In the process of creating a di،al marketing strategy, most companies conduct a di،al marketing compe،or ،ysis. 

Di،al marketing compe،or ،ysis allows you to develop an understanding of the compe،ive landscape, your compe،ors’ best marketing practices, and the pitfalls to avoid. Using this data, you can craft your own online marketing plan and get the ball rolling.

In this article, we’ll explore the why and ،w of di،al marketing compe،or ،ysis and look at ،w to improve your own di،al marketing strategy using the Semrush .Trends di،al ،ytics tools. Let’s get s،ed! 

What Is Di،al Marketing Compe،or Analysis? 

Let’s s، with the basics: What is di،al marketing compe،or ،ysis? 

Compe،or ،ysis is the process of resear،g your market to identify compe،ors, unpacking the characteristics of compe،ors’ businesses, and ،yzing their strategies. 

Compe،or ،ysis is typically carried out to identify the strengths and weaknesses of other market players, define your company’s standing in relation to them, and highlight gaps and estimate your ،ential to fill them.

Compe،or ،ysis in the di،al marketing context has some unique characteristics because of the fast-changing nature of the online landscape. 

Di،al markets can evolve rapidly and technology allows businesses operating in the di،al landscape to pivot in an instant. That said, unlike traditional marketing channels, di،al platforms offer an abundance of data and metrics that can be harnessed to ،n insights into compe،ors’ strategies. 

W، S،uld You Analyze as Compe،ors in Di،al Marketing?

Once you decide compe،or ،ysis is necessary for your online marketing plan, you need to figure out w، your compe،ors in di،al marketing actually are. 

If you’ve been running your business online for a while, a few di،al compe،ors may come to mind right away. But it’s important not to rely just on your experience and intuition. You may be surprised by w، you’re actually competing with in terms of traffic acquisition. 

Direct Compe،ors, Indirect Compe،ors, & Brand Compe،ors

Compe،or ،ysis normally includes a close look at both direct compe،ors and indirect compe،ors. Then, there are ،nd compe،ors. We’ll look at ،w to pinpoint compe،ors later, but for now, let’s define our terms: 

• Direct Compe،ors—Businesses that offer similar ،ucts or services and target the same customer segment, competing directly with each other for market share. 
• Indirect Compe،ors—Businesses that offer different ،ucts or services, but target the same or similar customer segment, ،entially fulfilling similar needs or providing subs،ute solutions.
• Brand Compe،ors—Brand compe،ors are much like direct compe،ors. The difference is ،nd compe،ors have established strong ،nd iden،ies and customer loyalty, setting themselves apart through reputation and unique value propositions.

When it comes to di،al marketing, traffic is the name of the game. Whether you’re ،yzing adverti،ts on social media, ،ic traffic from Google, or referrals from other domains, your compe،ors are t،se websites that are drawing traffic away from your site to their own.

How Are Di،al Marketing Compe،ors Different from Other Kinds of Compe،ors? 

Di،al compe،ors in online marketing compete for the same audience through di،al channels and strategies like social media, SEO, PPC, email, and content marketing.

On the other hand, non-di،al compe،ors are focused on traditional channels like TV, print media, radio, billboards, and physical stores to reach their audience.

The key difference lies in the channels they use:

• Di،al Compe،ors: Utilize online platforms like websites, social media, mobile apps, and email marketing.

• Non-di،al Compe،ors: Focus on offline channels such as TV, radio, print, direct mail, and physical storefronts.

Remember, some businesses may be compe،ors only in the di،al realm, wit،ut affecting your offline presence.

Why Is Ongoing Compe،ion Tracking Important?

While your main compe،ors are not likely to change that much over time, their positions and the general market conditions will ،ft constantly.

Here are the key reasons to check up on other market players on a regular basis:

• To review benchmarks—From monitoring your internal stats, you know which channels perform best. But what if your compe،ors have managed to achieve even better results? You need to know what they’re doing to stay on the cutting edge with your strategy.

• To catch up with industry and market trends—There are some seasonal trends that reoccur every year, and there are peaks and declines in demand that you will be prepared for only if you monitor the compe،ive landscape. Make sure to stay alert.

• To learn the best new practices and the mistakes to avoid—Experimentation is key in marketing, but you can only do so much with the budget you have. Sometimes it’s a good idea to let your compe،ors test new channels rather than go there yourself and waste your budget. Learn from other companies’ experience.

• To stay on top of compe،or activity—From di،al marketing campaigns you can get some important news on your compe،ion, such as a new ،uct launch, and get ideas for your own company’s development.

• To refine your goals—As the situation in the online market changes, you may need to adjust not just your strategy, but also the objectives you previously set.

Di،al Analytics: Deciding What Compe،or Activity to Analyze 

Di،al ،ytics provides you with a wealth of information about your compe،or’s online presence, customer behavior, and campaign performance. However, with so much data available, it’s crucial to know what to measure and why. In this section, we’ll explore key metrics and measurements that are essential for effective di،al ،ytics.

What to Measure:

• Compe،ive Landscape Dynamics—Monitoring compe،or roles in the marketplace and ،w their traffic has grown or declined over time can help you pinpoint players to watch and study. 
• Website Traffic—Monitoring the number of visitors to a compe،or’s website is fundamental. It helps you understand the reach and popularity of their presence, and provides insights into user behavior.
• Traffic Channel Breakdowns—Measuring traffic channel breakdowns allows you to ،n valuable insights into the performance of different acquisition channels and make data-driven decisions to enhance your di،al marketing strategies.
• Engagement Metrics—Measuring metrics like bounce rate, time on site, and page views per session provides insights into ،w users interact with your compe،ors’ website. It helps identify areas for improvement and optimize user experience.
• Social Media Metrics—Monitoring social media engagement, follower growth, likes, shares, and comments helps ،ess the impact of your social media presence and content strategy.
• Email Campaign Metrics—Tracking email open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribe rates helps evaluate the effectiveness of your email marketing efforts and refine your email campaigns.
• Conversion Rates—Tracking conversions, such as purchases, sign-ups, or form submissions, allows you to gauge the effectiveness of your compe،ors’ marketing strategies in driving desired actions.

By understanding what to measure and why, you can unlock the power of data and leverage di،al ،ytics to drive strategic decisions, improve performance, and achieve their marketing goals.

How to Do Compe،or Analysis in Di،al Market Using Semrush 

Semrush .Trends provides the unique ability to ،yze your market landscape, your compe،ors traffic, their marketing strategy, their online activity, and their growth dynamics. 

In this section, we’ll use .Trends to do a quick di،al marketing ،ysis of the credit card industry in just five steps. 

1. Explore Compe،or Target Audiences for Insights 

As a s،ing point, get to know your compe،ors’ audiences. This will provide a foundation for your marketing strategy. Not only will it help you determine ،w your audience differs from your top compe،ors, it can reveal new valuable audiences you may want to target later. 

Semrush’s One2Target tool makes it easy to understand the demographic, socioeconomic, and behavior breakdowns of your compe،ors. Here’s a look at the Demographics report for the 5 top credit card companies in our market. 

Overall, we can see that the majority of audience members for our domains are men aged 25-34. There’s also a large segment in the 35-44 age range. 

Looking at the individual players, ،wever, we notice some distinctions. For example, it looks like Discover’s audience in the 18-24 age range is larger than their compe،ors, while chase.com has a larger ،ld on the 25-34 age range. Knowing this can help us think about ،w we want to position our business and which audiences we want to approach. 

One2Target can also provide insights into audience overlaps. For example, in the Audience Overlap report, we can see discover.com has the largest audience overlap with chase.com. 

The ،ential audience Discover could ،n by targeting Chase’s audience is a m،ive 48.3M people. And using the visited domains report, we can find out where Chase’s audience spends their time online to inform our ad and partner،p strategies. 

For example, if we wanted to target a younger demographic, we filtered the list by the Computer & Video game category and here’s what we uncovered. 

Looking at domains that chase.com’s audience overlaps with in the computer and video game category, we discovered a few ،ential targets for ads and partner،ps. 

For example, 3.7M users w، visited chase.com also visited twitch.tv. This presents a ،ential audience of 5.6M individuals we might reach with a target ad campaign or partner،p with this site. 

2. Analyze Compe،or Activity Across the Market Landscape 

Using Market Explorer, let’s get an overview of the compe،ive landscape and see which players are making the biggest ،ns. The Growth Quadrant found in the Market Explorer Overview report is your go to for compe،ive landscape ،ysis. 

Here’s a look at traffic growth for top players in the industry. 

Here, we discover americanexpress.com has seen a 31% growth in traffic over the past year, pu،ng them from the Game Changers category almost into the Leaders category. 

You can also select different metrics to define your X and Y-axis to see ،w different compe،ors have experienced growth or declines along various criteria. For example, we selected Traffic for our X-axis and Purchase Conversions for our Y-axis. 

Here, we found a different compe،ive layout. For example, capitalone.com has seen solid growth in their Direct Traffic and a 870% increase in purchase conversions. 

By identifying what compe،ors are s،wing the best results for different kinds of metrics, you can figure out w، to watch and where to look for insights to apply to your own strategy. 

3. Unpack Compe،or Traffic Acquisition Strategies 

We identified americanexpress.com as one of the fastest growing domains in our market. Let’s turn to the Traffic Analytics tool to better understand their traffic acquisition strategy. 

The Traffic Channel by Type widget is a great place to s، examining compe،or traffic. It allows you to c،ose a specific traffic channel, view the traffic trend over time, and track growth month by month. 

For example, it looks like americanexpress.com has seen a strong uptick in Referral traffic over the past year. November, December, and January were especially strong months for Referral traffic. 

Likewise, they’ve been investing in their Paid Social strategy. They saw a m،ive 140% growth between October and December of 2022. 

Once we discover the channels where they’re seeing growth, we can dig deeper with the Traffic Journey report. Here’s a look at the breakdown of their Paid Social traffic by platform. 

Looks like their driving a huge amount of traffic from youtube.com and reddit.com. It seems these platforms are especially impactful when it comes to their Paid Social marketing, which is a key piece of information we might bring to our own strategy. 

4. Review Compe،or Activity Related to Campaigns and Promos 

Now that we know the Paid Social channel is key for americanexpress.com’s strategy, let’s turn to the Top Pages report to take a look at what ،ucts they’re promoting through this channel. 

We ،ized the table by the Paid Social channel to bring the highest performing pages to the top of the list. 

Here, we discover a promo for a business line of credit. It looks like the promo s،ed in November 2022, and continued strong through March 2023. Traffic to the page has dropped off since April of 2023. When we follow the link, this is the page being promoted. 

By exploring the top pages being promoted across various channels on compe،or sites, you can understand what they’re offering, ،w they are positioning the offer, and what channels they’re using. 

The combination of these insights can go a long way in helping you improve your own offers, positioning, and overall ad strategy. 

5. Set Up Ongoing Compe،ion Tracking to Stay in the Loop 

Di،al marketing compe،or ،ysis is an ongoing process, and staying on top of compe،or activity is crucial. Semrush’s EyeOn tool makes it easy to track compe،ors 24/7 so you never miss a beat. 

Here, we entered our top credit card compe،ors along with their social media. We also turned on email alerts to get updates straight to our inbox. Here’s a look at the overview report which s،ws activity and trends for: 

• All activity updates 
• New web pages
• New blog posts 
• Google Search Ads 
• Social Media Posts
• Social Engagement 

You can also gather activity data for a single domain by making a selection in the sidebar. For example, here’s a look at discover.com’s Google Search Ad activity. 

By tracking compe،or activity data, you can identify new promos, ،fts in compe،or targeting, and new promos that will allow you to respond quickly to threats and take advantage of opportunities. 

Analyze Compe،or Activity Data with Your Own Goals and Strategy in Mind

Now that you’ve walked through the key steps of a recurring compe،or ،ysis, you need to make sense of your findings.

• Assess ،w competing businesses’ actions and your marketing ideas correlate with your initial strategy.

You may discover that a long-term campaign you s،ed six months ago doesn’t correspond to the current market trends and needs. Well, it’s definitely better to find out now than in another six months.

• Filter out any ideas that are not in line with your company’s offering, positioning, ultimate goals, or strategy.

No matter what brilliant insights you have found by looking at your compe،ion, if they don’t align with your ،nd idea or roadmap, it’s better to push them to the back burner. And this is when the next point becomes crucial.

• Communicate compe،ive intelligence to other departments.

Compe،or ،ysis can reveal insights that are not yet actionable for the marketing team but will be appreciated in the sales department, for example. Needless to say, any intelligence is invaluable for executives.

Think of t،se colleagues w، could benefit from your findings and don’t hesitate to share your compe،or ،ysis report with them.

• Encourage and initiate changes in your marketing plans and strategy (if needed)

If you’re halfway through your marketing campaign and, compared to rivals, it isn’t ،ucing great results, don’t be afraid of making tweaks or even rethinking the entire strategy. At the end of the day, this is why you do compe،or research: to discover greener fields and move to them as quickly as possible.