How analysing your competitors can make your copy better

Our brands don’t exist in a vacuum. Even if we’re the first to market with a new idea, we face indirect competition from other solutions to the problem we solve for our customers. (For example, when Uber first started, they didn’t face competition from the likes of Lyft and Bolt, so their competitors were black cabs, minicabs and public transport.)

We spend a lot of time immersing ourselves in our customer’s world. Who are they? What do they care about? What influences them to buy? So it makes sense that we’d spend some time understanding the landscape in which they make a decision to choose us (or not). Who else can help them? What are they saying? How are they saying it? 

That’s why competitor analysis is so important to brand success. I recommend it to all my clients, whether we’re writing a bit of web copy or tinkering with tone of voice. Because once you understand that landscape, you better know your place in it and how your brand works within your customer’s world.  

When should a brand do competitor analysis?

Competitor analysis is super helpful for any brand at any stage. If you’re just starting out it can help you understand the current market and where you might like to position yourself. For more established brands, it’s good to do regular analysis to maintain your current position or shift to adapt to changing market trends. If you’re undergoing a rebrand, competitor analysis is essential to ensure your new direction is strategically sound.

What to do

Start by identifying your competitors. This might be easy or it might need a bit of thought. There’s no such thing as having no competitors, so think about the Uber example and ask yourself who or what might be taking customers from you. If you have a long list to choose from, think about where you’d like your brand to be, not where your brand is now. So rather than analysing that small-time brand shifting one or two units a week, compare yourself to the brand that’s selling what you want to be selling. That is unless the tiny brand has a really interesting proposition. It’s all about looking at where you stand to learn the most. I’d say you want to aim to analyse a minimum of about two up to around six competitors to get the most out of the exercise.

The best way to analyse your competitors is to compare like for like. So you want to create a hit list of elements to compare and contrast before you get going. I usually go for mission statement, key messages and tone of voice. I might also pick a sample of specific types of copy (for example, about page, welcome email, a blog post and most recent social post) to explore how they write in more detail. 

I find it helps to create a big grid and fill in my findings as I go. When I’m looking for a mission statement, it’s often on the home page, about page or company page. For key messages, I note down the six to eight main selling points they reference most often. When I’m analysing tone of voice, I look for writing techniques, word use and style to make a guess at what their brand personality is. Are they formal or casual? Funny or serious? Sassy or straight-talking?

What to do next

What you learn can give you a valuable steer with your own brand voice and messaging.

Messaging

For example, if your chosen competitors have mission statements around price and convenience, could it be smart to pitch your brand as being all about quality? Compare and contrast what you’re learning with what you know about your customers. Maybe everyone is competing on the price key message because the main deciding factor for your customers is price. But if your research shows there’s value in other criteria, could you be the first in the market to speak to your customers on that level?  

Tone of voice

If everybody in your sector is very serious and strait-laced, how would it work to be the more approachable face of your industry? Think about why you’re seeing what you’re seeing. If everybody in the sector writes with a serious tone of voice, is there a reason for that? Perhaps it’s not appropriate to start making jokes and sticking with the crowd is a better idea. 

What not to do

Analysing your competitors isn’t about copying them or trash talking them. If your analysis reveals that one of your competitors has a long way to go on their tone of voice or brand messaging, that’s great news. All the more room for you to shine!

Avoid developing a brand voice that’s an amalgamation of what everyone else is doing. Look at your customer research, speak to your team and figure out what your unique voice is and how it fits into the existing patchwork quilt of your industry.

If you’d like to chat more about strategic messaging and tone of voice for your business, I’d love to hear from you.