competitor-analysis

What this skill does

# Competitor Analysis

## Workspace Context

Read bootstrap context before asking questions: `strategy/brand.md` for brand, audience, offer, channels, tools, constraints, and metrics; `about/me.md` for personal voice; `content/ideas.md` and `content/calendar.md` for content planning. Use legacy product-marketing context files only as fallback. Save generated drafts to `content/<platform>/drafts/YYYY-MM-DD_short-topic-slug.md`, and route durable learnings back to `strategy/brand.md`, `about/me.md`, or `content/ideas.md`.

## Operating Contract

This skill is self-contained for its frontmatter scope: use its local instructions, references, scripts, and assets as the playbook; ask only for missing task-specific inputs; hand off to adjacent skills instead of expanding scope; and return an actionable artifact, decision, plan, draft, or diagnostic.



Comprehensive competitor analysis, competitive intelligence, and comparison page creation using structured research frameworks and data-grounded methodologies.

## Overview

Systematic competitor analysis reveals market positioning, identifies competitive advantages, informs strategic decisions, captures SEO traffic, and enables sales teams with battle cards and comparison content.

## When to Use

- Strategic product and market planning
- Creating SEO comparison pages (alternative pages, vs pages)
- Market entry and pricing strategy
- Feature prioritization and positioning
- Threat assessment and investment decisions
- Sales enablement (battle cards, objection handling)
- Competitive intelligence reports

## Initial Assessment

Before creating competitor analysis or comparison pages, understand:

1. **Your Product** - Core value proposition, differentiators, ICP, pricing, strengths/weaknesses
2. **Competitive Landscape** - Direct/indirect competitors, market positioning, search volume
3. **Goals** - SEO traffic, sales enablement, conversion, brand positioning

## Core Principles

### 1. Honesty Builds Trust
- Acknowledge competitor strengths
- Be accurate about your limitations
- Don't misrepresent competitor features
- Readers verify claims

### 2. Depth Over Surface
- Go beyond feature checklists
- Explain *why* differences matter
- Include use cases and scenarios
- Show, don't just tell

### 3. Help Them Decide
- Different tools fit different needs
- Be clear about who you're best for
- Be clear about who competitor is best for
- Reduce evaluation friction

### 4. Data-Grounded Analysis
- Every claim must have a citation
- Use primary sources when possible
- Document when data is unavailable
- Refresh quarterly

## Competitor Identification

**Competitor Types:**

| Type | Definition | Example |
|------|------------|---------|
| **Direct** | Same market, same features | Same product category, same ICP |
| **Indirect** | Different approach, same problem | Alternative solutions to the same pain |
| **Adjacent** | Related market, potential crossover | Could expand into your space |
| **Emerging** | New entrants, potential disruptors | Startups with new approaches |

## Research Workflow (6 Steps)

### Step 1: Extract Business Information

**If website URL provided:**
- Fetch and extract: company name, value proposition, target market, products, pricing, differentiators

**If details provided:**
- Parse information and identify gaps requiring web research

**Required context to gather:**
- Company name and description
- Industry/vertical
- Target customer segment (B2B/B2C, size, geography)
- Core products/services
- Pricing model
- Key value propositions

### Step 2: Define Target Customer Profile (Required)

Understanding the target customer enables accurate assessment of direct vs. indirect competitors.

**Firmographics:**
- Company size (employees, revenue range)
- Industry/vertical focus
- Geographic markets served
- Technology maturity level

**Psychographics & Pain Points:**
- Top 3-5 pain points the product addresses
- Primary goals and desired outcomes
- Current alternatives or workarounds
- Decision-making criteria
- Budgetary constraints

**Behavioral Patterns:**
- How customers currently solve this problem
- Where they search for solutions
- Typical buying process and timeline
- Key stakeholders in purchase decision

**Market Sizing (if discoverable):**
- Total addressable market (TAM) estimates
- Serviceable addressable market (SAM)
- Market growth trends

### Step 3: Identify Top 5 Competitors

Run targeted searches:
- "[company name] competitors"
- "[product category] companies"
- "[industry] [target market] solutions"
- "alternatives to [company name]"

Select based on: similar target market, overlapping offerings, comparable business model, market presence.

### Step 4: Research Each Competitor

For each competitor, gather data across four dimensions:

**4a. Market Positioning & Messaging**
- Fetch homepage and about page
- Extract: tagline, value proposition, target audience messaging
- Note: tone, positioning, key claims

**4b. Pricing & Business Model**
- Search "[competitor] pricing"
- Document: pricing tiers, model (subscription/one-time/freemium), entry price
- If not public, note this and search for indirect indicators

**4c. Product/Feature Comparison**
- Review product pages and feature lists
- Identify: core features, unique capabilities, integrations, limitations
- Note recent product launches

**4d. Funding & Company Size**
- Search "[competitor] funding" and "[competitor] company size"
- Check: Crunchbase, LinkedIn company size, press releases
- Document: funding rounds, total raised, employee count, founding year

### Step 5: Identify Market Gaps & Opportunities

**Underserved customer segments:**
- Which customer types or use cases do competitors ignore?
- Geographic, size, or industry segments with limited options?

**Feature/capability gaps:**
- What functionality is missing across all competitors?
- What do customers request that no one provides well?
- What emerging needs are competitors slow to address?

**Positioning gaps:**
- What market positions are unclaimed? ("affordable enterprise-grade", "developer-first")
- Price points without strong offerings?
- Business models competitors avoid?

Document 3-5 specific gaps with supporting evidence.

### Step 6: Synthesize Report

Generate markdown report with cited sources (see [references/competitive-analysis-framework.md](references/competitive-analysis-framework.md) for full template).

## The 7-Layer Analysis Framework

| Layer | What to Analyze | Data Source |
|-------|----------------|-------------|
| **1. Product** | Features, UX, quality | Screenshots, free trial |
| **2. Pricing** | Plans, pricing model, hidden costs | Pricing page, sales call |
| **3. Positioning** | Messaging, tagline, ICP | Website, ads |
| **4. Traction** | Users, revenue, growth | Web search, press, funding |
| **5. Reviews** | Strengths, weaknesses from users | G2, Capterra, App Store |
| **6. Content** | Blog, social, SEO strategy | Website, social profiles |
| **7. Team** | Size, key hires, background | LinkedIn, About page |

## Comparison Page Formats (for SEO)

### Format 1: [Competitor] Alternative (Singular)

**Search intent**: User actively looking to switch from specific competitor

**URL pattern**: `/alternatives/[competitor]` or `/[competitor]-alternative`

**Target keywords**: "[Competitor] alternative", "alternative to [Competitor]"

**Page structure**:
1. Why people look for alternatives
2. Summary: You as the alternative
3. Detailed comparison (features, pricing, service)
4. Who should switch (and who shouldn't)
5. Migration path
6. Social proof from switchers
7. CTA

### Format 2: [Competitor] Alternatives (Plural)

**Search intent**: User researching options, earlier in journey

**URL pattern**: `/alternatives/[competitor]-alternatives`

**Page structure**:
1. Why people look for alternatives
2. What to look for in an alternative
3. List of alternatives (you first, include 4-7 real options)
4. Comparison table
5. Detailed break