Competitive analysis template
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Track and analyze what your competitors do to stand out in a crowded landscape
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In today’s competitive landscape, you often go head-to-head with your competition to win the loyalty of the same customer base. A competitive analysis template can help you come out on top by walking you through a detailed analysis of what your competition offers, from pricing and messaging to how many followers they have on Instagram.
Completing this competitive analysis gives you a clear idea of how you can differentiate your company and rise above the crowd. How’s that for a one-two punch?!
What is a competitive analysis template?
A competitive analysis template helps you understand what makes your competitors tick. It serves as a blueprint that allows you to map out exactly who you're up against and what they're doing right (or wrong).
The template provides a structured way to gather information about your competitors—from their pricing strategies to their marketing moves—so you can make smarter decisions about your business.
Every business relies on having a great product, but it's not enough. You need to know how you stack up against others trying to win over the same customers.
By systematically tracking and analyzing your competitors with a competitive analysis template, you can identify gaps in the market, avoid their mistakes, and discover opportunities they might have missed. This can help you brainstorm new ways to dominate your market and outmaneuver the competition.
Types of competitive analysis
One size doesn't fit all when it comes to sizing up your competition. Let's take a look at the different types of competitive analysis examples you can choose from:
Direct: A direct competitive analysis examines businesses that sell similar products or services. For example, consider Coke vs. Pepsi, both of which target the same customers. A direct competitive analysis might examine specific features, pricing strategies, and market share to help you understand how you compare to your closest rivals.
Indirect: An indirect competitive analysis focuses on businesses that might solve the same problem differently. For example, a movie theater competes indirectly with Netflix. Both provide entertainment but through different channels. An indirect competitive analysis might reveal alternative solutions customers use, helping you identify unique ways to add value or identify emerging trends in your industry.
SWOT: A SWOT analysis evaluates your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It reflects on your business while monitoring what's happening around you.
Competitive analysis examples
Here are some examples of competitive analysis in action to show how different businesses might use this template in real-world scenarios.
Coffee shop: A local coffee shop might use the competitive analysis template to track nearby competitors’ drink prices, menu variety, and peak hours. They might discover their rival’s morning rush is slower, but lunch hours are packed, leading them to launch an aggressive breakfast promotion. The same approach could work for any retail business studying customer traffic patterns.
Software company: A project management startup analyzes competing products by their features. They find that while competitors offer more integrations, their user interface is significantly easier. This insight drives their marketing message: “The simple solution for complex projects.”
Fitness center: A boutique gym maps out competing facilities’ class schedules and membership tiers. They notice that no competitors offer late-evening classes, revealing an opportunity to capture the after-work crowd. Their pricing analysis shows that they can charge premium rates for these convenient time slots.
E-commerce: An online retailer examines competitors’ shopping policies and return processes. They find that while their prices are slightly higher, they could stand out by offering the fastest shipping in their category. This guides their decision to invest in improved logistics rather than price cuts.
Restaurant: A new dining spot analyzes competing restaurants’ online presence and delivery services. They discover that while competitors have better dine-in ambiance, their takeout services are lacking. This prompts them to develop a superior online ordering system and dedicated pickup area.
Benefits of using a competitive template
Clarifies market positioning
A competitive analysis clearly shows your position in the market. It highlights everything from pricing strategies to feature sets, offering valuable insights into what sets your product apart or where you might need improvement.
Understanding your market position directly informs your business strategy. For example, if you discover that you're the only premium-priced option, you might decide to focus on luxury features or adjust pricing to appeal to more cost-conscious consumers. On the other hand, discovering that you offer the fastest delivery times could become a key selling point in your marketing campaigns.
Need a deeper look at where you stand? Our gap analysis template can help you identify and address key differences.
Streamlines decision-making
By conducting a competitive analysis, you gain quick access to all the data needed to make informed decisions. Whether it’s about pricing, features, or marketing strategies, having a clear comparison at your fingertips accelerates the decision-making process.
This efficiency allows teams to spend less time gathering data and more time implementing strategies. A faster decision-making process keeps your business agile and responsive to ever-changing market conditions.
Promotes growth
A solid competitive analysis helps you spot growth opportunities you might otherwise miss. Maybe you notice that none of your competitors are serving a particular customer segment, or there's a feature gap you could fill.
These insights can guide your project planning and help you choose a direction, allowing you to create a truly effective action plan.
Enhances collaboration
When your team can access the same competitive insights, they can work together better. Improved project collaboration means marketing knows what messages will stand out, product development understands which features to prioritize, and sales can better explain your unique value to customers.
This shared understanding fosters alignment across departments, reducing miscommunication and ensuring everyone works toward common goals. By centralizing competitive insights, teams can collectively identify and address overlapping opportunities or challenges, leading to more cohesive and effective strategies.
Boosts strategic planning
Your competitive analysis findings become the foundation for smarter strategic planning. By understanding competitor pricing trends, feature rollouts, and market shifts, you can build strategies that anticipate where your industry is heading rather than just reacting to changes.
This data makes forecasting market changes and setting goals easier. For instance, you might bump your AI development timeline if you spot multiple competitors investing in AI features. Alternatively, if competitors struggle to serve enterprise clients, you might prioritize building your enterprise solution first.
Ready to turn insights into action? Check out our strategic plan template to get started.
How to use the competitive analysis template
- 1
Complete your competitor profile
In the top table of the template, write the competitor's name, the date the analysis was completed, and who did it (so everybody knows who to approach with questions). In the same table, you’ll also rate this competitor's weight: tier one for major competitors, tier two for moderate competitors, and tier three for minor competitors.
Underneath that, fill in a brief competitor profile. Here’s where you’ll cover the nuts and bolts of information about that opposing company, such as its mission, key objectives, company size, and revenue.
- 2
Discover your competitive advantage
The goal of a competitive analysis is not just to understand your competitor. It’s to determine how you’re better than them and showcase your benefits.
In the Competitive Advantage section of the template, put on your critical thinking cap and identify your competitive edge. Do you have more advanced features? A longer history of proven success? Testimonials from trusted authorities in your industry? Whatever makes you special, jot it down in this space.
- 3
Compare your target markets and market share
You already know that you and your competitors are going after the same win, but in this section, you’re going to see just how closely your target markets align. Fill in the chart to identify your competitor's target market, specific verticals, and market share.
Then, do the same for your company to see where you overlap and differ. There’s also a section for additional commentary so that you have space to record your insights and observations as you go through this exercise.
- 4
Compare your product offerings
It’s time to focus on the star of the show: your product offering. Use this section to compare your product to your competitors’ by jotting down your product overview, positioning, and pricing and then doing the same for the opposing company.
The bottom of the table has space for you to compare specific core features. This helps you identify what makes your product different, highlighting that value in your marketing and leaving your competitors in the dust.
- 5
Dig into your marketing strategies
When trying to promote your product (and drown out your competitors), you must be strategic about your marketing channels. This is the largest table in the template, and it gives you ample space to compare your competitors' strategies in those channels with your own.
Include as many details for each channel as possible, from the number of their Twitter followers to the words they use to describe themselves. Take your time here, and you’ll be sure to uncover some clever ways to make your marketing stand out.
- 6
Conduct a SWOT analysis
Wrap up your competitive analysis with some self-reflection. The final table is a SWOT analysis where you’ll get honest about your company or product’s strengths (you have an established customer base), weaknesses (you’re more expensive than your competitors), opportunities (there’s an entire customer vertical that you haven’t tapped into yet), and threats (your competitor is rolling out new features).
Identifying risks and areas where you’re falling short can be brutal, but it’s valuable information as you figure out how to rise to the top of the heap when the competition is stiff.
Dive deeper into SWOT analysis with this comprehensive SWOT analysis template.
Get started with the competitive analysis template in Confluence
Confluence is a connected workspace that empowers teams to create, organize, and share knowledge. Easily create content, like dynamic pages, collaborative whiteboards, structured databases, and engaging videos. Pull in all your work to reduce context-switching and turn scattered information into a single source of truth.
Keep track of your competitors with Confluence, where you get a central hub your whole team can use to dive into competitive research and stay on the same page. Start by creating Confluence pages for each competitor you're tracking. Then, bring your team together to collaborate on a Confluence page in real-time.
Plus, with Confluence's 100+ templates, you're not starting from scratch. Your team can jump right in and focus on what matters — outsmarting the competition.
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