08 competitor research global skill

Competitive Research (Global)

Information gathering

Ask user up to 4 questions before starting:

1. What's your product / service? (Industry, price tier, primary audience)
2. Name 2-5 competitors you know (brand names, page/TikTok/website links if available)
3. What worries you most about competitors? (Cheaper pricing? Better content? Stronger ads? Market share?)
4. Goal after this report? (Reposition? Improve content? Find market gap? Run ads more effectively?)

Auto-research via tools (if available)

A. Global research tools

Tool	What it does	Free tier?
SimilarWeb	Website traffic estimation, top sources, competitor comparison	Yes (limited)
Ahrefs	SEO/backlink analysis, keyword competition	Trial only
Semrush	SEO, ads research, keyword gap, competitor traffic sources	Yes (limited)
Meta Ads Library	All competitor ads currently running on Meta — public, free	Yes (free)
TikTok Creative Center	Top performing ads by industry, region	Yes (free)
Minea	Dropshipping ad spy — top selling products on FB/TikTok	Trial only
AdSpy / BigSpy	Ad intelligence across platforms	Paid only

B. Meta Ads Library (free, no signup needed)

For each competitor:

1. Go to facebook.com/ads/library
2. Filter by country + advertiser
3. Note: format mix (video/image/carousel), hooks used, CTAs, run duration
4. Compare against your ads -> find gaps and opportunities

C. Dropshipping-specific tools (Minea, Adspy, Pipiads)

For dropshipping competitor research:

• Minea — Track top FB/TikTok ads by product, find winning products
• Pipiads — TikTok Shop best sellers, ad performance data
• AdSpy — Search ads by keyword, advertiser, country

See skill 29-dropshipping-mastery-global for full dropshipping research workflow.

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3-tier competitor model

Categorize competitors into 3 groups — don't just look at direct competitors:

Tier	Definition	Criteria	Example (Mid-tier Spa)
Direct	Same tier, same offering, same audience	Same price, same service, same area	Spa B same street, similar pricing
Indirect potential	Different offering but substitutable	Customer might pick them instead	Cosmetic clinic, at-home skincare, home beauty devices
Secondary	Same offering, different price tier	Competes when budget shifts	Premium spa (customer downgrades), budget spa (upgrades)

Selection rules

• Direct: pick 3-5 main competitors
• Indirect potential: pick 2-3 substitute categories
• Secondary: pick 1-2 competitors at adjacent price tier

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Per-competitor analysis structure

For each competitor, analyze 8 dimensions:

1. Brand positioning

Element	Content
Main message	[Slogan, tagline, brand promise]
Visual style	[Color tone, photo style, video quality]
Price tier	[Low / Medium / High / Premium]
Target audience	[Gender, age, income, interests]
Stated USP	[What do they claim is their differentiation?]

2. Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths	Weaknesses
[List 3-5]	[List 3-5]

3. Content strategy

Metric	Value
Main channel	[Facebook / TikTok / Instagram / YouTube / Email]
Posting frequency	[X posts/week]
Priority format	[Short video / Carousel / Long post / Reels]
Tone of voice	[Professional / Friendly / Humorous / Educational]
Content angle mix	[TOFU X% / MOFU X% / BOFU X%]
Best performing content	[Top 3 highest engagement posts/videos]

4. Channels and platforms

Channel	Yes / No	Followers / Likes	Activity rating
Facebook Page
TikTok
Instagram
YouTube
LinkedIn
Website
Email

5. Ad spend estimation

Estimation method (no need for absolute precision):

Signal	How to read
Sponsored posts/month	Count "Sponsored" labeled posts in Meta Ads Library
TikTok video ad volume	TikTok Creative Center -> Top Ads -> filter by industry
Website traffic	SimilarWeb (free tier) or Semrush
KOL/UGC volume	Count brand-tagged videos on TikTok

Estimated metric	Value
Active ads (Meta Ads Library)	[X ads]
Estimated monthly ad spend	[$X — based on ad count x avg CPM]
Has UGC/KOL?	[Yes/No — if yes, estimated X people]

6. Audience overlap

Element	Overlap level
Geography	[High / Medium / Low]
Age	[High / Medium / Low]
Income	[High / Medium / Low]
Interests	[High / Medium / Low]
Channels used	[High / Medium / Low]

7. Pricing and business model

Product/service	Competitor price	Your price	Difference
[SKU 1]
[SKU 2]
[SKU 3]

8. Threat level assessment

Competitor	Threat level	Reason
[Name]	High / Medium / Low	[1 short sentence]

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SWOT — Your brand vs Competitors

SWOT summary table

	Positive	Negative
Internal	STRENGTHS — Your strengths competitors don't have or are weaker at	WEAKNESSES — Your weak points competitors exploit
External	OPPORTUNITIES — Market gaps competitors haven't claimed	THREATS — Competitor trends/moves threatening you

Detail

Strengths

#	Strength	Which competitor weak here?	How to leverage
1
2
3

Weaknesses

#	Weakness	Which competitor strong here?	How to fix
1
2
3

Opportunities

#	Opportunity	Why competitors haven't done it?	Recommended action
1
2
3

Threats

#	Threat	From which competitor?	Defense strategy
1
2
3

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Positioning Map

2x2 matrix — pick 2 axes that fit your industry:

Default axes: Price x Perceived Quality

        HIGH QUALITY
             |
             |
  Comp C     |  [YOU]
  (cheap,    |  (mid price,
   good qual)|   good qual)
             |
------- LOW -------- HIGH ---- PRICE
             |
  Comp A     |  Comp B
  (cheap,    |  (high price,
   low qual) |   low qual)
             |
        LOW QUALITY

Alternative axes (by industry)

X-axis (horizontal)	Y-axis (vertical)	Best for
Price	Perceived quality	Spa, F&B, fashion
Traditional vs Modern	Mainstream vs Niche	Education, tech
Convenience vs Experience	Mass vs Premium	F&B, retail
Online vs Offline	Self-serve vs Full service	Service, SaaS

How to read the map:

• Crowded corner = fierce competition, avoid
• Empty corner = gap to claim
• Heavy corner = many competitors, need strong differentiator

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Find market gaps (Market Gap)

5 gap types framework

Gap type	Check question	Finding
Product gap	What need are customers solving DIY because no one serves it?
Price gap	What price tier has no one claimed? (between budget and premium)
Channel gap	What channel are competitors ignoring? (Email? TikTok Shop? SEO?)
Content gap	What angle hasn't been done? (behind scenes? educational? data-driven?)
Experience gap	What customer journey step is no one doing well?

Gap evaluation

Gap	Attractiveness (1-5)	Feasibility (1-5)	Priority
[Gap 1]			High / Medium / Low
[Gap 2]
[Gap 3]

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Content Benchmark — Best-performing competitor content

Top-performing content analysis

For each competitor, pick top 5 posts/videos by engagement in last 30 days:

#	Competitor	Format	Angle	Views/Reach	Engagement	Why effective?
1
2
3
4
5

Extract pattern

Pattern	Description	Apply to you
Common hook	[Hook style competitors use]	[Apply / Don't apply — reason]
Strong format	[Video/Carousel/Text most effective?]
Posting time	[What hour, what day?]
Common CTA	[What CTA type?]
Viral element	[Common trait of effective content?]

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Learn vs Don't copy

LEARN from competitors

Lesson	From which competitor	How to apply
Effective content format		[Adapt how]
Strong channel		[Implementation]
Customer service		[Improvement]
Pricing strategy		[Adjustment]

DON'T copy

Don't copy	Reason	Do this instead
Copy content verbatim	Lose identity, suffer comparison	Take idea, adapt to your brand voice
Race to the bottom (price)	Unsustainable	Compete on value, not price
Imitate positioning	Become "cheap copy"	Find unique angle, differentiate
Follow trends they did	Late, lost effectiveness	Find new trends or new angle on old

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Competitive moat assessment

Moat type	Competitor has?	You have?	Action
Brand recognition — First-recall
Network effect — More users = more attractive
Switching cost — Hard for customers to leave
Data advantage — Big customer data
Content library — Large content library, strong SEO
Community — Loyal community
Distribution — Strong channel network

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Action table

Priority recommendations

#	Action	Based on finding	Urgency	Timeline
1			High / Medium	Wk 1-2
2				Wk 2-4
3				Mo 2
4				Mo 3
5				Long-term

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Cross-reference

• Need deeper customer understanding? -> Use 09-customer-insight-global
• Want to reposition and write brief? -> Use 02-campaign-brief-global
• Need differentiated copy? -> Use 05-ad-copy-global
• Need competitive budget calculation? -> Use 10-reverse-kpi-global
• Need full marketing plan? -> Use 00-marketing-plan-global
• Dropshipping research? -> Use 29-dropshipping-mastery-global

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Quality checklist

Before delivering report, check:

• Categorized competitors into 3 tiers (direct, indirect, secondary)
• Each competitor has all 8 analysis dimensions
• SWOT specific, not generic — each point names specific competitor
• Positioning map axes fit industry
• Found at least 3 market gaps
• Content benchmark has specific data (links, numbers), not vague observations
• "Learn vs Don't copy" section has specific actions
• Competitive moat assessed for both competitor and you
• Action table has timeline and urgency
• No unsupported claims — every conclusion has data or specific observation