How to write a competitive product analysis, I have summarized 5 common problems and 1 set of methodology!

There is no doubt that competitive product analysis is an essential skill for every product operation. No matter what stage the product is in, it is always necessary to enable this skill to conduct some special research.

The author happened to be doing some new product planning recently and read a lot of articles related to competitive product analysis. I have gained some small gains, so I made a summary, as the title says: After studying 50+ competitive product analyses, I summarized 5 common problems and 1 set of methodology, I hope it will be helpful to you.

1. Purpose of this article

1. By sorting out the common problems in the competitive product analysis process, you can consciously avoid some common mistakes, otherwise it will be a waste of time;

2. Provide an analysis method so that you can take it out and look at it every time you analyze, so that you can have a trace to follow, avoid detours, and improve analysis efficiency.

2. Five common problems in competitive product analysis

2.1 Unclear analysis purpose

2.1.1 Common Features

After comparing and analyzing more than 50 competitor reports, we found that this problem is the most common, and the common characteristics are:

① Write about the experience environment at the beginning, such as the phone model and app version;

It seems very rigorous, but as a reader, I actually have no idea what this analysis is trying to express? Of course, for some analyses, the author himself knows the purpose of his analysis.

② The analysis content is jumpy and lacks a main thread;

One moment I wrote about the overall market situation, the next moment I wrote about the operational strategy, and then I wrote about the core functions of the product. It seems to cover all aspects, but in fact it loses focus and loses thinking about the current position of analysis. What problem is the analysis trying to solve? Can't tell

2.1.2 The author recommends:

Think about a few questions before taking action:

① What problem are you facing now?

② Is it necessary to solve this problem through competitive product analysis? Is it okay not to do it? Why?

③ What do you hope to gain through competitive product analysis? Information or knowledge or action plan?

2.2 The target audience is not clear and implementation is difficult

It is rare to clearly state who the competitive product analysis on the Internet is written for. Most of the target customers are: writing for oneself or for friends who want to understand the industry, and usually there will be some outlook for the future at the end. However, in actual work applications, the task of competitive product analysis usually has a scenario. Here are some examples:

① Demand inspiration: If you have no inspiration for writing requirements, learn from competitors.

"I've been thinking about it for a long time, but I'm still confused. How can I design the functions and core processes of this product in a more reasonable and comprehensive way? How about looking at what competitors are doing?"

② Daily complaints: The boss asked me to go to the office for tea, there is a good product called other people's product

"Little Leo, why is there no share button on this page? Why is there no share button for such an important scene? Look, other people's products are so good. You should learn more from competitors."

③ Project start-up: planning from 0 to 1

"We are going to enter the x industry and create the first MVP in the first quarter. Little Leo, go back and analyze the situation of the entire market and give me a report on Friday."

From the above three scenarios, the audiences are: yourself, superiors, and company leaders. Different people have different requirements for report output. A good analysis report must be implementable. With this in mind, the following analysis is more targeted, as shown in the figure below:

2.3 Pursuing large and comprehensive content, piling up content, and lacking in-depth analysis

I will replay here my own experience of writing a report:

Step 1: Before writing the report

First, I searched online for analysis frameworks, market background, product positioning, product target groups, product data, and then the five elements of user experience (strategy, scope, framework...). This framework seemed to be more suitable and perfect.

Step 2: Start writing

It took me one week to collect all kinds of data, and I wrote 10,000 words in an organized and well-organized manner. I finished the job! I feel a great sense of accomplishment, I'm simply a genius!

Step 3: Submit a report

The leader called me to the office and I waited expectantly for his praise, but...I had to start all over again!

The problem is clear: the lack of research on leadership expectations and the excessive pursuit of exquisite templates are the root causes of the problem.

2.4 Process experience, low restoration

Let me first explain what restoration is. The author’s understanding is that a task-based experience based on real user scenarios and needs is the true restoration. When we design our own products, we will definitely take into account user usage scenarios and user stratification. For example: finding a suitable restaurant to eat at on the app.

Scene: On Women's Day, the goddess I've been pursuing suddenly said she wanted to eat something near the company; (ps: I was caught off guard)

User: Goddess, from Hainan, avoids spicy food and light taste;

Mission: quickly find a suitable restaurant with less queues and give the goddess a perfect dinner;

Process: Select a region - filter restaurant types (whether they provide effective decision-making information: ratings, taste, queues) - book a seat - go to dine - check the queue progress, and then go shopping near crowded areas and buy a cup of HEYTEA.

Is the above method truly restoring the real experience scene? If there are some wrong decision-making information or bad experience during the process, as a user, will you curse this platform as garbage and uninstall it decisively?

However, this point really tests the quality of the product. Just like the rumors, Steve Jobs could become a novice user in 1 second, Ma Huateng needed 5 seconds, and Zhang Xiaolong needed 10 seconds.

2.5 Data rigor cannot withstand scrutiny

Analysis is a rigorous process and must be well-reasoned and convincing. The last common problem in the analysis report is that the source of the analyzed data is not indicated, and it is not known how reliable it is. If a business decision maker receives a report with unclear data sources, would he dare to take action? I think it's uncertain.

In an analytical report, facts are collected and opinions are given. The facts must be rigorous and credible, recognized by the market, and free of subjective conjecture.

Therefore, the author recommends:

1. Mark the source of data acquisition and verify the credibility of the source provider
2. Some data are forged by competitors to deliberately confuse their opponents, so we must be conscious of identifying them. For example: user application market evaluation; e-commerce companies forge product data through anti-crawler technology

3. How to do competitive product analysis

3.1 A good competitive product analysis should have three characteristics

3.1.1 Have clear goals

No matter what the purpose is, you must figure it out. Because competitor analysis is not a simple process, it would be a pity to act without thinking it through.

3.1.2 Know clearly who is reading

Writing a competitive product analysis is the same as writing a report. The focus of the analysis will be different depending on the object.

• Leaders: Before planning what to do and analyzing it, there may be two states of mind: ① I am unsure about doing this thing and need some support; ② I have decided to do it, but the people below are not convinced, so I need to find an analysis report to support it (brain hole)
• Manager: I know what needs to be done, but in order to better achieve the target, is it better to do plan A or plan B? He needs a comparison process.
• Executor: In order to get things done and done well, he needs some solutions.

The above only describes the role hierarchy in an enterprise. In the same hierarchy, there are also different roles, as shown in the following figure:

3.1.3 Know the stage of your product

The author divides it into three stages: the development stage, the competition stage and the defense stage. At each stage, the points that need to be focused on are different.

① Development stage

Stage description: Entering new markets and new industries.

Focus: Industry situation (industry development history, operating environment, market size and growth trend); industry representatives (product development history, target customers, business processes, profit model).

② Competition stage

Stage description: Seize market share and user numbers.

Focus: Focus on core competitors, operating data and business strategies.

③ Defense phase

Stage description: Establish competitive advantages and product barriers.

Focus: Monitor and catch up with the indicators and actions of competitors.

3.2 Systems Thinking Framework

The following is a complete thinking framework, which is basically developed around 5W2H. It is very long. If you find it useful, you can save it. You are welcome to discuss it with me.

Source: Nobita carries his bag