Introduction
In this article we’ll touch on why it is important to keep pace with your market and understand what’s going on/might happen next. We’ll include competitor analysis, target audience research and trends monitoring and more.
Marketing is all about adding value to your customers and clients in a unique way that your competitors can’t or don’t. Let’s enhance your competitive advantage!
Purpose
Remind you or introduce you to (if this is new) to some of the fundamental things you must do to ensure the long-term sustainability of your business.
These techniques will be useful for those that are:
- Looking to win in market versus their competitors.
- Drive sustainable growth.
- Developing their growth strategies and marketing plans.
- Building a business plan to borrow money or raise funding.
Marketing/Business 101
Bottom line in business is that you need to
- Provide a product or service that people value enough to pay you for.
- Make a good profit from delivering said product or service.
- Supporting the above is being different from your competition, so people choose you above them!
More than ever in today’s competitive business landscape, staying ahead of your competitors is crucial for sustained success. One of the most effective ways to gain a competitive edge is through market research. By conducting thorough competitor analysis, target audience research, and trends monitoring, you can gather invaluable insights to inform your business strategies and make data-driven decisions.
If you take just one thing from this article – don’t rely on old opinions, invest the time to understand the needs of your customers.
1. Decide which Market you operate in.
This at face value is a simple question. I blend and sell tea, surely, I’m in the tea market? Yes, and is my answer. Of course, you are and it’s wise to know what’s going on in your immediate obvious market space.
I would like to think what your product or service competes with in the eyes of the consumer. Back to our tea example you might complete with other hot drinks at certain occasions e.g. coffee or hot chocolate. A simple way to look at this is either in terms of money or time as these are key influencers of choice for most people – especially time which is a finite resource.
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2. Conduct Competitor Analysis.
Analysing your competitors is essential for understanding their strengths, weaknesses, and strategies. By conducting a comprehensive competitor analysis, you can identify what sets your rivals apart and uncover opportunities for improvement.
Here are some steps to follow:
- Identify your competitors: Begin by identifying both direct and indirect competitors. Direct competitors offer similar products or services, while indirect competitors cater to the same target audience but provide different solutions.
- Analyse their offerings: Study your competitors’ products, services, pricing, and marketing strategies. Look for unique value propositions (UVPs) and areas where you can differentiate yourself. You’ll also need to consider the consumer perspective which we’ll come onto next.
- Evaluate their online presence: Examine their websites, social media profiles, and online reviews. Assess their brand positioning, customer engagement strategies, and overall online reputation. Top tip – what customer love and hate about them from reviews is a great source of insight. B. Whilst it’s great to know what Strategies they use; don’t immediately assume they are the right ones for you!
- Identify gaps and opportunities: Identify gaps in the market that your competitors may have overlooked. Look for areas where you can offer better value, improve customer experience, or fill unmet needs. Is there something they just can’t deliver?
3. Conduct market analysis.
Where competitor analysis identifies strengths and weakness of your competition. Looking at the market enables you to draw out the opportunities and threats you face at a macro level. Looking at market size, market forecasts and market growth trends.
- Look at past trends and seek to understand what influences them. For example, what has happened to the market in a previous economic downturn, could provide you some valuable insights.
- Look at market forecasts. There are numerous free resources to tap into to get an idea of economic outlook, such as https://www.ons.gov.uk and https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics . There are of course many more and a quick google search will no doubt support your efforts. If there are specific resources, you use and find valuable do highlight them for others in the comments below. Companies like Mintel also produce industry specific reports. If investing in these is beyond your current means then explore resources on hand at business libraries, such as the Business & IP Centre at the British Library.
- Leverage any trade organisations and publications that are already conducting this work on behalf of the industry sector. There will be conferences you can join and groups you can tap into on Linked In.
Of course, you won’t always find a report that is perfect for your business in your locality e.g. The outlook for coffee shops in Hertfordshire! So, start with what you know and by piecing bits of the puzzle together. You might start with population growth in the area. Knowing who you are targeting look at that group. Are they well served? Then consider broader factors such as will the change in Hybrid working create more opportunities or less for me? Remember you are seeking direction and a deeper understanding of opportunity and potential risk, not perfection! Top tip: If you make a whole string of assumptions (as we often have to) to feed into a business plan; write them down so you can explain them to others – a coach supporting you to build the plan or an investor seeking to understand your rationale for the numbers.
4. Target Audience Research.
Understanding your target audience is vital for effective marketing and customer acquisition. By conducting thorough target audience research, you can tailor your products, services, and messaging to meet their specific needs.
Here’s how you can do it:
- Define your target audience: Develop buyer personas by segmenting your target audience based on demographics, psychographics, and behaviour patterns. Understand their pain points, motivations, and preferences. It helps to really get under the skin of consumers – the more you know about how they think and what’s important to them the easier it will be to get through to them.
A depth of customer knowledge is a commonly overlooked competitive advantage!
- Conduct surveys and interviews: Gather feedback directly from your target audience through surveys, interviews, or focus groups. Ask open-ended questions to gain deep insights into their challenges and expectations. What do they love and hate about the products/services on the market yours and your competitors?
- Analyse data and trends: Utilise market research tools and data analytics to uncover trends, preferences, and purchasing behaviours of your target audience. Stay updated with market reports, industry publications, and relevant statistics. If you are an SME with limited access to reports the internet is your friend and you can learn so much from Google and Pinterest. For example, Google trends is a free tool that allows you to track the popularity of search terms over time. You can use Google Trends to see what people are searching for, and how those searches have changed over time. Another great one is the Pinterest Trends tool – another free tool that allows you to see the top trending topics on Pinterest. You can filter the trends by category, country, and language.
- Monitor the performance of your products and services utilising simple tools and trackers such as a NPS survey. Net Promoter Score – How likely are you to recommend us?
- Refine your marketing strategies: Use the insights gained from your target audience research to craft personalised marketing campaigns, develop compelling messaging, and deliver a seamless customer experience. If you know exactly who you are talking to, their preferences, Likes and dislikes it’s so much easier to have a CONVERSATION with them. I deliberately use the term conversation here as social media is often part of the mix and this requires trye engagement i.e. Is a two-way conversation.
- Refine your products and services if necessary!
5. What’s going on in the World.
We operate in a world market where so much is connected. So, whilst we will never know everything – It does pay to keep pace with the things that could directly influence your business, your customers, or your suppliers. Here is a really simple way of looking at it…
- What could impact supply?
- What could impact demand?
- What could impact price?
Knowing these would allow you to focus on the right contingency or implement changes to ensure you survive and thrive in an ever-changing global economy.
Conclusion
What’s interesting is that many know that a better understanding of our consumer, competition and market trends is a great source of competitive advantage; yet less act and invest the proper time they could in this!
Action
What will you do differently now to enhance your competitive advantage?
Could you spend more time ON the business?
What would enable this?
Please share your comments & questions.
By James Gentle
Join the NoLimits Business Community
Are you a business owner looking to take your business to the next level? Join our innovative community of like-minded professionals and gain access to a wealth of valuable resources, including a community portal to chat with other business owners, ebooks, business development software, and growth events that will transform the way you do business. Best of all, these resources are completely free and will be available to you forever.
But the benefits of joining our NoLimits business community don’t stop there. By becoming part of our community, you’ll have the opportunity to connect with other business owners, share insights and ideas, and build valuable relationships that will help your business thrive. Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity to supercharge your business and join us today!