Don’t Avoid What’s Easy: It’s Where Your Competitors Are Blind: Weekly Winning Strategies
Most competitors ignore the easy stuff because they assume everyone else already sees it. That’s exactly why it could be your best opportunity.
Stop Worshipping Complexity
Many founders and strategy leads pursue complex problems, believing that if something is hard, it must be valuable—much like overthinking tasks that could be solved with a simple how many cups in a quart calculator.
When it comes to competitive intelligence, the most useful patterns are often found in the easy signals. These just don’t seem impressive enough for a pitch deck.
Here’s what we mean:
- Pricing pages that haven’t been updated in 6 months.
- Customer reviews with 3-star averages and no replies.
- Sales team turnover is buried in LinkedIn job changes.
- Product feature tables that overpromise and under-deliver.
None of this requires data science or expensive SaaS tools. It just takes attention. And 98% of your market isn’t paying it.
Case in Point: Beacons AI vs. Stan Store
Beacons AI and Stan Store both serve creators looking to monetise through bio links and digital products.
In the US, Stan Store is louder, more aggressively monetised, and faster to push out monetisation features.
On the other hand, Beacons AI looks simpler. But if you track their updates, you’ll see they release new backend integrations every three to four weeks.
Nobody’s watching that.
They’re too busy analysing total addressable market reports, dashboards and Gartner graphs.
But here’s the simple clue: Beacons is winning over Stan’s users by fixing basic UI problems that creators didn’t even realise bothered them.
You would see this if you just tracked app reviews and browser plugin activity.
Still, most strategy teams see that as work for junior staff.
What You Call “Low-Hanging Fruit” Is Actually White Space
Last year, we worked with a client in the B2B scheduling software space—let’s call them ScheduleRight. They were losing ground to a competitor because they focused too much on building ‘enterprise-ready integrations.’
Meanwhile, the competitor kept winning demos with one basic feature:
Shared calendar links that didn’t require a login.
ScheduleRight thought that was too basic to prioritise.
After four months of losing leads, with our help, they finally took a closer look. That ‘basic’ feature made up 30% of their competitor’s new users.
It turns out that simplicity sells, especially when everyone else is focused on ‘strategic differentiation.’
Here’s What the Easy Stuff Looks Like in the Wild
If you want to understand your market better, this is where you could start:
1. Watch Product Release Notes
Most early-stage companies publish changelogs publicly.
Follow them. Map them.
If your competitor ships 2 features a month and then slows to 1 every 6 weeks, that tells you something.
No need for sentiment analysis. Just track the obvious. Things that most will not see or just ignore.
2. Scrape and Compare Job Boards
The roles they hire for show what they’ll build next.
If they’re hiring backend engineers with payments experience, they’re not building “community features.”
They’re working on monetisation.
Yes, this is basic. That’s exactly why most people ignore it.
3. Check What Founders Are Liking on Twitter
Founders signal their roadmap interests in public without realising it.
Every retweet, like, and follow paints a picture of what’s influencing their thinking.
You don’t need deep analysis to follow the scent.
4. Google Caches Their Pricing Page Every Month
Tools like Wayback Machine or Google Cache let you see what changed and when.
Even small pricing changes can show you who they’re targeting and whether they’re testing new segments.
5. Read 3-Star Reviews on G2 and Capterra
These are gold. 1-star reviews are angry. 5-star reviews are fake.
Three-star reviews reveal what users wish the product could do and what your next feature should be.
6. Track Traffic to Documentation Pages
Tools like SimilarWeb or even Ahrefs can give you insights into which help centre pages or docs are getting the most traffic.
That shows you what customers struggle with and what your competitor still hasn’t fixed
When Everyone’s Looking Upmarket, Look Under Their Feet
Big companies fixate on moving upmarket.
They want enterprise logos, long-term deals, and ARR credibility.
This leaves the lower end of the market wide open, especially if the main player starts to ignore it.
Look at what Podia is doing in the creator education space.
As Teachable and Thinkific chase enterprise course creators, Podia quietly wins over freelancers and niche coaches with simple, friendly UX and fast support.
Podia’s not trying to win “market leadership.”
They’re focused on winning the easy customers that others now overlook.
And it’s working.
Stop Believing Competitive Advantage Has to Be Complicated
It doesn’t. It just means:
- Seeing what others dismiss.
- Acting where others hesitate.
- Executing befThe easy things might seem obvious, but if no one else is taking them, that’s where you can get the biggest advantage.ain the most advantage.
But it is.
Most of your competitors are stuck in strategy decks, investor narratives, and six-month planning cycles.
They’re too busy making it complicated.
Take action now. Notice what others miss, move quickly, and grab the opportunities your competitors leave behind.
FAQs
What is the best way to start a competitor analysis?
Start with basics: pricing, reviews, jobs, changelogs. Most insights come from surface-level data, not analytics.
Why do most competitor analyses fail?
They overcomplicate processes and ignore obvious signals. Teams focus on theoretical positioning instead of real user behaviour and product decisions.
What tools can help with simple competitor tracking?
Use Google Alerts, Wayback Machine, LinkedIn, and public job boards. For traffic data, try SimilarWeb or Ahrefs. These basic tools uncover what you actually need.
How do you analyse competitor product strategy?
Watch release notes, follow developer changelogs, and monitor feature rollouts. Combine this with hiring data to predict what they’re building next.
Why is it smart to focus on the “easy” parts of competitive intelligence?
Because most companies ignore them. Simple signals like 3-star reviews or pricing changes tell you exactly what users want—and what competitors aren’t fixing.
How often should you update your competitor research?
Monthly. Most markets move too fast for quarterly updates. Set up basic trackers to monitor key signals weekly, and do deeper reviews once a month.
What are examples of companies winning by doing the basics right?
Podia, Beacons AI, and ScheduleRight all won market share by focusing on customer friction that others ignored. They didn’t innovate—they listened.
Can smaller businesses compete using simple intelligence tactics?
Absolutely. Smaller teams move faster, and simple intelligence tactics let them react before larger players even notice the shift.
How can competitive intelligence improve go-to-market strategy?
It tells you where your competitors are weak, what users complain about, and which features to copy or avoid. Real market data > internal assumptions.
What are the warning signs that your competitors are struggling?
Slower feature releases, high employee turnover, discount pricing changes, and a lack of engagement on product support forums. All is visible if you’re paying attention.
