{"id":183005,"date":"2023-11-17T10:03:58","date_gmt":"2023-11-17T10:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/?p=183005"},"modified":"2025-08-31T14:57:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T14:57:14","slug":"competitive-advantage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/marketing-strategy\/competitive-advantage\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Gain A Competitive Advantage and Succeed Online"},"content":{"rendered":"

Word on the street is you want to gain a competitive advantage online against, well\u2026 your competition. Consider your request approved.<\/p>\n

Mission<\/strong>: To gain a competitive edge.<\/p>\n

Location<\/strong>: A very, very competitive digital world.<\/p>\n

End goal<\/strong>: To beat ALL the competition.<\/p>\n

Mode of transport<\/strong>: This guide *right here*.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll call it Mission Possible (but only if you listen closely). Let\u2019s start with the basics.<\/p>\n

What is competitive advantage?<\/h2>\n

Competitive advantage is a factor \u2013 or series of factors \u2013 that leads a business to outperform their competitors or rivals. To gain a competitive advantage over another brand is to gain valuable results in an area of your business to enhance brand awareness<\/a>, traffic, engagement and conversions.<\/p>\n

6 types of competitive advantage<\/h2>\n

There are different types of competitive advantage when it comes to marketing your business. Here are a few ways you can use to get ahead of your competitors:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Cost<\/strong>: Provide offerings at a lower price<\/li>\n
  2. Differentiation<\/strong>: Create a niche (eg. quality, quantity, sustainability)<\/li>\n
  3. Speed<\/strong>: Be the fastest to act (eg. product development, customer service)<\/li>\n
  4. Innovation<\/strong>: Disrupt the market with new products and\/or business models<\/li>\n
  5. Geographic<\/strong>: Choose locations with easier access to resources and suppliers<\/li>\n
  6. Customer service<\/strong>: Offer superior support than others (eg. faster responses)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    And the thread that ties these all together in the end? Your marketing. How you market your product, and how you play your competitive advantage is where it\u2019s at. That\u2019s why we\u2019re here.<\/p>\n

    How to identify a competitive advantage<\/h2>\n

    Step 1: Competitor research<\/h3>\n

    You can\u2019t work out your competitive advantage without knowing what your competitors are up to. Look into them as a business; who they are, what they\u2019re offering, how they\u2019re positioning themselves in the marketplace, who their target audience<\/a> is, and how well they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n

    No doubt that you\u2019ll have competitors in different fields – some direct competition, some indirect<\/a>, and some potential. For this exercise, we suggest starting with your direct competition as this looks more closely at the product, pricing, placement – 3 of the 4 Ps of marketing.<\/p>\n

    \"4<\/p>\n

    You can delve deeper into the promotional side of things with competitor analysis, looking into their content, SEO, PPC and more further down the line.<\/p>\n

    To perform a thorough process of competitor research<\/a>, start by looking through each of your main competitors\u2019 websites. Check the About page, analyze the messaging, and stalk their socials. However, this is just scraping the surface of the secrets and insights you can find out about your competition.<\/p>\n

    Use competitor analysis tools<\/strong><\/a> like Similarweb to dive deeper into the data, including digital performance and engagement metrics to see how your website compares.<\/p>\n

    \"digital<\/p>\n

    On top of your competitors\u2019 performance on paid and organic search, see how your target audience overlaps with that of your competitors in the Audience Analysis tool<\/a>, with visuals, other common audience interests, and data like gender and age.<\/p>\n

    \"Demographics<\/p>\n

    You can even find your competitors\u2019 top performing pages using both Popular Pages and Organic Pages. This could give you a good inclination of what USP or niche your competitors are focusing on, what\u2019s drawing your audience in, and what\u2019s getting the most page views as a result.<\/p>\n

    \"competitive-advantage-organic<\/p>\n

    Here, you\u2019ll see newegg.com\u2019s Organic Pages<\/a> – these pages are the most successful, traffic-driving pages for SEO.<\/p>\n

    As you can see, the brand doesn\u2019t focus on selling products, but also provides authoritative knowledge and help via an interactive calculator which could give them the competitive edge versus their competitors.<\/p>\n

    Step 2: Review your product offering<\/h3>\n

    Take your findings and start to look at your own product offering. Make comparisons with your prices, expenses, locations, and acquisition strategies and work out how you can fill the gaps, and <\/em>gain a competitive advantage.<\/p>\n

    Ask yourself questions like:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • What has [insert company name here] got that we don\u2019t?<\/li>\n
    • What IS our competitive advantage?<\/li>\n
    • Where is working for competitors and not us?<\/li>\n
    • Is our product reasonably priced?<\/li>\n
    • Do we have room to lower the price?<\/li>\n
    • Are we working in the most cost-effective way?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Benchmarking yourself against your competitors helps you understand your industry\u2019s standards, particularly in terms of pricing.<\/p>\n

      Step 3: Learn from your customers<\/h3>\n

      There is so much you can learn from your customers – both current and prospective. Use your sales, account management and customer success teams to gather information, insights and opinions straight from the horse\u2019s mouth.<\/p>\n

      It\u2019s likely they\u2019ve gone through their own<\/em> research, to see what the market has to offer for the solution they\u2019re looking for. During this research, they would have weighed up pros and cons of each solution to work out what stood out as best for them.<\/p>\n

      The pros could look something like:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • Lower costs<\/li>\n
      • A money-back guarantee<\/li>\n
      • Free delivery and returns<\/li>\n
      • More engagement on social media<\/li>\n
      • Higher trust and authority<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Use this knowledge to your own advantage\u2026 and to your competitive advantage. Whether your teams are speaking to them first-hand, detailing those closed\/lost deals, or sending out surveys, this information is great for understanding what your competitive edge is (and what you should work on).<\/p>\n

        Why not kill two birds with one stone and use your outreach with current customers to build on your testimonials?<\/p>\n

        Step 4: Learn how to leverage your competitive advantage<\/h3>\n

        Now you\u2019ve spotted your competitive advantage AND confirmed it with some of your clients, get working on the fourth P of marketing. Pssst.. that\u2019s \u2018promotion\u2019 for those of you that don\u2019t want to scroll up.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

        Embrace your competitive advantage; let it play a huge role in your sales and marketing strategies. Stand by it to stand out from the (very competitive) crowd.<\/p>\n

        Let\u2019s look at a few examples of companies with strong brand positioning, that promote their competitive edge openly to win more customers:<\/p>\n

        1) ASOS: Free delivery and free returns<\/h4>\n

        ASOS stands out from its online fashion competitors by offering free delivery and returns to its customers. Despite not having its own highstreet store, this customer benefit takes on in-person shopping too because it takes out the effort of visiting stores, changing rooms, queuing and more.<\/p>\n

        You can shop \u2018til you drop in your own home – except skip the dropping, because it\u2019s delivered straight to your door.<\/p>\n

        \"competitive-advantage-Shipping-focus<\/p>\n

        2) Digital performance and engagement metrics<\/h4>\n

        Buy more, but get money back? Works for me. Money is one thing in this day and age that not many people would turn their nose up at, and American Express have monopolized on that.<\/p>\n

        By forming partnerships with brands that people use day-to-day or for special occasions (luxury holidays, where you at?), it\u2019s a easy win for the customer choosing Amex.<\/p>\n