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7 Tips for Completing a Competitive Audit
A great way to refine your idea and your target audience
A few months ago you had a brilliant idea. And since then it’s just been stewing in your head. “Why has no one done this before?” you think to yourself. Finally, you begin to see the idea as an opportunity and feel compelled to make it a reality.
Whether it’s a new app for art lovers, a new audio editing service to help podcasters, or a new restaurant featuring a cuisine not currently available in your hometown, chances are your idea is not as novel as you may think.
But novelty is not what makes an idea great. In fact, learning from others who have already put your idea into action can help you create a better product sooner. So take advantage of all your competitors have to offer by running an audit.
A competitive audit is an inspection and analysis of your competitors’ products and/or services. And it’s not as scary as it may sound.
A quick and dirty competitive analysis may only take an afternoon.
To get started, here’s a template you can use provided by Google. Keep in mind that Google is a tech company, and thus their template is based on tech products, like websites and mobile apps. Thus, some of their columns may not make sense for you. Feel free to edit the template accordingly.
While completing the audit, here are some tips to consider.
1. Set a clear goal
“Compare and contrast my idea to my competitors” is not a clear and specific audit goal. Rather, you can say “Analyze the marketing strategies of my competitors” or “Compare the pricing strategies of my competitors”. Do what matters to you. What does your idea need the most work on?
A competitive audit can be completed at any stage of a business. If you’re just starting off, it may be difficult to nail down a specific goal, so you can start with “Compare how the core offerings of my competitors are…
