For those looking to establish a business, one of the first things you'll do is conduct a competitor analysis - something that allows you to see who is currently operating in that space, what they offer, if there is a need for your concept, and how you can position yourself to stand out.
However, this shouldn't just be done when first creating a business.
The process of knowing your space is something you must always be across as a business owner.
Here at Yellowpanda, a vital step in our client onboarding process is conducting a detailed competitor analysis.
The results from this analysis form part of a much larger strategy. However, it's a key step that should never be overlooked.
When looking at your competitors, we don't just look at the companies, but also the people behind them.
What is their background? If they're featured in the media, what publications are they in? And how do they promote their business/es across social media and their own internal, owned media channels (ie. a personal website).
In analysing the above, Yellowpanda identifies what we can the 'white space'. The space we work to fit our clients into that allows them to stand out from the rest.
After all, if you want to be seen as a thought leader (something Yellowpand specialises in helping our clients with), you need to know who else is other there talking about the same thing. What are they saying and what aren't they? Who are they reaching and who are't they?
Through the use of an external agency (do we want to admit we don't do this ourselves?), we also go a level deeper. We see where your competitors appear online (what percentage of their time is spent on Facebook, vs. Youtube vs. Instagram) and where their website traffic comes from. We also see their conversion rate and how long people spend on their website.
We know who their customers are (including their age, gender, interests, and predominant professions), meaning that if you're wanting to reach similar groups, we can create content that will appeal most to them.
At Yellowpanda we also analyse your competitors' social media engagement - that is the level to which they're interacting with their customers and other brands.
As part of our strategy process, we identify a list of relevant people and groups with who our clients should interact.
To us at Yellowpanda, a competitor analysis is what you could essentially call the butter on the bread, or the sock before the shoe, basically it's the step that just cannot be missed.
It's vital to our strategies and something that helps to set our clients and all future public relations activities up for great success.
Our approach is certainly not one that is cookie-cutter. By knowing who you are and what you hope to achieve, our competitor analysis is tailored to your brand.
The implementation of your strategy, through our customised public relations efforts, will help you reach your individual, specific goals.
To learn more about our strategy processes, and how they can be implemented to take your brand to the next level, reach out to Yellowpanda today.