How to do competitor research for content

Competitor research is an important part of the content design process. It helps you understand the current landscape, content approaches and language others use. It gives you a starting point to generate ideas and stand out.

Why do competitor research?

Creative people study the work of others to innovate. Architects study existing buildings to see how others solve similar problems. Artists imitate the masters to learn a style.

Competitor research for content helps you:

Understand trends and the competitive landscape

Looking at the competition allows you to learn what’s standard in your industry and what people expect as a baseline. For example, if everyone else provides a certain level of transparency, customers might lose trust in you if you don’t.

This applies to language too. To stand out, you need to understand the words others use. Sometimes, using the same words is better if that’s the language your customers know and expect.

Get inspiration and see how others solve similar problems

Seeing how others approach the same problem can give you different starting points for your content ideas. You might find a new angle you hadn’t considered, especially when you look outside your immediate industry.

“An idea is nothing more or less than a new combination of old elements.”

– James Webb Young, A Technique for Producing Ideas

Go wide with your inspiration

Take inspiration from many places, not just one. In Steal like an artist, Austin Kleon quotes Wilson Mizner: “If you copy from one author, it’s plagiarism, but if you copy from many, it’s research.”

Looking outside your field can help you identify new ideas that feel fresh. Try:

• reviewing other industries
• looking at different formats, such as books, magazines, film, art or adverts
• analysing content from different time periods
• exploring international markets

Find gaps, opportunities and ways to stand out

Reviewing the competition also helps you spot:

• opportunities to differentiate yourself
• content gaps that need filling
• pain points that aren’t being addressed.

When to do competitive research

It’s a good idea to review competitor content when you’re:

• creating new content
• creating or updating a content strategy
• changing your tone of voice.

How to do competitor research for content

1. Define your goals

The analysis you do will depend on the problem you’re solving. Define the problem and what you want to find out. 

Example goal 1: Design a new email sign-up box

You might want to find out:

• where competitors place sign-up boxes (footer, pop-up, elsewhere)
• what offers they use
• what language they use for calls to action
• what terminology they use (newsletter, updates).

You can use content examples to make it easier to do this at scale. Filter by content type or your sector for more relevant examples.

Example goal 2: Differentiate your positioning as a sustainable candle brand

You might want to find out:

• what language others use
• how competitors position themselves on their homepage, meta titles and social media

Example goal 3: Explain your ingredients in more depth

You might want to find out:

• how competitors describe ingredients
• what structure or formatting they use
• how ingredients are labelled.

Example goal 4: Redesign website navigation

You might want to find out:

• what top level menu labels competitors use
• how they structure category pages.

2. Identify relevant competitors and wider influences

You probably already know your closest direct competitors. You can also: 

• search Google or social media for your product category. For example: sustainable candles
• explore related industries with similar audiences (for example, sustainable perfumes if you sell sustainable candles)
• filter the content examples library by sector

Aim to review 5 to 10 competitors. 

3. Collect examples

Review competitor content based on your goals. You can use a spreadsheet or tool like Figjam to store and group your research.

4. Analyse findings

Summarise your findings and look for patterns, gaps and opportunities based on your goals.

5. Apply insights to your content

Remember that just because a competitor does something, doesn’t mean it works well for them or will work for you. Use your research as a starting point to move forward with your content.

Need help with competitor research?

I can do competitor research as part of a content strategy or a standalone piece of work. Get in touch in your requirements.