Summarize with ChatGPT<\/a> |\u00a0Google AI<\/a> | Perplexity<\/a> | Grok<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n So, without further ado, let\u2019s dive into the seven types of competitor analysis frameworks for industry analysis<\/a><\/strong>. Including what they are, and how to use them to survive and thrive in your market.<\/p>\n A competitor analysis framework, market analysis framework, or competitor analysis model, as they’re sometimes known, is a structure that business professionals use to research and evaluate their competitors. In other words, the art of knowing your enemy. Competitive frameworks gather vital information, such as a competitor\u2019s business strategies, products, offerings, marketing efforts, sales, etc., into an organized visual model. And though competitive analysis might seem daunting, with the right frameworks, you\u2019ll know exactly what information you need to gather, with zero guesswork.<\/p>\n Plugging your competitive analysis<\/a> into a good framework can strengthen your business\u2019s research strategy. If you\u2019ve had trouble achieving any of these, competitor analysis models could be the answer:<\/p>\n Talk about an old faithful. The SWOT analysis<\/a> has been around for decades, and for good reason. It organizes a company\u2019s information into the following categories:<\/p>\n We recommend using SWOT analysis best practices<\/a> to hone in on the strengths or weaknesses of your competitors. This is especially helpful for identifying potential competitive advantages your business may have over others, as well as finding areas for improvement.<\/p>\n Porter\u2019s Five Forces<\/a> is a formidable framework created by Michael Porter, a professor at Harvard Business School. This competitive framework examines the five key market forces in any given industry, including:<\/p>\n Porter\u2019s Five Forces is especially useful for analyzing the competitive structure of an entire industry. This information will be helpful when shaping business strategies and creating targeted goals amid the expansive competitive landscape<\/a>. However, you can also apply this framework to niche industries or specific market segments<\/a>.<\/p>\n A strategic group analysis does exactly what it says: it organizes competitors into groups based on the similarity of strategy.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a wide range of ways you can group companies. Perhaps you\u2019d like to group competitors by their marketing tactics<\/a>, pricing strategies, or range of offerings. Don\u2019t forget to place your own company into the analysis to get a better sense of who you\u2019re most closely competing with and better understand the impact different strategies provide. For instance, if you discover that the top three most successful companies in your niche are all grouped into the same pricing strategy<\/a>, it may be time to see if doing the same will benefit your own business.<\/p>\n The growth-share matrix classifies your company\u2019s products against the competitive landscape<\/a>. This is an example of a competitor analysis<\/a> that\u2019s especially useful for big organizations with a large portfolio of products or offerings. A growth-share matrix is a chart divided into four quadrants to classify products or business units into:<\/p>\n Using this market analysis framework can help determine what’s worth giving priority to, what to reposition, and what to ditch.<\/p>\n Read More – How To Make The Most Of A Competitive Matrix<\/a><\/p>\n Perceptual mapping, also known as positioning mapping, visualizes the perception of a company and its competitors on a plot graph.\u00a0To use this competitive analysis framework, choose two factors to use as the basis for comparison, like perceived quality and price. Then, plot where your business and competitors fall on those two factors’ spectrum.<\/p>\n It’s great for obtaining a bird\u2019s eye view of how customers perceive your company in relation to your competitors. Armed with that knowledge, your company can identify market trends and gaps and make adjustments to improve its existing positioning strategy. Smart and strong.<\/p>\n This framework strips a business model to its bare bones, improving clarity and focusing on the most important factors. A business model canvas is a single analysis that\u2019s divided up into nine elements:<\/p>\n A customer journey map, also known as a user journey map, is a visual story of customers\u2019 interactions with a brand.<\/p>\n First, all customer channels are mapped out\u2014i.e., a company\u2019s website, social channels, paid media, newsletters, email support, phone services, and face-to-face services (if the brand has brick-and-mortar locations). Customer journeys can then be mapped across these channels for each buyer persona<\/a>. The customer experience at each touchpoint should be tacked on to the map, including key engagement metrics<\/a> the customer hits. Below that, add how the brand responds to address the customers\u2019 concerns. Finally, jot down what opportunities exist to improve the experience at each channel.<\/p>\n Utilizing customer journey maps can help gain insights into common customer pain points and how to improve them\u2014not only within your own company, but for your competitors\u2019 customers as well.<\/p>\n Pro Tip:<\/i><\/b> Use Similarweb <\/i>Consumer Journey Analytics<\/i> to uncover competitor strategies and performance metrics through all stages of the conversion funnel.<\/i><\/p>\n Now let\u2019s see this all in action. Below is a case study of a digital analysis using competitive insights<\/a> to make faster and better business decisions. All of the data collected can be used to plug into any of the various competitive analysis framework templates we have covered so far.<\/p>\n Overview<\/b>: Steve is a Category Analyst at a market-leading homeware and furniture retailer in the U.S. His company has several business lines across categories such as sofas, bedding, kitchenware, and outdoor furniture.<\/p>\n Steve\u2019s company has one to two competitors that are particularly strong in the sofa category. An email from senior management says that sofa sales at the company have been on a downward trend, and now Steve has to pinpoint why this is the case and present a recovery plan. No pressure, right?<\/p>\n For Steve to truly understand his competitors, he needs to build a digital view of each company and break down assets such as subdomains to spotlight any trends that indicate a competitor’s digital performance. For example, he can identify the unique number of visitors<\/a> the competitor generates over time to compare online reach relative to his own company\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n Steve can then use this data to see where the company is growing or losing traction. In the example below, the percent change column indicates one of the domains has had a 42% downward growth in the last 12 months.<\/p>\n This information gives Steve a quick and easy snapshot of his competitor\u2019s online performance and its strengths and weaknesses.<\/p>\n Once Steve has built a company view of his direct competitors, he can also analyze their websites<\/a> to benchmark traffic and engagement data against his company\u2019s overall performance. This will enable him to instantly identify who the market leader is and where he needs to be to improve his digital strategy<\/a>. Utilizing Similarweb\u2019s DaaS tools<\/a>, he can integrate vast datasets directly into analytical platforms like Google Cloud or AWS, allowing for real-time visualization and more dynamic market<\/a> landscape mapping.<\/p>\n Try plotting out graph-specific metrics such as monthly visits vs. percent month-over-month change to know exactly how he\u2019s performing.<\/p>\n Next, Steve can assess the market demand for the sofa category and use search interests as a way to identify any emerging competitors<\/a> that are gaining traffic share<\/a> for related search terms within the United States. In this example, he can measure the search volume of traffic, see the overall search trend over time, and analyze which competitor is winning digital market share.<\/p>\n With these insights, Steve understands the overall trend for the market and can spot any specific competitors that he may not have considered before during his competitive analysis.<\/p>\n To learn how your competitor\u2019s traffic and engagement metrics have grown or declined over time, benchmark your growth to your competitors\u2019 to reveal if they\u2019re growing at a faster rate, and that\u2019s why they\u2019re potentially winning market share.<\/p>\n In this example, Steve can see the year-over-year traffic growth for his competitive set and can see that one of his competitors grew its traffic by 80%, which is 5% more than his company\u2019s website. Aha! At this point, Steve can use Similarweb to deep dive into the digital marketing strategy<\/a> of his competitors to understand what\u2019s causing that spike. He could discover that his competitor has an optimized paid search strategy, a marketing channel he previously overlooked.<\/p>\n![\"definition](\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Images-for-_7-Competitive-Analysis-Frameworks-That-Will-Give-You-A-Leg-Up_-3.png\")
<\/p>\nWhat is a competitor analysis framework?<\/h2>\n
![\"benefits](\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Images-for-_7-Competitive-Analysis-Frameworks-That-Will-Give-You-A-Leg-Up_-2-1.png\")
<\/p>\nBenefits of using a competitor analysis framework<\/h2>\n
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Seven types of competitive analysis frameworks<\/h2>\n
![\"top](\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Images-for-_7-Competitive-Analysis-Frameworks-That-Will-Give-You-A-Leg-Up_-2.png\")
<\/p>\n1. SWOT Analysis<\/h3>\n
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2. Porter\u2019s Five Forces<\/h3>\n
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![\"porter's](\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Images-for-_7-Competitive-Analysis-Frameworks-That-Will-Give-You-A-Leg-Up_-2-copy.png\")
<\/p>\n3. Strategic group analysis<\/h3>\n
4. Growth-share matrix<\/h3>\n
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![\"growth](\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Images-for-_7-Competitive-Analysis-Frameworks-That-Will-Give-You-A-Leg-Up_-1-copy.png\")
<\/p>\n5. Perceptual mapping<\/h3>\n
6. Business model canvas<\/h3>\n
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7. Customer journey map<\/h3>\n
How to use a competitive analysis framework?<\/h2>\n
![\"competitive](\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Images-for-_7-Competitive-Analysis-Frameworks-That-Will-Give-You-A-Leg-Up_-4.png\")
<\/p>\nAnalyze the competitor\u2019s digital footprint<\/h3>\n
![\"analyze](\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Images-for-_7-Competitive-Analysis-Frameworks-That-Will-Give-You-A-Leg-Up_-5.png\")
<\/p>\n2: Map out your market landscape<\/h3>\n
![\"map](\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Images-for-_7-Competitive-Analysis-Frameworks-That-Will-Give-You-A-Leg-Up_-6.png\")
<\/p>\n3: Analyze search interest<\/h3>\n
![\"analyze](\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Images-for-_7-Competitive-Analysis-Frameworks-That-Will-Give-You-A-Leg-Up_-7.png\")
<\/p>\n4: Understand traffic and engagement metrics<\/h3>\n
![\"understand](\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Images-for-_7-Competitive-Analysis-Frameworks-That-Will-Give-You-A-Leg-Up_-8.png\")
<\/p>\n5: Continuously track the competitive landscape<\/h3>\n
![\"keep](\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Images-for-_7-Competitive-Analysis-Frameworks-That-Will-Give-You-A-Leg-Up_-9.png\")
<\/p>\n