Over 70% of companies have a competitive intelligence team, and more than 50% plan to increase their CI budget. Knowing what your competitors are doing can be just as important as defining your approach.
Here, you’ll need to closely look at the 4 P’s of marketing—product, price, place, and promotion. The benefits of studying these are threefold: you can identify market opportunities, finetune your messaging, and stay a step ahead at all times.
But how do you successfully analyze and pinpoint their strategies without wasting valuable time? By breaking down the process into smaller, manageable parts.
That’s why we’re sharing the 10 steps you need to take to identify your competitor’s marketing strategy.
10 Ways to Identify Your Competitor’s Marketing Strategy
Before you start, you need to understand 4 types of competitors–direct, indirect, potential, and replacement. Once you’ve categorized them, follow these steps to identify your competitor’s marketing strategy:
1. Analyze their website content and SEO tactics
Your competitor’s website lays the foundation of your analysis. So, evaluate the type of content they’re producing often. It could be blogs, videos, case studies, or infographics. If you have a product-based company and need to search for gated content, try to find your competitors’ hidden files.
Next, try to understand whether they target specific themes or pain points. Pay attention to the keywords they focus on in their content to gauge their SEO priorities. Tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush can help you identify which keywords they rank for and how effectively their pages are optimized for search engines.
Look at how they use internal linking, meta descriptions, and other technical SEO aspects like page speed and mobile-friendliness. This should give you a clearer idea of how they attract and keep their audience.
You can start by doing a quick Google search of brands in your niche. For example, searching “sneaker brands” shows the globally leading brands.
From here, check each website to see what it’s doing right and which elements may benefit your website. While Nike and Vans don’t have a CTA in their hero section, New Balance has two prominent buttons to help users navigate their collections.
And while Nike and New Balance have a “Trending” section, Vans has seasonal content such as “The Fall Edit” and their Halloween collection.
Similarly, you need to study parallels and differences to see how you can improve CX through your content.
2. Monitor their social media activities and engagement
Your competitors’ social media presence gives a peek into how they connect with their audience. Begin by analyzing the platforms on which they are most active. It could be Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, or a combination.
Check their post frequency, the type of content they share (videos, images, polls, etc.), and how they position their brand voice across different channels. Are they pushing user-generated content, running giveaways, or focusing on influencer collaborations?
Also, take note of their audience engagement levels. How many likes, shares, comments, and retweets do their posts receive? What’s their growth rate like? These numbers can help you understand their performance, the content types that resonate with their audience, and which strategies seem less effective. Tools like Unkover can help you get the marketing competitive intelligence you need.
If you’re in the makeup niche, you could look at Glossier’s account. They excel in social media marketing, particularly on Instagram.
They consistently engage with their community through product promotion, user-generated content (UGC), and fun stories. Such interaction increases brand loyalty and creates a feeling of inclusion, which has been a core part of their growth strategy.
Damian Grabarczyk, the co-founder and growth marketer of PetLab Co., says,
“In the highly competitive niche, we realized that building genuine engagement required more than just knowing what content to post—it demanded insight into what captured attention in our niche. Thus, we regularly analyzed competitors’ social media activities to see which themes and stories resonated most with audiences. We noticed that while many brands focused on polished promotional content, authentic moments featuring pets and their owners sparked deeper emotional connections. We saw our community engagement soar by pivoting our strategy to highlight real stories and interactive posts that encouraged our followers to share their experiences. This approach differentiated us from others and solidified us as a brand that listens and values its audience, fostering trust and long-term growth.”
Likewise, observe the bigger brands and your direct competitors. Is your social media game on par? Does it miss the X factor? Based on the insights you gather, you can ramp up your efforts or slightly tweak your strategy.
3. Study their paid advertising campaigns
Paid advertising is a key component of most marketing strategies, and analyzing your competitors’ campaigns should take precedence in your analysis. Try these best practices-
- Look at the platforms where they run ads. Is there a strong emphasis on Google, Facebook, Instagram, or other channels like LinkedIn or YouTube? Or do they simultaneously run promotions?
- Examine the ad formats they use. Is it display ads, search ads, or video ads? Also, study the type of messaging and visuals.
- Pay attention to the offers they promote. Are they focusing on discounts, free trials, or seasonal offers? This can give you a sense of their target audience and how they are positioning their products or services.
You also should monitor the keywords they bid on in Google to get an idea of their PPC strategy. Next, consolidate all the competitor analysis data on a spreadsheet. Do a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of their performance and run campaigns accordingly.
For example, when you look for “Salesforce alternatives,” you’ll see a sponsored link by Zoho Desk first.
They also show up second for “best helpdesk software” as a sponsored link. This shows that they’re focused on moderately high search volume and bottom-of-the-funnel (BoFu) keywords.
4. Review their product positioning and messaging
This step involves analyzing the tone, language, and values they highlight in their product descriptions and marketing materials. Are they emphasizing quality, affordability, exclusivity, or innovation? Pin down the key benefits they promote and how they differentiate their products from others in the market.
Also, look at how they present their USP. Do they focus on emotional appeal, functionality, or something else altogether? Their messaging often reveals the pain points they are addressing for their target audience. This will help you identify gaps or areas where your brand may provide a better solution.
Next, compare your competitor’s messaging with customer feedback or reviews to further reveal whether their positioning resonates with the audience. If there’s a disconnect, try to understand the ‘why’ behind it and try to fill that gap with either your product or stellar customer service.
For example, Miro calls itself “the visual workspace for innovation”.
And do they back up this claim? Their users believe so. A whopping 5,800+ people have left them 5-star reviews on G2. They’re even tied in the first spot with ClickUp for the best collaborative whiteboard software.
5. Attend industry events or webinars they participate in
Join industry events to observe how competitors present their brands, products, and services to your peers and potential customers. Pay close attention to the topics they cover, chosen speakers, and their engagement style.
Participating in Q&A sessions or discussions can also give you a glimpse into the audience. This can give you hints about their customer pain points and how your competitor addresses them.
If you notice that a competitor is frequently hosting webinars, pay attention to how they optimize the user experience.
- Did they offer downloadable resources or provide exclusive Q&A sessions with industry experts? Was it simply for engagement or did they collect emails because they’re investing in their email marketing?
- Did you notice them recently switching webinar platforms? Was it to improve CX?
Figure out the answers to such questions and strategize how you’d like to navigate such events.
6. Observe their partnerships and collaborations
In this step, you’ll take note of the brands and influencers they collaborate with. Why/ These relationships show their goals for expanding reach, credibility, or market positioning.
Are they teaming up with influencers to push their message or partnering with other companies for co-branded products or services? Pay attention to the type of campaigns they run with these partners. Are they product launches, cross-promotions, or social media takeovers?
For example, a brand using influencer partnerships for its t-shirt marketing could aim to drive engagement with niche audiences. On the other hand, partnerships with larger brands might be used to expand into new markets or demographics.
A famous example is G Fuel. They partner with YouTubers and influencers to develop new products that tap into their audiences. What’s more, they offer discounts that influencers can promote to push sales.
7. Examine their customer reviews and feedback
Analyze reviews across platforms like Google, Yelp, or social media to gauge how customers perceive their products, services, and brand experience. Then, look for recurring themes in positive and negative feedback to get insights into what the competitor is doing well and where they are falling short.
Pay close attention to how they respond to customer complaints or compliments. Do they actively engage with feedback, offer solutions, or make improvements based on customer input? This can reveal their approach to customer service and brand loyalty.
Also, study feedback on product quality, delivery time, or customer support to identify market gaps you could capitalize on.
Holger Sindbaek, the owner of WOCG, shares,
“In our niche, where multi-million-dollar platforms dominate, gaining a competitive edge requires more than just great gameplay; it demands understanding how competitors position themselves and engage their audience. When we examined customer reviews and feedback on larger platforms, we noticed a gap: users often pointed out frustration with disruptive ad placements and premium features that felt underwhelming. We restructured our marketing strategy by leveraging these insights to highlight non-intrusive ad experiences and value-packed premium options. This subtle shift in our approach resonated with players seeking a more user-friendly experience, ultimately boosting engagement and solidifying our foothold in a crowded market.”
8. Track their email marketing campaigns and newsletters
Email marketing is a crucial touchpoint for many brands. Analyzing this can provide insights into their communication strategy.
- Start by subscribing to their newsletters to observe the frequency and timing of their emails. Do they send weekly updates, monthly roundups, or promotional emails during specific seasons?
- Pay attention to the type of content they share. Are they focused on product launches, educational content, or discount offers?
- Evaluate the design, tone, and personalization of their emails. This includes subject lines, visuals, and CTAs.
9. Use competitor analysis tools for traffic insights
Opt for tools that help you streamline analysis and reporting for all the points above. Focus on metrics like average visit duration, bounce rate, and the audience’s geographic location to assess the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns and identify potential gaps.
Knowing which pages or content pieces drive the most traffic can also reveal where their audience engages most, giving you clues to optimize your content strategy.
The best choice of software to get competitive intelligence across the board? Unkover.
These insights allow you to benchmark your performance against theirs, helping you refine your approach to increase traffic and improve user engagement on your site.
10. Analyze their content marketing strategy and blog topics
Content marketing builds brand authority and drives organic traffic.
To understand your competitor’s strategy, examine the content they produce and where they emphasize it. This could be blog posts, videos, case studies, eBooks, or podcasts. Also, note how frequently they publish new content.
This will help you understand the key themes they target to increase audience engagement and rank better. Look for gaps in their content that you can fill or topics you can further develop.
Conclusion
Whether it’s tracking their SEO efforts, reviewing their email campaigns, or even tracking down their most fruitful partnerships, these steps will help you identify gaps and opportunities for growth.
With the right tools and strategies, you can adjust your marketing efforts and improve your brand’s performance.
Ready to dive deeper? Try Unkover for free!
