Step away from the tools: How to get a big-picture view of your competition

Purna Virji

#SMX | #32B | @PurnaVirji

#SMX | #32B | @PurnaVirji

WRITER SPEAKER

All of the job titles

SENIOR TRAINER AND DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

MOM

@PurnaVirji #SMX | #32B | @PurnaVirji

#SMX | #32B | @PurnaVirji

1.  How big is the opportunity?

2.  Who is your fringe competition?

3.  What is the competition actually up to?

3 big-picture competitive analysis questions

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1. How big is the opportunity?

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The size of the opportunity impacts your:

Budget setting

Creative Targeting

Bidding Impressions

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How big is the opportunity?

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What’s the annual spend on this

product?

Are my sales goals reasonable?

Are my sales goals possible?

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Geographical limitations

Infrastructure limitations

Legal/regulation limitations

Geographical limitations

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Infrastructure limitations

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Legal/ regulatory limitations

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Legal/regulatory limitations

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#SMX | #32B | @PurnaVirji

Can I make the opportunity bigger?

Halloween Costume Halloween costume

Seasonal keywords +

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Can I make the opportunity bigger?

Mast climbing gear Mast repair Mast climbing equipment

New market keywords +

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q Population research q Market research q Annual spend on this product q  Infrastructure limitations q Number of competitors q Survey current users q  Identify weaknesses in your competition

2. Who is your fringe competition?

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Your fringe competition impacts your:

Creative Impressions

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Bidding

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#SMX | #32B | @PurnaVirji

#SMX | #32B | @PurnaVirji

#SMX | #32B | @PurnaVirji

q Think critically about who uses your product •  Market research •  Survey current customers

q Study the fringe competition to understand how they position themselves

q Bid on the fringe competition keywords

3. What is your competition actually up to?

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Your competition’s activity impacts your:

Budgeting Targeting

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Ad testing Bidding Landing page testing

What this tells you:

= The effort you need to make to beat them

How complex or simple their SEM strategy is

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How many ads are they running?

What this tells you:

= how much time you have to beat them

How much attention their SEM campaign is getting

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How quickly do they react to your copy changes?

What this tells you:

= how to anticipate changes and adjust your own campaign earlier

What they react to: seasonal, market trends, holidays

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When do they put new ads into the rotation?

= how to match or best their selling points and offers

What their selling points are, and how often they change offers

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Landing pages: How many? What are the calls to action? How often updated?

What this tells you:

Making big-picture analysis part of your routine

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Use specific milestones • New client pitch • Monthly report • Quarterly review

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Create benchmark data

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1.  How big is the opportunity?

2.  Who is your fringe competition?

3.  What is the competition actually up to?

Re-cap: 3 big-picture questions

#SMX | #32B | @PurnaVirji

© 2016 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries. The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation.

Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted as a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. Microsoft MAKES NO WARRANTIES–EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY– REGARDING THEI NFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

Thank you! @purnavirji