How to uncover your competitors go-to-market strategy
This week’s winning competitive strategies article discusses go-to-market strategies. To uncover your competitors go-to-market strategy, you must examine their business model in depth. This work involves analysing their marketing channels and sales processes. Their customer segmentation and product positioning. Understanding your competitor’s strategy is crucial because it provides insights into market trends. It often reveals potential gaps in your approach. It has a habit of offering you an opportunity to differentiate your product or service. And importantly, it can also reveal discourse between three things:
- What does their marketing team tell the world what is their go-to-market strategy is
- What the salesperson actually says what their go-to-market strategy is
- What their customer think their go-to-market strategy is
The difference should be quite telling, revealing a few things about their culture and communications. It shows that battle cards are only worthwhile if they are based on the real world. It allows you to exploit what their customers think and what they actually want. Or what you need to say to get them to become your customers.
So how to do it
So here’s how to do it:
Buy competitive intelligence software, press that button, and bingo, it’s all laid out for you. Maybe not. If only life were so simple.
So again, here’s how to do it:
Basic Research
- Start with broad market research to understand the industry landscape.
- Use tools like industry reports, market surveys, and customer feedback to gather intel.
- Read their websites, brochures, and other stuff they produce to attract more customers.
Digital Footprint Analysis
Look at their online presence. Assess their social media, other websites that mention them, blog content, and online advertising. This digital analysis reveals a lot about their target audience and marketing tactics.
Sales Strategy Evaluation
Analyse how they sell. Are they using direct sales, channel partners, or e-commerce platforms? Are they still using a fresh-faced, unmotivated and bored graduate to go through a demo? Or worse, another more junior graduate to determine if you are worthy of a demo? Understanding their sales channels can reveal much about their market approach. You will soon see that you can do better, and differentiating is relatively easy.
Customer Feedback and Reviews
Check customer reviews and feedback on platforms like:
- Yelp
- Glassdoor
- Industry forums
These actions provide insights into what customers value in their offering.
Pricing and Positioning
Look at how they price and position their products or services. Is there a pricing strategy at play? Or has someone just put their finger in the air to see what sticks? Are they positioned as a premium brand or a cost leader? This can tell you about their target market segments.
Talk to them
Talk to your competitors, review their go-to-market strategy, and analyse what’s good about it and what you can learn from it.
uncovering your competitor’s go-to-market strategy
Remember, the importance of this analysis lies in its application. It’s important to write down what you find in a simple report and compare what they do with what you do. Isolate what you think their actual go-to-market is. Try doing this before looking at what their website messaging tells you. Use these insights to refine your strategy, fill gaps in the market, and uniquely position your brand. This isn’t about copying what others do but about learning from the market to carve out your own space. And yeah, it’s about stealing their customers once they realise what a great alternative you are.
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