Half a year into operations, our revenue were underwhelming. It wasn't until I happened to a thorough report about our industry that I realized how blind I'd been to the competitive landscape around us.
Begin by identifying ALL your competition – not just the major ones. Throughout our analysis, we discovered that our most significant threat wasn't the established company we were tracking, but a recent company with an innovative approach.
Important divisions contained:
- Solo vs. family selection methods
- Knowledge accumulation extents
- Value consciousness differences
- Company allegiance propensities
- New concept acceptance rates
I use a basic document to track our rivals' rates changes every week. This recently enabled us to:
- Spot cyclical price reductions
- Recognize special offer approaches
- Grasp their value positioning
A few weeks ago, a clothing brand contacted me after using over 150,000 SAR on online marketing with disappointing outcomes. After redesigning their campaign, we generated a dramatic increase in return on ad spend.
When I established my retail business three years ago, I was certain that our special products would be enough. I overlooked competitor analysis as superfluous – a decision that almost cost my entire company.
Essential techniques featured:
- Urban-focused classifications beyond simple areas
- Area-specific focusing
- City vs. countryside distinctions
- International resident locations
- Tourist locations vs. native neighborhoods
After years of implementing universal population divisions, their improved Saudi-specific division strategy produced a significant increase in campaign effectiveness and a 163% reduction in marketing expenses.
For a travel brand, Jeddah SEO Specialists we discovered that word-for-word transfer of their international keywords produced highly inefficient costs. After applying a culturally-appropriate keyword approach, their conversion expense dropped by 73%.
Effective approaches included:
- Sector analyses with regionally-focused data
- Leadership conversations with prominent Saudi professionals
- Case studies from local projects
- Online seminars discussing regionally-focused issues
For a high-end retailer, we developed a traditional classification methodology that discovered multiple special traditional categories within their audience. This strategy enhanced their promotion results by 178%.
I suggest categorizing competitors as:
- Main competitors (offering very similar solutions)
- Secondary competitors (with some resemblance)
- Emerging disruptors (new entrants with innovative models)
Important methods included:
- Consulting Saudi regional experts to identify real query patterns
- Analyzing Saudi competition for keyword insights
- Creating a Arabic-English search term structure to capture all potential consumers
- Using Saudi Arabic dialect instead of classical terminology
I dedicate at least two hours each week reviewing our competitors':
- Online structure and user experience
- Blog posts and posting schedule
- Online platforms activity
- Customer reviews and assessments
- SEO strategy and positions
Key considerations included:
- First-language producers for each language
- Regional customization rather than word-for-word transfer
- Consistent brand voice across two languages
- Script-optimized SEO
Important scheduling insights included:
- Decreased rivalry during worship moments with stable results
- Increased engagement on weekends especially after night prayers
- Seasonal variations requiring investment changes during religious occasions
- School schedule influences on certain categories
With detailed analysis for a meal service client, we discovered that campaigns delivered between night time substantially surpassed those presented during standard prime times, generating substantially higher purchases.
I presently use several tools that have dramatically improved our competitor analysis:
- SEO tools to monitor competitors' SEO providers Riyadh analysis strategies
- Social listening tools to follow competition's online presence
- Digital tracking solutions to monitor changes to their online presence
- Communication monitoring to receive their marketing communications
Effective approaches included:
- Emphasizing collective advantages rather than self-improvement
- Adding subtle religious references where suitable
- Adjusting deal phrasing to match Saudi cultural norms
- Creating separate ad variations for diverse locations within the Kingdom
Last month, a retail client approached me after wasting over 250,000 SAR on unsuccessful pay-per-click efforts. After revamping their strategy, we generated a dramatic improvement in return on ad spend.
For a banking client, we created a information campaign about generational wealth that featured halal investment concepts. This content outperformed their former typical financial advice by four hundred seventeen percent in interaction.
Last year, I watched as three rival companies invested heavily into growing their business on a particular social media platform. Their initiatives flopped as the medium turned out to be a bad match for our market.