Competitor Mapping: What Is It & How To Do It

 Learn which unique selling point to leverage against your organic competitors by competitor mapping. Here's a step-by-step guide to do it.

Competitor analysis is often the first place new businesses turn for market and keyword research.

However, many new businesses struggle to gain much value from competitor analysis because they often don’t track the correct variables or understand how to interpret their data.

Fortunately, visualizing competitive analysis results into readable charts, graphs, and maps offers marketers an easy way to learn more about their competitors and their business.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through the basic steps of creating a competitor map, and give you my favorite tricks to help you learn more in the process.

What Is Competitor Mapping?

Competitor mapping refers to the process of identifying and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of a company's competitors in order to gain a competitive advantage. It involves gathering and analyzing information on key aspects of a competitor's business such as their products, pricing, marketing strategies, target audience, and more. The aim of competitor mapping is to understand the competitive landscape, identify potential threats and opportunities, and develop effective strategies for business growth and success.

The Benefits Of Competitor Mapping

Competitor mapping provides several benefits to a company, including:

1. Improved decision-making: By understanding the competitive landscape, companies can make more informed decisions on their business strategies, product development, pricing, and marketing.
2. Increased competitiveness: Competitor mapping helps companies identify opportunities to differentiate themselves and stay ahead of the competition.
3. Better market understanding: By analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of competitors, companies can gain a deeper understanding of the market and customer preferences.
4. Improved customer satisfaction: By staying informed about what competitors are offering, companies can identify ways to improve customer satisfaction and retain existing customers.
5. Improved product development: By understanding what competitors offer, companies can identify areas for improvement in their own products and services, leading to better product development.
6. Better allocation of resources: Companies can use competitor mapping to prioritize their resources and allocate them to areas where they can have the biggest impact on their competitiveness.

How To Build A Competitor Map

Building a competitor map involves the following steps:

1. Identify your competitors: Determine who your main competitors are and gather information on their products, services, target audience, and market position.
2. Gather data: Collect data on key aspects of each competitor's business, including their strengths, weaknesses, products, pricing, marketing strategies, and target audience.
3. Analyze the data: Evaluate the data collected to identify patterns, trends, and opportunities.
4. Determine the level of competition: Assess the level of competition in the market and categorize competitors as direct, indirect, or substitute.
5. Develop a map: Represent the information gathered in a visual format, such as a chart or diagram, to create a competitor map.
6. Evaluate and update the map regularly: Regularly review and update the competitor map to reflect changes in the market and the competitive landscape.

It's important to note that competitor mapping should be an ongoing process to ensure that companies stay informed about the competitive landscape and can make informed decisions to stay ahead of the competition.