Two quarters into operations, our revenue were underwhelming. It wasn't until I chanced upon a detailed report about our market sector that I realized how oblivious I'd been to the competitive landscape around us.
Initiate by mapping ALL your competition – not just the obvious ones. In our investigation, we discovered that our biggest threat wasn't the famous brand we were watching, but a new business with an novel strategy.
Unexpected discoveries:
- Snapchat outperforming Visual platforms for specific items
- Late advertising substantially surpassing morning campaigns
- Video content generating superior ROI than still graphics
- Smartphone efficiency surpassing laptop by significant margins
Last quarter, a beauty brand spent 300,000 SAR in conventional marketing with disappointing returns. After redirecting just 25% of that budget to creator partnerships, they experienced a 712% improvement in sales.
Key adaptations:
- Commitment period modifications for Saudi consumers
- Word-of-mouth impact significance amplifications
- Periodic purchasing behaviors recognition
- Status-driven buying assessment
Advising a food brand, we established a approach where influencers naturally integrated products into their daily lives rather than creating clear promotions. This approach resulted in engagement rates two hundred eighteen percent higher than traditional promotional posts.
Helping a healthcare provider, we restructured their material to incorporate complete questions that people would naturally speak, such as "Where can I find a dermatologist in Riyadh?" This approach enhanced their audio query discovery by 73%.
For a luxury brand, we discovered that Snapchat and Instagram substantially outperformed traditional networks for connection and conversion, leading to a intentional redistribution of effort that increased complete effectiveness by 167%.
Recently, click Here I watched as three similar businesses spent significantly into growing their business on a particular social media platform. Their efforts flopped as the channel turned out to be a bad match for our sector.
I spend at least two hours each week reviewing our competitors':
- Website architecture and navigation
- Content strategy and publishing frequency
- Social media presence
- Customer reviews and assessments
- SEO approach and performance
I currently employ several tools that have significantly upgraded our competitive research:
- Search analysis platforms to track competitors' keyword performance
- Social listening software to follow rivals' online presence
- Website analysis solutions to track updates to their websites
- Communication monitoring to receive their marketing communications
I recommend organizing competitors as:
- Direct competitors (offering nearly identical solutions)
- Secondary competitors (with partial similarity)
- New challengers (new companies with game-changing potential)
Important elements:
- Extended decision periods in Saudi conversion routes
- Family influence elements in conversion actions
- Chat as a significant but hard-to-measure influence channel
- In-person verification as the final buying stage
For a clothing retailer, we conducted a thorough platform efficiency evaluation that revealed their most effective channels were entirely distinct from their global patterns. This insight enabled a redistribution of budget that improved their total ROI by two hundred thirteen percent.
I use a simple tracker to track our competitors' costs modifications on a regular basis. This has already allowed us to:
- Spot periodic discount patterns
- Notice product bundling tactics
- Grasp their cost structure
When I started my retail business three years ago, I was certain that our distinctive products would be enough. I overlooked market research as a waste of time – a mistake that nearly cost my entire venture.
Successful methods:
- Adding local payment methods like Mada
- Enhancing Arabic product information
- Featuring local service presence
- Including credibility indicators tailored for Saudi consumers
For a store owner, we identified that their audio query visibility was constrained because they had prepared mostly for non-Arabic questions. After implementing specialized Arabic voice search enhancement, their discovery rate grew by over two hundred percent.
For a high-end retailer, we implemented a locally-relevant attribution model that recognized the special path to purchase in the Kingdom. This approach discovered that their platform expenses were truly producing two hundred eighty-six percent more results than earlier measured.
Last month, a travel company realized that their digital platform was virtually invisible from audio queries. After implementing the strategies I'm about to share, they're now showing up in forty-seven percent of applicable voice searches.