Every firm that enters the market or plans to do so, faces, first of all, an obstacle. The role of such an obstacle is played by other competitors, that is, firms whose activities are related to this market of goods or services. Competition is the relationship between these firms. And this forces you to regulate your activities, clearly adjust it to market parameters, analyze competitors, study their activities, successes and failures.
The market is volatile. If competitors act in a timely manner, then your position and importance in the market may change. Therefore, strong marketing and timely action are essential. After all, a marketing strategy is needed today, and it will help to become stronger. A strategic decision that is made on time and correctly can play a key role in the success of your organization. It is these decisions that can ultimately have a decisive impact on your products, their competitiveness and the enterprise as a whole.
Analysis of the activities of competitors will show their strengths and weaknesses, will allow you to find out the most effective strategies that are appropriate to apply. Also, an analysis of the question of who should be considered a competitor in this area can provide a lot of information. By conducting a competitor analysis, you will know what steps they can take in the near future. And this, in turn, will help to offer the market exactly the product with which competitors will be squeezed out and the market captured.
Getting up-to-date information about your competitors, their new services and products is of great importance. This will enable you to quickly analyze and react, protecting your market share.
What does competitor analysis imply? First of all, this is a thorough study of existing, as well as potential rivals. You define and evaluate their positioning strategies, identify and analyze their strengths and weaknesses. Conduct competitor perception assessments for target consumer groups. And of even greater importance is the analysis of the PR activities of competitors, as well as their advertising campaigns.
Here's what you get with a competitive market analysis:
– comparative analysis of all market participants. This includes identifying your company's competitors, assessing the market share they hold, evaluatingpossible reactions of competitors, etc.;
– identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each of the participants in the market;
– identify barriers to market entry;
– information about the prospects of competition;
– recommendations related to the development of measures that will help increase the competitiveness of the enterprise.
If the analysis of competitors is carried out, a database of competing firms and products is formed. At the same time, you should rely on such issues as: market share by type of goods, which is occupied by competitors; each competitor's turnover, sales organization, pricing policy, terms and conditions of delivery, and much more.
As a result of such a test, you have the opportunity to understand why your competitors act the way they do. Based on this, you will choose your strategy.
