This NotePlan template is a structured framework for analyzing your competitors. It guides you through gathering essential information about their company, marketing strategies, and products, comparing them to your own. With SWOT analysis and opportunity identification, you can pinpoint your competitive advantages and areas for improvement, ultimately informing your own business strategy and marketing decisions.

Competitor Overview

The goal here is to establish a foundational understanding of the competitor's business.

• Company Name, Website, Founded, Headquarters, Size, Annual Revenue: This basic information provides context about their scale, history, and overall presence.
• Mission/Value Proposition: This is crucial for understanding how they perceive themselves and what they offer to the market.

Marketing Strategies

This section dives into how your competitor reaches and engages with its audience.

• Primary Channels: Identify where they invest their marketing efforts (e.g., SEO, social media, paid ads). This reveals their priorities and potential strengths.
• Notable Campaigns/Tactics: Examining specific campaigns can give you insights into their messaging, creativity, and effectiveness.
• Key Messages, Brand Voice, Target Audience(s): These elements define how they communicate and who they are trying to attract. Understanding these can help you differentiate your own brand.

Product Comparison

A structured comparison helps you pinpoint your competitive advantages and disadvantages.

• Table Format: The table allows for a clear, side-by-side view of features, pricing, and other critical aspects. NotePlan's table formatting makes this easy to create and maintain.
• Notes/Advantages: This column is where you can jot down your analysis of each feature. What are your strengths? Where does your competitor excel?

SWOT Analysis (Competitor)

This classic framework assesses the competitor's internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats.

• Strengths & Weaknesses: These focus on internal factors the competitor can control (e.g., brand reputation, product quality, customer service).
• Opportunities & Threats: These are external factors that can impact the competitor (e.g., emerging trends, regulatory changes, economic conditions).

Opportunities for Differentiation

This is where your analysis turns into actionable insights.

• Unique Value Proposition: Based on everything you've learned, how can your product or service offer something distinct and valuable that the competitor doesn't?
• Marketing Gaps: Are there channels, messages, or audiences they are neglecting that you could tap into?
• Product Enhancements: Could adding or improving features give you a competitive edge?

Additional Notes

This section is a catch-all for anything else relevant:

• Observations: Personal insights you've gained.
• News Articles: Links to articles about the competitor or their industry.
• Quotes: Statements from the competitor's leadership or customers.
• Data: Any relevant market research or data points you've found.

Leveraging NotePlan Features:

• Linking: Link this note to other relevant notes in your NotePlan system to build a comprehensive knowledge base.
• Hashtags: Use hashtags (e.g., #competitoranalysis, #marketingstrategy) to categorize and find these notes easily.
• Search: NotePlan's powerful search functionality lets you quickly find specific competitors or topics within your notes.