If the thought of doing a competitive analysis does your head in, we get it. It sounds time-consuming, and just straight-up boring. But if you want to build a strong, competitive brand—and own your portion of the market—it’s a mandatory exercise.

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Luckily, if you’ve never done one before (or if you need to update your current competitive analysis), you’re in good hands. We’ve created this guide to complete a competitive analysis, as well as a Free Notion Template, to do it quickly and easily. Let’s get into it.

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What Is a Competitive Analysis?

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It's a method for identifying your competitors, understanding their positioning, analysing how they present themselves, and evaluating their strengths and weaknesses in relation to your own.

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Why Should You Do a Competitive Analysis?

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To gain a clear, objective understanding of your competition—allowing you to differentiate yourself and position your brand for success. A thorough competitive analysis helps you recognise both the similarities and differences between your competition, helping you identify the unique ways you can stand out.

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When Should You do a Competitive Analysis?

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The best time to do this is when launching a new brand. The next best opportunity is during a brand refresh. But if you’ve never done it before, the best time is now.

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How to Do a Competitive Analysis in 6 Steps

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Your competitive analysis can be as broad or as detailed as you need. We prefer to keep things simple, so for this article, we’ll take a quicker approach. However, you can always go deeper if necessary. The aim isn’t to create an in-depth report on every competitor but to gather key insights that clarify who they are, how they communicate, and how your brand stacks up against them.

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Step 1: Duplicate Your Free Competitive Analysis Notion Template

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To make the process easier and show you what key details to track, we've designed a handy Notion template, which you can use to document as many competitors as necessary.

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Step 2: Collate a List of Competitors

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Do a brain dump of everyone you can think of (or find) in your space, including people who could be perceived as competitors.

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Step 3: Divide Them Into Two Groups

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Split your list by competitor type: current and aspirational.

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• Current competitors: Brands that operate in your space and directly compete with you.
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• Aspirational competitors: Industry leaders or brands you aspire to compete with, like the Nikes and Apples of your field.

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Step 4: Work Through the Template

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Now it’s time to examine your competitors by analysing all aspects of their brand, from their tagline and values to their visual identity (logo, colours, typography, etc.). As you’ll see in the template, this includes:

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• Brand DNA (purpose, vision, mission, values)
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• Similarities and differences
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• Strength and weaknesses
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• Products and services
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• Value proposition
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• Etc.

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We like to keep the competitive analysis simple, but some prefer to dive into the details—it all depends on how much time and capacity you have for this process. The more in-depth your analysis, the better you'll be able to categorise your competition. That said, your main goal is to identify key similarities and differences, so use whatever approach works best for you.

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Even with a high-level review, you’ll start noticing patterns in how competitors operate, whether it’s similarities in visual identity (for example, both Netflix and YouTube use red in the video-streaming space) or messaging (such as emphasising features over price). These insights are crucial for refining your own positioning.

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Step 5: Articulate Your Own Identity

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Work through the same elements for your current brand. If you're just starting out, it’s fine if some items aren’t fully articulated yet. This exercise will help you pinpoint areas for growth and improvement.

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Keep in-mind, as your brand grows, it’s important to find a balance between:

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• Adopting strategies used by aspirational competitors (e.g., focusing on value)
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• Steering clear of strategies used by brands you don’t want to compete with (e.g., competing on price)

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The key is to achieve this while staying true to your brand’s originality and authenticity.

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Step 6: Identify Your Niche

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Once you’ve got a general idea of every brand’s attributes, grab a piece of paper and start visualising your position in the market with a Cartesian chart. (This helps you actually “see” where you sit on the spectrum.)

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Do several variations, plotting your competitors based on different polarities, like:

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• Low cost vs. high cost
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• Low quality vs. high quality
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• Traditional vs. contemporary
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• People-focused vs. automated/scalable
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• Niche vs. comprehensive
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• Etc.

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By the end of this exercise, you’ll have a clear understanding of both your competitors and your own brand. You should also be able to confidently answer this key question: Why should a customer choose your products or services over the competition?

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Refine Your Brand Strategy to Help You Win

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After finishing your competitive analysis, you can refine or create a new brand strategy that clearly conveys who you are, what you do, and why it matters—helping you establish a strong presence in the market. Here’s some next steps to get started:

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• Identify Your Target Market. Learn how to craft personas that help you connect with your target customer.
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• Adjust Your Strategy. Use your findings to strengthen your brand identity, messaging, and value proposition.
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• Test and Iterate. Apply your insights to marketing, pricing, and customer experience, and track results to see what resonates.

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And if you need help at any stage, remember, you can start with our Free Competitive Analysis Notion Template, or hit us up directly. We’re always keen to chat.

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