How to Conduct Competitor Research

September 9, 2026

You might know who your biggest competitors are, but knowing who they are and understanding how they compete and differentiate themselves in your market are two very different things.

Conducting effective competitor research gives you a clearer picture of the landscape surrounding your brand. It can reveal how competitors position themselves, where they’re investing their marketing resources, what customers think about them and, perhaps most importantly, where your opportunities exist to stand apart.

Start by Identifying the Right Competitors

The first step in competitor research is deciding who you’re actually researching. Direct competitors offer similar products or services to similar customers. But don’t overlook indirect competitors that may solve the same customer problem in a different way. They can be especially useful for identifying emerging trends and shifts in customer expectations.

Don’t overwhelm yourself trying to analyze every organization in your industry. Start by focusing your efforts on the three to five most relevant competitors.

What Should You Know About Your Competitors?

Once you’ve identified your competitors, determine what information will actually help you make better marketing decisions. Depending on your goals, that may include:

Positioning and messaging: 

How do competitors describe themselves? What benefits do they emphasize? Look at website headlines, value propositions, advertising and other messaging to understand the position they’re trying to own.

Products and services: 

Understand what competitors offer and how those offerings compare with yours. Look for differences in features, service models, packaging and specialization.

Pricing: 

When pricing is publicly available, compare price points, packages and promotions. Price isn’t everything, but it can tell you a lot about how a competitor positions itself in the market.

Target audiences: 

Who appears to be the primary customer? Review messaging, case studies, testimonials and content to identify the industries, demographics or customer needs competitors prioritize.

Content strategy: 

Examine what competitors publish and where. Which topics do they cover? How frequently do they publish? What types of content seem to generate engagement?

Digital presence: 

Review websites, search visibility, social media activity and paid advertising. These channels can reveal where competitors are focusing their marketing efforts.

Customer sentiment: 

Reviews, comments and online discussions can provide valuable insight into what customers appreciate and where competitors fall short.

Your goal here isn’t just to collect information. Look for patterns that help explain how each competitor is trying to set itself apart.

Use Free Competitor Research Tools

You don’t need an expensive technology stack to begin conducting useful competitor research. Several free tools and resources can provide valuable insight.

Google Search is one of the simplest places to start. Search competitors’ names, products and important industry terms. Pay attention to which competitors appear in organic results and paid placements. Search results can also help you discover competitors you hadn’t previously considered.

Google Trends lets you compare search interest for brands and topics over time. It can be useful for spotting changes in awareness, seasonality and broader market trends.

Google Alerts can help you keep tabs on competitors after your initial research. Set up alerts for company names, executives or products to receive notifications when they’re mentioned online.

Meta Ad Library allows you to search active ads running across Meta platforms. It’s a useful window into competitors’ current messaging, creative approaches, promotions and calls to action.

LinkedIn can provide insight into how competitors position their companies, communicate with customers and grow their teams. Employee counts, job postings and leadership updates may even offer clues about strategic priorities.

Similarweb offers limited free website insights that can help you understand traffic patterns and digital performance. Even without a paid account, it can provide useful context when comparing competitors’ online presence.

AI tools can conduct preliminary research on a list of competitors, usually by pulling and summarizing information from multiple publicly available sources. The results can be a good place for you to start, but always verify the information you receive. AI has a tendency to make things up.

Don’t forget less specialized resources, either. Competitor websites, email newsletters, YouTube channels, social profiles, customer reviews and publicly available presentations can all be valuable sources of information.

Turn Competitor Research Into Action

Once you’ve gathered your findings, look across competitors for similarities, differences and gaps. If everyone uses the same messaging, there may be an opportunity to say something different. If competitors consistently receive negative feedback about a particular part of the customer experience, that may be an opportunity to differentiate. Most importantly, identify what your findings mean for your own strategy.

Ask yourself: Where are competitors stronger than us? Where are we stronger than them? What needs aren’t being addressed? What can we credibly offer that competitors can’t easily replicate?

Competitor research shouldn’t lead you to imitate the competition. It should help you better understand the choices available to your customers and clarify why they should choose you. And because markets don’t stand still, competitor research shouldn’t be a one-and-done project. Revisit your findings regularly and watch for meaningful changes in messaging, offerings, audiences and marketing activity.

The better you understand the competitive landscape, the easier it becomes to spot opportunities, strengthen your positioning and make marketing decisions with greater confidence.

Need Help With Your Competitor Research?

Our research team has decades of experience combining publicly available data with custom research to uncover key competitive advantages. Contact us today to learn how we can help you stand out from your competitors.

Shannon Bugge-Turman oversees and coordinates all aspects of the research projects that provide invaluable insights as we develop and refine creative and media strategies. This includes survey methodology, budget development, questionnaire design, final reporting and secondary research, as well as collecting, verifying, tabulating and analyzing data. With a background in sociology and a mind for statistical analysis, she is able to gather relevant data — extracting the most meaningful parts and turning that data into useful information that helps guide eﬀective business and marketing decisions. 