{D} 80: My competitor map, part 1

A useful tool for analyzing the value propositions in your marketplace

When you’re first dropped into a project, you usually have no idea where you are.

Well, you’re probably on a zoom.

But I mean in terms of the work!

You’re likely encountering a new client, in an unfamiliar industry, with maybe a set of new co-workers.

This situation recurs whether you’re doing content strategy, or strategy strategy, and it’s true whether you’re freelancing a project or heading up a team internally. The beginning is always the time of the most uncertainty. Oh brave new world, Caliban, that has such people in’t!

Which is why, to get the lay of the land, I use a map. I call this map my Competitive Audit and Value Prop Analysis Tool.

This tool:

• Provides a standardized structure for auditing competitors’ brands

• Shows you how to create back-of-the envelope value propositions for each of the competitors your audited

• Helps you to compare those value props, so you make decisions about your positioning more quickly

The output is an elegant this vs. that, which shows your team (or your client) how everybody in the market is competing.

This is how I intentionally go about researching any competitive landscape I’m just now, for the first time, encountering.

---

---

Quite simply, this is a structured way of doing competitive audit + positioning research, providing a powerful way to compare apples to oranges.

Example use cases:

• You’re an agency strategist, and you need a way to show your team how and why your client’s competitors are targeting different segments with different benefits

• You’re a consultant, and you need to understand how competitors are approaching their customers so you can find whitespace

• You’re a content strategist, and you need to understand the different ways your competitors are messaging your audience

Beyond competitive intelligence, I’ve also found that thinking about competitive value props in this manner can help you create your own.

I’ve also included, inside, an example of how I recently used this tool for some work in the travel industry:

If this is your cuppa earl grey, make a copy of my Competitive Audit and Value Prop Analysis Tool with the big pink button below: