In enterprises, most product managers rarely do the work of competitive product analysis in actual work. They are either done by market and operation personnel, or the product department is equipped with market research-related positions to do it on a regular basis. Recently, colleagues in the department conducted monthly competitive analysis of existing products and participated in part of the work. It is also a kind of brand-new experience and learning for product managers who are neither specialists nor generalists. The results of competitive product analysis can only be used as a reference basis (because information mining channels and concerns are relatively subjective, it is more dangerous Some product managers will deliberately collect data from the expectation and subconscious mind), usually serving the leadership and product management to consciously pay attention to the product information dynamics and adjust relevant goals in time;
Why do competitive product analysis?
1. Provide a relatively objective reference basis for enterprises to formulate industry product strategic planning, product sub-product line layout, and market share;
2. Keep abreast of competitors’ products and market trends at any time. If mining data channels are reliable and stable, the other party’s strategic intentions and latest adjustment directions can be judged based on relevant data information;
3. Be able to grasp the capital background of competitors, the needs of market user segmentation groups and the vacant market; including product operation strategies;
4. Quickly adjust itself to maintain the stability of its own products in the market or quickly increase market share;
5. Newly established products and ideas (very dangerous, referring to the lack of accumulation and precipitation of new industries) have not formed a more effective and complete systematic thinking and objective and accurate direction;
How to do competitive product analysis?
It is worth mentioning that, in a mature company, the competitive product analysis report is basically a process of continuous accumulation and continuous mining and analysis for a long time; thus, it is very convincing to improve the accuracy of the data;
1. Determine which are your competitors?
A. Direct product competitors: This includes those who have the same market target direction, highly targeted customer groups, and extremely similar product functions and user needs. In the words of Ah Pao: “Competitors who are really good at doing things with you”
B. Indirect competitor: Market customer groups have inconsistent goals, but they complement your product advantages in terms of functional requirements (or you complement other people\’s products), but they are not profitable mainly on the value of the product;
C. Different models in the same industry: such as B/S Internet model and industry solutions and stand-alone C/S clients, one-shot transactions and long-term service charges;
D. The concept of strong capital is hyped: It is observed that major media platforms often hype concepts and companies with industry-leading talent background, qualifications, and scale with great potential;
2. Where to obtain competitor information
A. Collect information from the internal market, operating departments, management, etc.;
B. Industry media platform news and forums and QQ groups, search engines;
C. Establish a continuous product market information collection team;
D. Investigate products that complement and indirectly replace the different needs of core users, active users, and ordinary users;
E. Competitor\’s official website, exchange and interactive platform, dynamic news, updated version of product history, and promotional activities;
F. Quarterly/annual financial report;
G. Resume updates of talents in the same industry on major talent websites; the other party’s blog and contact information; including recruitment information on the opponent’s official website;
H. Find official websites and industry information subscriptions in the same industry abroad through the Google search engine (the probability of direct market competitors is low, but the profit model and function definition user groups have a certain forward-looking and market trend-oriented);
I. Try the other party\’s products, customer service consultation, technical Q&A, etc.;
3. What information do I need to obtain?
A. The company\’s technology, market, products, operation team size and core goals and industry brand influence;
B. The actual quarterly annual profit value, and the key investment information of each product line; the product line that occupies the company\’s main profit;
C. User group coverage, market share, operating profit model; try to understand the total number of registered users/installation/effective conversion rate in a fixed period;
D. Product function segmentation and comparison; stability, ease of use, user experience interaction, visual design strength, and technical implementation framework advantages and disadvantages;
E. Product platform and official ranking, keywords and number of external links;
4. Common analysis methods?
A. SWOT analysis method : In fact, it is a method (more macroscopic and subjective) that integrates and summarizes all aspects of the internal and external conditions of the enterprise, and then analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of the organization, the opportunities and threats it faces (more macro and subjective). It can also be used as a competitive product. A method of analysis;
Have an objective understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of the product;
Current status and prospects of the product;
Must be considered comprehensive;
Must be compared with competitors, such as better or worse than your competitors;
Simplify, avoid complexity and over-analysis;
B. Customer satisfaction model (Kano model);
The KANO model defines three levels of customer needs: basic needs, expected needs and exciting needs. These three types of needs are classified according to performance indicators as basic factors, performance factors and motivational factors;
Basic requirements: attributes or functions that users think the product “must have”. When its characteristics are not sufficient (do not meet user needs), the user is very dissatisfied; when its characteristics are sufficient (to meet user needs), it does not matter whether it is satisfied or not, the user is satisfied at best;
Expected demand: The product or service you want to provide is better, but it is not a “must” product attribute or service behavior. Some expectation needs are not even clear to users, but they are what they want; in market research, users What we talk about is usually expectation needs. The more expectation needs are realized in the product, the more satisfied users will be; when these needs are not satisfied, users will not be satisfied;
Exciting demand : It is required to provide users with some completely unexpected product attributes or service behaviors, so that users will be surprised. When its features are not sufficient and are irrelevant features, the user does not care. When the product provides such services in demand, the user will be very satisfied with the product, thereby increasing user loyalty.
C. Boston Matrix
Problem-based products: In this field, there are speculative products with greater risks. These products may have high profit margins, but they have a small market share. This is often a company\’s new business;
Star-type products: Products in this field are in a rapidly growing market and occupy a dominant market share, but may or may not generate positive cash flow; it can also be understood as an explosive increase in user volume and installed capacity;
Cash bull products: Products in this field generate a lot of cash, but their future growth prospects are limited. This is a leader in a mature market, it is a source of corporate cash;
Thin-dog business: Products in this remaining area can neither generate a large amount of cash, nor do they need to invest a large amount of cash. These products have no hope of improving their performance. Under normal circumstances, this type of business is often profitable or even loss-making;
D. Information comparison
Basic product information: product name, product type, language version, website, Weibo;
Company background: company capital, product technology, market, operation team situation;
User positioning: users in different forms and industries, but all have demands for products;
User needs: function, visual design, interactive experience, user satisfaction expectations;
Product details: product positioning, cross-industry goals, product model;
Product features: comparison of large and small functional modules;
| function list | Competitor one | Competitor two | Competitor Three |
| A1 function | √ | √ | √ |
| A2 function | × | √ | √ |
| A3 function | √ | × | √ |
Profit model:
| Competitor one | Competitor two | Competitor Three |
| Profit Model A | Profit Model B | Profit model C |
Operational strategy and data ranking: Periodic activities, operating rules, and industry ranking external chain keywords related data;
I have talked so much today. The above is just a summary of some methods involved in the process of personal analysis of competing products. Some of the views of the same industry are also referred to. It is also a learning process, please refer to it appropriately!