Here’s a complete, actionable competitive landscape analysis framework you can implement immediately. I’ve organized this into phases so you can start generating insights today.

Phase 1: Intelligence Gathering (Week 1)

Before analyzing, collect raw data using these specific sources:

Direct Sources

• Competitor websites (pricing pages, feature lists, case studies)
• Product demos/trial accounts (screenshot everything)
• SEC filings (10-K, 10-Q) for public companies
• Job postings (reveals strategic priorities and tech stack)
• Press releases and earnings call transcripts

Indirect Sources

• G2/Capterra/TrustRadius reviews (filter by "cons" to find weaknesses)
• Reddit, LinkedIn, and industry Slack communities
• Patent filings (Google Patents)
• Google Alerts for "[Competitor] + partnership" or "[Competitor] + pricing"

Pro Tip: Create a shared Notion/Airtable database with fields: Competitor Name, Data Point, Source URL, Date Collected, Confidence Level (High/Med/Low).

Phase 2: Analysis Templates

Template 1: The Tactical Comparison Matrix

Best for: Product teams, sales enablement

Action Step: Highlight cells where you have clear advantages in green, parity in yellow, and gaps in red. Red areas become your roadmap or positioning challenges.

Template 2: Strategic Positioning Map (Perceptual Map)

Best for: Marketing strategy, differentiation

X-Axis: Price (Low → High)
Y-Axis: [Your Key Dimension—complexity, speed, customization, support quality, etc.]

How to build it:

1. Survey 10-15 customers/prospects: "When you think of [Category], which companies come to mind?"
2. Ask them to rate each on your chosen dimensions (1-10 scale)
3. Plot the averages

White Space Opportunity: Look for empty quadrants. If everyone clusters in "High Price/High Complexity," there may be room for "High Value/Low Complexity."

Template 3: The SWOT Battle Card (One-Pager per Competitor)

Best for: Sales teams who need quick intel

Template 4: Capabilities Analysis (Porter’s Five Forces Adaptation)

Best for: Market entry decisions, investment thesis

For each force, rate intensity (1-5) and list key players:

1. Threat of New Entrants

   • Barriers: High capital requirements? Regulatory hurdles? Network effects?
   • Recent entrants to monitor: [List]

2. Supplier Power

   • Critical dependencies (AWS, specific APIs, talent pool)
   • Concentration risk: [High/Med/Low]

3. Buyer Power

   • Switching costs for customers
   • Price sensitivity trends

4. Threat of Substitutes

   • Direct competitors vs. "build in-house" vs. "do nothing"
   • Emerging alternatives: [AI automation, no-code tools, etc.]

5. Competitive Rivalry

   • Market growth rate (growing pie vs. zero-sum)
   • Number of viable competitors
   • Differentiation level (commodity vs. unique)

Template 5: The "Jobs-to-be-Done" Competitive Set

Best for: Identifying non-obvious competitors

List the "job" your customer hires you to do, then map all solutions:

Insight: Your biggest threat might not be the company that looks like you, but the spreadsheet they're already using.

Phase 3: Synthesis & Action Planning

The SOAR Framework (Strategic Output)

Turn your analysis into strategy:

S - Status Quo: 3 bullets on current market dynamics
O - Opportunities: 2-3 whitespace areas or competitor weaknesses to exploit
A - Avoid: 1-2 battlegrounds where competitors have insurmountable advantages
R - Recommendations:

• Immediate (next 30 days): Pricing adjustment, messaging pivot
• Medium (next quarter): Feature development, partnership
• Long-term (next year): Market expansion, M&A targets

Tools to Operationalize This

Data Collection: Crunchbase (funding), BuiltWith (tech stack), SEMrush (SEO/ads), Owler (private company estimates)
Visualization: Miro/Mural (for positioning maps), Airtable (for comparison matrices), Canva (for battle cards)
Distribution: Notion (living wiki), Google Slides (executive summary), Salesforce (competitive alerts for sales)

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

1. Analysis Paralysis: Limit yourself to 3-5 direct competitors max. Ignore everyone below 10% market share initially.
2. Static Snapshots: Set a quarterly reminder to update. Markets shift fast.
3. Feature Fixation: Don’t just copy features. Analyze business models and distribution advantages.
4. Confirmation Bias: Actively search for evidence that contradicts your assumptions about your own strengths.

Quick Start Checklist for Today:

• Pick your top 3 competitors
• Fill out the Tactical Comparison Matrix for just the "Pricing" and "Key Features" rows
• Write one SWOT battle card for your #1 competitor
• Schedule 2 customer interviews to validate your positioning map

To customize this for your specific situation, I’d love to know:

1. What industry/category are you in? (B2B SaaS, consumer goods, services, etc.)—I can suggest industry-specific metrics to track.
2. What’s your primary goal? (Pricing strategy, feature roadmap, investor deck, or sales enablement?)
3. Do you have any "mystery competitors"—companies you keep losing deals to but don’t fully understand?

Once you share these, I can help you prioritize which templates to use first and what specific data points to hunt for.

A competitive landscape analysis is more than just a list of who else is in your market; it is a strategic tool used to identify gaps in the market, refine your value proposition, and anticipate competitor moves.

Follow this step-by-step guide and use the template below to get started immediately.

Step 1: Identify Your Competitors

Don't just look at the obvious names. Categorize them into three groups:

• Direct Competitors: Offer the same product/service to the same audience (e.g., Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi).
• Indirect Competitors: Offer different products but solve the same problem (e.g., Netflix vs. Video Games).
• Replacement Competitors: New tech or trends that could make your category obsolete (e.g., Smartphones vs. Point-and-shoot cameras).

Step 2: The Competitive Analysis Template

You can copy this structure into a Spreadsheet (Google Sheets/Excel) or a Notion page. Create a column for Your Company and one for each Competitor.

Step 3: Actionable Data Collection

To fill out the template accurately, use these practical methods:

1. Analyze their Website: Use tools like BuiltWith to see what technology they use or SimilarWeb to estimate their traffic sources.
2. Read Customer Reviews: Go to G2, Capterra, Trustpilot, or Google Reviews. Look specifically for 2-star and 4-star reviews—these usually contain the most honest feedback about what is missing or what is working.
3. Become a "Secret Shopper": Sign up for their newsletter, download their whitepapers, or go through their checkout process to see where they excel and where they create friction.
4. Check Social Engagement: Don't just look at follower counts. Look at how they respond to customers. Are they helpful? Defensive? Slow?

Step 4: Synthesize the Data (The "So What?")

Once your grid is full, answer these three questions to turn the data into a strategy:

• The Gap: What is one thing customers keep asking for in reviews that no competitor is currently providing?
• The Threat: Which competitor is most likely to steal your current customers, and why?
• The Pivot: Based on their pricing and features, should you compete on "Better Quality," "Lower Price," or "Niche Specialization"?

Tools to Speed Up the Process

• SEMrush/Ahrefs: To see which keywords they rank for.
• Facebook Ad Library: To see exactly what ads they are currently running.
• Crunchbase: To check their funding rounds and company size.
• Visualping: To get notified whenever a competitor changes text or pricing on their website.

To help me tailor this further for you:

1. What industry are you in?
2. Are you looking to enter a new market, or are you trying to protect your current market share?
3. Which specific area (Pricing, Marketing, Product features) are you most concerned about right now?