When planning a PR campaign, it is essential to have a clear understanding of the competitive landscape. By taking a detailed look at key competitors, their strengths and weaknesses, and their PR strategies, you can gain valuable insights into what works and what doesn’t in your industry.
Furthermore, analysing your competition can enable you to identify opportunities that your organisation can gain from, or gaps in the market that have yet to be filled. In short, understanding your competition permits you to create a more effective and impactful PR plan that speaks to your target audience and sets your organisation apart from its competitors.
Today I look at 5 ways you can do this.
Let’s dive in!
Links mentioned in this episode:
Purchase my essential Resource Bundle https://commsthatworks.thinkific.com/courses/Resources
- Communicate With Impact! My Seven Steps Overview
- How To Prevent A Reputation Crisis In Your Business: My Six Step Guide
- Competitor Mapping Template
- How To Measure Your Comms Impact: My Activity Tracker
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Full transcript (unedited)
To effectively monitor and measure your competitors, the first step is to identify who they are. This can be a simple list of people in your exact space, and then occupying brand spaces similar to you, for example maybe they are slightly larger or maybe listed but you sell similar products or services. The most similar to you can be the most helpful.
I have a resource bundle you may want to purchase via my website and the link will be in the shownotes today, it includes a competitor map I use.
Then there are several ways you can undertake analysis.
- Conducting a thorough analysis of their websites, social media platforms and press releases is a good starting point.
One effective way to gather insights from competitor websites is to take a close look at the content they are producing. By analysing the type of content they publish, such as blog posts or white papers, you can gain a better understanding of their key messaging and the topics they prioritise. This information can then be used to shape your own PR strategy in a way that complements your competitor’s positioning, or alternatively, sets your organisation apart by targeting underserved areas. However, it is important to note that simply copying your competitors’ content is not recommended, as it could lead to a loss of credibility and negatively impact your brand’s reputation.
When analysing competitor websites, it’s important to look beyond just their product offerings and prices. Pay attention to the language and tone used on their site, as well as the topics they cover in their blog or news sections.
This can help you identify what messaging resonates with your target audience and potentially reveal gaps in your own content strategy. Additionally, taking note of their website design and user experience can inform your own website improvements and customer engagement tactics.
- In addition, tools such as SEMrush and Social Blade can provide valuable data on your competitor’s SEO, paid search campaigns and social media performance.
To use SEMrush to analyse your competitor’s PR activities, start by entering your competitor’s website/Blog URL in the “Domain Overview” section of the tool. This will provide you with insights into their top pages, backlinks, organic search traffic, and any paid ad campaigns they may be running. Utilise the “Backlinks” section to see the sites linking back to your competitor’s content or press releases. Identify which publications are covering their news and reaching out to them to secure pitching opportunities for your own organisation’s PR campaign.
By monitoring and analyzing this data, you can gain a holistic understanding of your competitors’ PR strategy and adapt your own accordingly. Moreover, SEMrush provides a comprehensive overview of your competitors’ online presence, allowing you to uncover new opportunities and stay ahead of the curve in your industry.
- Google Alerts
One effective way to monitor your competitors’ PR activity is to set up Google Alerts for each organization’s name and related industry keywords. This way, you can easily keep track of any new PR campaigns, product launches, or announcements made by your competitors.
First, make sure to set up alerts for both your competitors’ names and relevant industry keywords, so you can stay up-to-date with any mentions or announcements. But don’t stop there- take advantage of the customizable settings to refine your alerts by language, region, and frequency. Use the insights gained from your Google Alerts to inform your own PR strategy, by identifying newsworthy topics, reacting to competitor announcements, and building relationships with journalists covering your industry.
- Social media monitoring tools like Hootsuite can help you stay abreast of trending topics and engagement rates on your competitors’ social media channels.
In addition to Google Alerts, leveraging social media monitoring tools like Hootsuite is another powerful way to inform your PR strategy with competitor insights. By tracking your competition’s social media activity and engagement rates, you can identify gaps in your own strategy or areas for improvement. With Hootsuite specifically, you can create feeds to track competitor accounts and keywords, view their post history and performance, and even monitor industry influencers for potential partnerships or collaborations.
Hootsuite, Sprout Social, or Brandwatch will do this, however. All these tools allow you to monitor conversations about your competitors, track media mentions, and analyze sentiment around industry-specific topics.
Once you’ve gathered this data, you can use it to improve your own messaging and engage with your audience more effectively. For example, you may discover an opportunity to address a common complaint or concern that customers have about your competitors, allowing you to position your brand as a more desirable alternative.
- Finally, conducting regular SWOT analyses (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) can give you a big picture view of how your PR strategies stack up against your competitors and where you need to make improvements.
Undertaking a SWOT analysis involves evaluating your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in relation to your competitors. This analysis will help you identify areas where you can adjust your PR strategy as well as things to maintain. During this stage, it’s important to keep in mind what sets your company apart from competitors and how you can better engage with your audience. Another useful way to approach SWOT analysis is to conduct a gap analysis that compares your brand to competitors in areas like brand messaging, visuals, and tone of voice.