Competitor analysis: the questions we get asked most

Every audit we run turns up some version of this. The questions about competitor analysis that come up most often on our calls.

Strategy work is mostly deciding what not to do, and writing it down so it stays decided. Assume whoever inherits this will have half your context and none of your patience.

Do we need to care about this?

Look for the gaps, not just for what to copy. This is the sort of thing that compounds, quietly, in both directions. Anything you cannot measure here, you are deciding by taste, which is fine as long as everyone knows it.

Can it wait until after launch?

Occasionally. More often the post-launch version costs several times the pre-launch one. This is the sort of thing that compounds, quietly, in both directions.

How do we know it is working?

Check what they rank for that you do not. None of that requires a large budget, only a decision and someone to own it. Assume whoever inherits this will have half your context and none of your patience.

The short version

Clear scope protects the client at least as much as it protects the agency. Three things worth confirming about competitor analysis before you move on:

• Someone can say what the current setup is without going to look
• Their weaknesses are your positioning — and you know whether that is true here
• There is a way to tell whether the last change to this helped

Worth checking on your own setup before it becomes someone else's problem to fix.