Why you should learn from your competitors

[Jasz]

Competition is a fact of life. It's how you react to it that matters. There are two ways to approach competition: You can either ignore it and hope it goes away or you can learn from it.

You might think the latter sounds like a waste of time. After all, if your competitors are doing something that's working well for them, why would you want to copy them?

But in reality, competition shows us what people want, what they're willing to pay for and how we should position our products and services in the marketplace.

Here are five reasons why learning from your competitors is essential:

1. It helps you understand what customers want and need
When you look at what your competitors are doing, you'll see real-world evidence of what people want — which is valuable insight into what your customers want as well. You can then use this information to inform your own marketing campaigns and develop new features for your products or services.

2. It shows you where there's room for improvement

If your competitors are offering something that customers love but your company isn't, then there's an opening for improvement in the market — especially if their product has been out for some time now and hasn't seen any significant changes yet.

 

[Holicent]

When you're learning from your competitors, it's important to understand their strengths and weaknesses, the market trends they're following and the overall strategies they're using.

You can learn a lot about your competitors by reading their blog posts, analyzing their social media accounts and observing their web designs. But how do you know which of these tactics are working for them?

You need to look at the results. Specifically, what are they doing that works? What isn't working as well?

What is Working for Your Competitors?

You can find out what's working for your competitors by studying their sales funnel: how they attract visitors and convert them into customers.

For example, if one competitor has a high percentage of sales on its homepage but another has a higher average order value, that could mean that the first competitor is getting lots of new customers who aren't ready to buy yet while the second is selling more expensive products or services.

 

[Shaf]

I think this is one of the most underestimated ways of building a successful business. Whichever stage your business is in and whatever you want to know, you can find out what works and the mistakes to avoid by observing and studying your competition.

A good way to use competition to your advantage is to stand out. If you do something that is different from the norm, you can get more attention and more sales. You can also focus on solving issues that customers have with the competition. This can serve as an excellent selling point for you.

Sometimes competitors cam even work together to achieve common goals. Trade unions and groups that serve the best interest of your niche can help in dealing with unfavorable government policies, can help in sourcing raw materials cheap or setting the selling price such that it benefits everyone. This is where you go to if you have any problems related to yirn business.

 

[Forse]

It's an obvious fact that you need to use your competitors' products. You need to know what consumers/companies are comparing you to when making purchasing decisions. They will consider many factors, and you should know them - in terms of their importance not only to sales and marketing, but also to your product design process.

Studying a competitor gives you the opportunity to evaluate your choices in a completely different context. When you make product decisions, you do so in the context of your company, strategy, business model and people/talent. What if you change any of that? That's what knowing the competition allows you to do, and mostly for free (no consultants or top-secret research needed).