Things to do before competing with the competition

You would have heard brands saying, “We are doing better than our competition.” But do you know why they say that? While brands may sound confident, most of them skip the groundwork it takes actually to know why. Before you invest your time and effort in marketing your brand, you need to map the fields and see who is playing in our space, what is working for them, what is just noise, and where the white space is.

Here is my advice after seeing this play out across dozens of brands and launches. You need to slow down and understand the market first. If you have ever wondered how to start this process, here are my thoughts. The next part breaks down what to actually look for when you study your competitors, and how those small observations can change how you position your brand.

How do you choose your competition?

Most people assume their competition is the biggest name in the industry. The truth is, it is not. Your competition is anyone your customer might consider before they choose you. It could be a well-known brand, a rising startup, or even a local business that solves the same problem better or faster.

Here is how you need to choose your competition:

1. Start with customer overlap

Find brands that target the same kind of customer as you. The goal here is to understand who else is fighting for your buyer’s time, money, and trust. Two brands can look completely different on the surface, but solve the same underlying pain. This overlap tells you where the real tug-of-war for attention happens.

2. Compare the customer journeys and not just the products

Even if offerings differ, similar paths to purchase often reveal shared friction points. Study how others guide discovery, educate, and convert. Understanding the customer journeys and intent helps you shape messaging that fits real-life decisions, not just category trends.

3. Include both direct and substitute solutions

A direct competitor sells something similar. A substitute competes for the same goal differently. Understanding both is key because your trade-off might be between “doing it themselves” and “paying you to do it.” Both pull from the same decision energy. Knowing both helps you frame your brand’s edge and give you clarity if you are faster, easier, cheaper, or more consistent than either group.

4. Prioritize competitors at a comparable stage

Big brands can be inspiring, but they also play a different game. Their success often depends on resources, not agility. Instead, observe those that grow through creativity and strategy. Sometimes startups create buzz without massive spending. Their behaviour shows what’s possible for you to replicate right now, not someday when you have more money. So, big players show what is possible while the smaller brands show what is achievable.

5. Map tone, design, and channel strategy

Look beyond the products of your competition and see how they compete in the market. Watch for smaller, emerging brands doing something unusual, like creating unique content, bold design, or fresh positioning. They are often the first to shift consumer habits. You may not need to copy them, but understanding what makes them click helps you predict what your audience will expect next. This helps you understand what emotional triggers the audience already responds to.

6. Revisit your competition list every quarter

The markets are evolving fast. Some competitors are quiet today but may expand into your space tomorrow. A brand you ignored last month could suddenly raise funding, launch new features, or capture attention through viral content. Refreshing your list keeps your research current and your strategy grounded in reality. Keep a small list of brands innovating close to your model. They are worth tracking because they show where the market is evolving.

Choosing competition this way makes your research sharper and your decisions faster. You stop measuring yourself against noise and start learning from movement that actually matters.

What do you look for when you study your competition?

Once you know who your real competition is, the next step is to understand what they are doing. So do you copy what they do? Certainly not. You will start understanding what they are doing and why it works for them. Your competition study should inform you and not influence. Here is what you need to look for.

1. Products and positioning

Look at what they lead with in the first five seconds. Identify the primary problem, the headline benefit, and the first proof. This shows how the market defines value today. If all players sound the same, you have an opening to frame the problem and the promise in a clearer way.

2. Pricing logic

Treat the pricing of your competition as a strategy. Note how they anchor value, what they bundle, and where upgrades sit. This reveals what customers believe is worth paying for and how flexible the budget is. Do not copy the number. Learn the belief behind it and price to your advantage.

3. Messaging tone

Audit the voice across emails, ads, website, and all the channels that the competition is using to communicate with he audience. See whether it is expert, friendly, calm, urgent, or easy-going. The tone signals the experience a buyer expects. Choose a voice that fits the same expectation while sounding true to your brand. Consistency here compounds trust in your audience.

4. Design and visual system

Scan colors, spacing, typography, and imagery across their site and channels before you get into the words. A consistent system signals clarity and care, while mismatched styles create doubt. If they feel scattered, aim for an ordered, modern, and calm look that makes decisions feel easy.

5. Content and storytelling

List what your competition is teaching and where they teach it across blogs, videos, carousels, and newsletters. Long guides suggest depth, short videos suggest speed, and carousels suggest education. Map each format to a stage of the journey, then decide where you will out-teach, out-show, or out-respond with your own strengths.

6. Customer experience

Walk the full path of your competitor’s customer journey as a customer, end to end. Sign up, ask a question, try to buy, and watch how support responds. Count steps and note delays. Every extra step is a trust tax. Wherever you feel friction in their flow, plan to be faster, clearer, and easier.

7. Engagement and community

Read the replies and real conversations under posts, not just the like counts. Look for repeat commenters, helpful answers, and signs that people feel heard. Brands that earn conversation spend less to grow because the audience does some of the work. A visible dialogue is a visual trust.

8. Translate observations into actions

Capture two lines for each competitor. One thing that clearly works, and why it works. One gap you can own and how you will act on it. Turn those notes into a simple monthly plan so research becomes progress, not a folder of screenshots.

Do you copy your competition? No

The best brands don’t copy what works. They understand why it works and make it theirs. That’s what makes people trust them, remember them, and talk about them. I have seen teams copy what looks successful and then wonder why it falls flat. It usually goes wrong because they borrow tactics without the context that made them work.

The competition research you make should give you a direction to take your brand ahead. Plan to get the direction and do not copy the identity. So, how do you get inspired and not copy the competition?

1. Use is at a reference and do not replicate

The goal is to learn why something works, not to do it the same way. If you see a campaign performing well, break it down. Is it the idea, the tone, the timing, or the platform? Use that insight to build something that fits your brand’s voice and audience.

2. Translate and do not transplant the idea

Even if a strategy looks successful, it was designed for their context that includes their team, product, and positioning. What works for them might not resonate with your customers. Reframe the concept so it solves your own brand’s challenge instead of echoing theirs.

3. Add your layer of intelligence

Take what you learn and make it faster, clearer, or more relatable. Add your story, data, or experience to make it your own. When people see originality with understanding, they remember it.

4. Build consistency and not mimicry

Repeated imitation makes your brand look reactive. Real consistency comes from having a strong internal direction. The idea is to understand the market, then choose where you want to stand within it.

Should you stick to your competition analysis always?

Brands that take my advice keep asking me if they always need to follow the results of the competitive analysis. I say no. Treat your analysis as a launch map and not a rule book. It gives you a clear first move, then your own signals should take over because the market you serve, the team you have, and the stage you are in keep changing.

Here’s what has worked for me and for brands who’ve followed me.

1. Start with your analysis, but do not stay with it

Let it help you frame your first few decisions, like where to focus, what to test, and what to skip. Once you start getting real data from your own audience, that becomes your north star.

2. Follow your data and not the competition’s pattern

If something works better for you than what you saw elsewhere, lean into it. Your own metrics, like sign-ups, conversions, feedback, and more, are the most honest research you will ever get.

3. Learn to filter the noise

A competitor’s viral post or a sudden discount is just a spark. Wait and see if it changes the market’s behavior before reacting. Jumping at every move only confuses your own audience.

4. Always review, but do not reinvent

Keep your analysis alive but light. A quick monthly check shows small shifts. A quarterly reset keeps you grounded. Add or remove players as the market evolves.

5. Turn what works into muscle memory

When you find something that clicks, document it. Build a small playbook for your team so you can repeat it with the same clarity every time.

The idea is to move from observation to ownership. Let your research inform your instincts, but let experience, not imitation, guide your next move.

Do you now feel confident of doing your competition analysis in the right way? Pick five real alternatives, make one page per brand with promise, price band, main channel, one strength, one gap, then set three dated bets for message, format, and one fix. Review in two weeks and keep what moved numbers and drop what did not. Add one fresh insight to the one page and repeat.