Article 17: How to Perform Quick and Effective Competitor Research

If the Basic tier got you scanning your competitors, the Pro tier is where you weaponize research and turn it into a sales and positioning machine. Whether you’re a solo operator, a freelancer, a side-hustler, or running a small team, knowing exactly how to dissect your competition, fast and accurately, will give you a killer advantage in any market.

Step 1: Define Your True CompetitorsDon’t just look at the obvious choices. Your real competition isn’t always who you think. It might be the big name in your niche, the new upstart with aggressive ads, or even a DIY solution people use instead of hiring anyone. Start by asking:

  • Who do your prospects mention or compare you to?
  • Who pops up when you Google your main service/product plus your city or market?
  • Who’s running ads targeting your audience?

Write these names down. Your hit list should be 5 to 10 strong competitors, max. More than that, you’re just collecting data for the sake of it.

Step 2: Audit Their Online PresenceYou want a fast but thorough scan. Hit their website, what’s the first thing you see? What’s their headline, main offer, and value prop? Take screenshots of anything that grabs you (good or bad). Then jump over to their social media.

  • Are they active or dead half the time?
  • What kind of posts get likes, comments, shares?
  • Are they using Stories, Lives, or other formats?

Look in their comments and tagged photos, this is where the real feedback and complaints live. Is their audience engaged, or do the comments look like bots? Are customers happy, or do you see angry rants and public failures?

Step 3: Analyze Their Offers and PricingYou don’t need every detail, but you do need to know:

  • What are they charging?
  • What’s included for the price?
  • What “bonuses” or extras do they offer?
  • How do they present value?

If their pricing isn’t public, try mystery shopping, ask for a quote as a customer, or start the checkout process and see what happens.

Note the friction points: Is their buying process confusing? Do you need to dig to get the info? Do they make it easy to buy, or is it a headache?

Step 4: Tear Into Their Reviews and TestimonialsAmazon, Google, Yelp, Trustpilot, Facebook, wherever their customers leave feedback, you need to be there. Look for 1-star and 2-star reviews.

  • What do people love?
  • What do they hate?
  • What pain points come up again and again?

Record exact phrases and complaints. Use this language in your own marketing, show you get the frustrations your competitors ignore. If a competitor has a flood of bad reviews about slow delivery, emphasize your speed. If people complain about rude service, highlight your killer customer experience.

Step 5: Map Their FunnelHow do they move people from “just looking” to “take my money”?

  • Do they offer a freebie or lead magnet to capture emails?
  • Is there a discovery call?
  • Are they aggressive with DMs or email follow-ups?
  • Do they use chatbots, live chat, or automated scheduling?

Sign up for their list and watch their sequence. Track every message, offer, and follow-up. You’ll learn exactly how they try to nurture and close leads, and where you can do it better.

Step 6: Watch Their Ads and Content StrategyUse Facebook Ad Library, Instagram, or LinkedIn to see what ads they’re running, if any. What headlines, images, and calls-to-action are they using?

  • Are they promoting discounts, free consults, or something else?
  • How do they describe the pain and the solution?

Also, look at their best-performing posts. Are they heavy on testimonials? Educational tips? Entertaining stories? Figure out what gets engagement and what falls flat.

Step 7: Identify the Gaps and PatternsHere’s the pro move, don’t just collect info. Look for the soft spots in the competition:

  • Is their message generic or boring?
  • Do they ignore a specific audience?
  • Are they missing a key product or service people keep asking for?
  • Are they overpromising and underdelivering?

Your job is to attack those gaps hard. If a competitor leaves beginners confused, build content and offers for newbies. If everyone else charges a premium but provides zero personal support, make your customer service a selling point people rave about.

Step 8: Position Yourself as the “Obvious Choice”Now flip all this intelligence into your own brand. Rewrite your homepage headline to call out the frustrations you just saw in reviews. Change your social bios to highlight what you do better or differently. Launch an offer that plugs a gap every competitor keeps missing.

Build simple competitor tables or “Why Us?” sections that compare your solution side-by-side. Make it effortless for a prospect to choose you.

Step 9: Revisit Regularly, Markets ChangeCompetitor research isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it play. Markets shift, new players enter, others drop out, and offers change quickly. Put a reminder in your calendar to do this scan every month. You’ll never be caught sleeping when someone new tries to steal your spot.

Extra Pro Hacks:

  • Set up Google Alerts for competitor brand names so you get notified of big moves.
  • Use free Chrome extensions like SimilarWeb or BuiltWith to peek under the hood of their websites.
  • Join their email list and Facebook groups with a burner account for ongoing updates.
  • If you get stuck, poll your own audience with, “What made you choose me over the other guys?”

Learning to do competitor research fast and effectively means you stop copying and start dominating. You’ll spot opportunities before anyone else and always know how to position yourself as the obvious, trusted choice.

Stay on Pro and get the templates, swipe files, and real examples from top earners who use competitor research to steal market share and close more deals every month. This is where hustle meets real strategy, use it and own your space.