When I launched my retail business three years ago, I was convinced that our distinctive products would be enough. I overlooked market research as a waste of time – a mistake that nearly ruined my entire venture.
I invest at least 120 minutes each regularly examining our competitors':
- professional website design cost structure and UX
- Content strategy and publishing frequency
- Social media activity
- Client testimonials and ratings
- SEO strategy and rankings
A few weeks ago, a entrepreneur questioned me why his content weren't creating any inquiries. After reviewing his content marketing strategy, I identified he was making the same blunders I see countless Saudi businesses make.
Begin by mapping ALL your competitors – not just the major ones. During our analysis, we found that our most significant competitor wasn't the famous brand we were tracking, but a recent company with an innovative approach.
For a hotel brand, we discovered that word-for-word transfer of their foreign queries produced highly unproductive spending. After executing a regionally-specific keyword strategy, their cost per acquisition dropped by 73%.
For a furniture retailer, a collaboration with 20 nano influencers generated a remarkable better return on investment than a single partnership with a high-profile creator with a massive number of followers.
Last month, a merchant approached me after spending over 250,000 SAR on unsuccessful paid search initiatives. After revamping their methodology, we produced a dramatic improvement in advertising efficiency.
I use a straightforward tracker to record our rivals' pricing modifications every week. This has allowed us to:
- Discover periodic discount patterns
- Notice special offer approaches
- Comprehend their cost structure
Last quarter, a skincare retailer invested 300,000 SAR in traditional advertising with minimal outcomes. After shifting just 25% of that investment to influencer marketing, they experienced a seven hundred twelve percent increase in conversions.
I suggest classifying competitors as:
- Main competitors (offering very similar offerings)
- Peripheral competitors (with some overlap)
- Potential challengers (new businesses with innovative potential)
Additional timing insights included:
- Decreased rivalry during worship moments with consistent results
- Increased engagement on Fridays and Saturdays notably after evening prayers
- Temporal differences requiring spending modifications during cultural events
- School schedule impacts on particular industries
Helping a culinary business, we created a approach where influencers authentically presented products into their regular routines rather than generating clear promotions. This method resulted in engagement rates two hundred eighteen percent greater than standard advertising material.
Six months into business, our conversions were dismal. It wasn't until I chanced upon a comprehensive report about our niche that I understood how oblivious I'd been to the business environment around us.
Recently, I witnessed as three rival companies invested heavily into developing their operations on a specific social media platform. Their attempts were unsuccessful as the medium turned out to be a bad match for our sector.
I now employ several resources that have dramatically enhanced our competitor analysis:
- SEO tools to track other companies' search rankings
- Mention tracking tools to follow competitors' digital footprint
- Digital tracking solutions to track changes to their premier digital marketing services properties
- Email capture to get their marketing communications
With extensive testing for a meal service client, we found that advertisements shown between night time significantly exceeded those shown during standard optimal periods, achieving substantially higher purchases.
Key approaches included:
- Collaborating with Saudi native speakers to determine genuine lookup habits
- Analyzing regional rivals for search term strategies
- Building a Arabic-English keyword matrix to engage every possible searchers
- Using Saudi Arabic dialect rather than classical terminology
Powerful techniques included:
- Showcasing collective advantages rather than personal benefits
- Adding subtle religious references where appropriate
- Adjusting promotion language to match Saudi traditional values
- Developing separate message options for different regions within the Kingdom