to gather them.

1. Homepage and page changes

There are a few reasons for checking your competitors websites: changes in product positioning, product launches (more on this later,) new marketing strategies or new target audience segments, among others.

Use Unkover to keep track of these changes and get notified whenever updates occur. This way, you stay informed about their latest messaging and design adjustments.

After choosing your competitors in the app, we already display some pages, but you have the option to add any other page you want to track. Such as:

a. New products released

Identify opportunities but also potential threats. That’s when a competitor releases a new product–you need to know it sooner rather than later to counteract.

Unkover allows you to monitor your competitors’ product pages and notifies you whenever new products are added. This helps you quickly adapt your product strategy in response to their offerings.

b. Competitor pricing

Competitor pricing goes hand in hand with competitive advantage. Are you pricing your product too high in comparison to your competitors? Or maybe you’re underpricing and losing out on potential profits.

Unkover lets you track and compare competitor pricing to make strategic pricing adjustments. This informs you of any shifts in pricing models, discounts, or promotions.

2. Website experiments

Competitors often run A/B tests and other experiments on their websites to optimize performance all the time.

Can you monitor them, though? This is actually a good question, and the answer is “not always.” However, this article offers some strategies.

3. Customer reviews

Customer reviews are the real deal. They offer direct feedback on competitors’ strengths and weaknesses in the truthful voice of their customer base. Not bad, right?

Unkover can read your competitors’ G2 reviews and provide an in-depth overview. This lets you understand customer sentiments and identify areas where you can outperform.

4. Email flows

Analyzing your competitors’ email marketing strategies can reveal their approach to customer engagement and much, much more.

With Unkover, you can read and display your competitors’ emails without having to subscribe to their lists. This gives you a clear view of their email content, frequency, and promotional tactics.

5. Content strategy

I really don’t have to tell you how critical content is to any marketing strategy.

Unkover analyzes your competitors’ content strategy and provides an in-depth overview. This helps you understand their focus areas, content types, and engagement levels, allowing you to refine your own content strategy.

6. Market moves and funding rounds

Being aware of significant, ehm, any market moves and funding rounds can help you anticipate your competitors’ next steps.

Unkover will notify you of any changes, keeping you informed about their financial health and expansion plans.

7. Job postings and employee reviews

Job postings and employee reviews can reveal a lot about a company’s growth and internal culture. By analyzing these, you can gauge their hiring trends, organizational priorities, and employee satisfaction levels.

There are a few ways you can track this, and you’ll find more info about it in this article I wrote a while ago.

8. What about social media?

There’s no way around it; while Unkover is great at monitoring various aspects of competitive insights, it does not currently offer functionality for tracking social media activities.

And yet, social media is a crucial component of any comprehensive competitive analysis strategy, as it provides real-time insights into competitors’ social media presence, audience engagement, and promotional tactics. There are several tools you can use to monitor social media effectively.

My preference always goes to Hootsuite. It’s a solid social media management tool, and you can track multiple social media platforms and channels in one place. You can also get a ton of analytics on your competitors’ social media performance, including engagement rates, post frequency, and audience growth. Plus, you can set up custom streams to monitor specific keywords, hashtags, and competitor profiles, ensuring you never miss an important update.

Other alternatives include Sprout Social, Brandwatch, Mention, and Buzzsumo.

Final Thoughts: Start Gathering Competitive Insights with Unkover

And there you have it.

We got through the blurby blurb of what competitive insight is, why it’s important to collect data, and how to gather competitive insights. Finally, we discussed the eight actionable insights you need to track when understanding competitors’ strategies.

You also endured my endless pitch of Unkover. In the hope it wasn’t too much, let me add something more here. The commitment for a free trial (3-minute setup, no credit card required) is minimal, and you get a ton of value right from the start.

CI tools don’t usually do that, but we built this tool because we were on the other side once. We knew exactly what marketers, product managers, sales reps, and RevOps professionals needed—a user-friendly and affordable tool that provides real-time insights into competitors.

Give Unkover a try–grab your free trial today!

FAQs

Here are some quick Q&S if you are looking for definitions of competitor insights (and more).

What is a competitive insight?

A competitive insight is valuable information about your competitors that can help you make better business decisions. It includes data on other businesses, their strategies, strengths, and weaknesses so you can adapt your approach to stay ahead.

How to find competitor insights?

To find competitor insights, start with market research to understand the broader landscape. Use tools like Unkover to gather data on their online activities. Ask your customers directly for feedback on competitors. Finally, benchmark your performance metrics against theirs to identify where you can improve.

What describes competitive intelligence?

CI is the process of gathering, analyzing, and using information about your competitors to improve your business strategy. It involves systematically collecting data on competitors’ activities, market trends, and consumer behavior to make informed decisions.

What are the insights of competitor analysis?

Insights from competitor analysis include identifying key competitors, understanding their market position, and recognizing their product strengths and weaknesses. You also gain knowledge about their marketing strategies, pricing models, and customer engagement tactics. This information helps guide your strategic planning and operational improvements.