What are the best ways to develop a competitive strategy that supports your product? (2024)

To keep it simple, in order to create a competitive strategy, start with market analysis and competitor assessment. Differentiate your product, define your target audience, and craft a compelling value proposition. Price strategically, optimize distribution, and implement a robust marketing plan. Stay agile, prioritize customer engagement, and invest in innovation and legal protections to maintain a competitive edge.

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The first step is to understand and clearly define what's the competitive advantage that our product is offering - Is it Cost Advantage? OR Differentiation Advantage? Cost Advantage - Are we selling products / services at a competitive / cheap prices compared to competitors? E.g., Tesco grocery in UK (cheap) Vs M&S (costly)Differentiation Advantage - Are we selling premium products / services than competitors, that customers appreciate, see value, and are willing to pay a higher price? E.g., Apple products (iPhone, Mac)

Conducting competitive analysis is a pivotal aspect of developing a robust strategy. Identify your key competitors, differentiating between direct and indirect ones. Use a SWOT analysis to ascertain their key points, weaknesses, potential growth avenues, and external challenges. Evaluate their market positioning, pricing strategies, product or service offerings, customer demographics, distribution channels, digital marketing approaches, online visibility, commitment to innovation, legal or regulatory considerations, and feedback from customers. This analysis not only informs your strategy but also grows your online presence, allowing you to leverage strengths, mitigate threats, and discover opportunities for product differentiation.

Identifying competitors and their products is a fundamental aspect of competitive analysis in business. Porter's Five Forces Model, developed by Michael Porter, identifies competitive forces that shape an industry. It encourages considering direct competitors, potential new entrants, substitute products or services, and buyer and supplier power.The Blue Ocean approach encourages businesses to look beyond direct competitors and identify uncontested market spaces (blue oceans) where they can create new demand and differentiate from existing products and competitors.

Aiming to make your product stand out in the market, start by deeply understanding your own product. This includes its features, benefits, USPs, pricing, target industry, and existing solutions. Make use of reliable market research tools, competitor websites, and industry reports to gather data. Identifying the competitive landscape by conducting a good competitive analysis Or even finding answers to questions as basic as - What sets your product apart? Is it technology, quality, cost-effectiveness, or something else? Is a good starting pointI like doing this in two parts: - Direct competitors- Indirect competitorsDirect competitors offer similar products, and indirect might address the same customer needs through different means.

As a product manager, your primary focus should be on understanding your customers and their needs. It's essential to have a deep understanding of how and why your customers use your product. By staying in close contact with users on a daily basis, you can uncover the reasons behind user churn and gain valuable insights. This customer-centric approach is more effective than constantly monitoring competitors.

Defining a Unique Value Proposition is what makes the product stand out and gives customers a compelling reason to choose it. Start by identifying what makes your product unique – whether it's innovation, performance, price, or solving specific problems. Align your UVP with the target audience's needs. Clearly convey your UVP in marketing. Ensure sustainability and consistency, continually gather customer feedback, and be ready to adapt to changing market conditions. Consistency in all customer interactions is key, and you can measure the impact of your UVP through various metrics. Your UVP is the core of your competitive strategy and requires constant evaluation and adaptation.

Value proposition encapsulates what makes the product unique and how it addresses customer needs, while the target customers are the specific segments you aim to serve. By understanding what makes a product unique, addressing customer pain points, and tailoring the messaging to specific customer segments, can create a strategy that resonates with your audience and sets it apart from the competition. Amazon's value proposition centers on convenience, a vast product selection, and efficiency in delivery services. Even with a diverse target market, spanning from online shoppers seeking convenience to businesses looking for cloud computing solutions. Amazon tailors its offerings to meet the unique needs of each customer segment

There are two ways to go about this:Option 1: You have an idea, you find potential target groups, run interviews and see which of these have a problem/need/desire that you could solve/meet/help them achieve with your solution.Option 2: You choose a target group (e.g. based on your interests, your unfair advantage, business potential, etc.), you interview/analyse them, find a problem/need/desire worth solving/meeting/helping to achieve, you discover a fitting solution.When I speak of solution, in this stage it's really first a value proposition rather than anything you build.

Developing a competitive strategy for your products involves thorough market research, defining a unique value proposition, product differentiation, pricing strategy, effective distribution channels, targeted marketing and promotion, prioritizing CX, continuous improvement, competitor monitoring, risk management, sustainability considerations, and exploring collaborations—all while remaining adaptable to evolving market conditions and customer preferences through intense and continuous CE.

Tesla, the electric car manufacturer, strategically positioned itself through competitive advantages and differentiators. Their focus on cutting-edge electric vehicle technology, superior battery performance, and a vast network of charging stations set them apart. Additionally, Tesla's commitment to sustainable energy solutions appealed to eco-conscious consumers. By emphasizing these unique attributes, Tesla gained a loyal customer base, demonstrating the power of leveraging innovation, sustainability, and superior technology as enduring competitive advantages in the automotive industry.

Competitive advantage isn’t about being the most innovative. It is about understanding the true nature of your product and sticking to a mission. When you’re deciding your plan of attack, it’s imperative to carve out the market space that you’ll occupy. Will you be the highest-priced product that offers exceptional quality and play by having a few revisiting customers? Or will you choose to play the volume game and make a cheaper, but streamlined version?

You have to answer the “why you” question and understand how that answer relates to your customers’ requirements. Without understanding and answering this you may have a big list of unique features that you believe to give you that edge and stand out. The biggest key here is to demonstrate how you can answer the problems to help your customers keep to their mission and achieve their goals. Then you pull out the differentiators to emphasise why that makes your product/service the right fit for the customer. Translating features into meaningful business outcomes is the true differentiator

Bringing together what you've found out about your users, your competition and trends & signals you can now work on your positioning and your differentiators.They are not the same! Your differentiators are perception-modeling. Customers and the market will decide how they perceive you to be different from the others.Positioning is how you actively choose the industry, competing companies, competing products that your product will have to fight for attention.

Developing a competitive strategy that effectively supports your product involves a combination of a few things like market research, innovation, and a deep understanding of your competitors. One powerful approach is to establish a dedicated team within your organization tasked with analyzing and using competitor products as end-users. that will help your team to identify both the strengths and weaknesses, what features are they impressed with? Where do they encounter challenges or limitations?and these insights when used effectively can help you identify opportunities, enhance your product, and ultimately help you develop a competitive strategy to stay ahead of the competition. #CompetitiveStrategy #ProductManagement #KK

Ethics and Social Responsibility! What wasn't taken into account earlier might need to be reconsidered today. I believe that ethical considerations are now crucial for your strategy. Being a leader in ethical tech can set you apart from competitors.

Be obsessed with real users of your product. Cherish them and prioritise the time and opportunities to interact with them. Listen to their daily pains and challenges. Build personal relationships with key individuals from your key user segments. Do this, and the rest of the steps presented in this article will follow.

A good summary would be: find, learn, go! Find phase: study your market, your competitors, the value chain and the position of your company. Learn phase: understand who is your potential customer and what are the main demands. And, of course, create your value proposition.Go phase: define the go-to-market strategy, including sales channels, sales tools and communication model.

Other aspects to consider - your longer term vision, the related commercial outcomes and the necessary resources for executing on that vision.

When are in early stage product cycle, there are multiple ways to bring competitive advantage but when we are little mature or building a SaaS there would few common things can be looked upon- 1. Develop a customer-centric culture2. Measure customer satisfaction by spending time with customer3. Develop innovative Products Or Services4.Feedback-Driven Culture5. Channelize unique advantage To customers 6. Learn & unlearn from existing player7. Build quality team