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How do you perform extensive competitive product research?
I've been tasked with it but I'm missing the mark. This research is for the CEO and Product/Engineering teams who want to know how our tech stacks up in the market. Do you have any tips?
14 Answers

Not sure what mark you're missing. But your CEO and product/eng team are probably looking for (1) an overview of the space, where everyone is going (2) highlighting a few players and going deep dive into why they're building it and who they are building for. [I would hire a secret shopper for the......Read More
574 Views

Grant Shirk
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network Experiences • April 13
I think this one just dropped in. Let's do it live! My gut reaction is: If you're being asked to do "extensive competitive research," something is broken. And you should say no, gracefully. It's very difficult, if not impossible to learn how to win in a market by looking at a competitive produ......Read More
339 Views

Leah Brite
Gusto Head of Product Marketing, Core Product • September 30
I’d clarify upfront what they are hoping to achieve with the exercise. Is it for internal knowledge? To publish competitive checklists on your website? What will it mean for them to know how your tech stacks up in the market? Clarifying and getting alignment on how the information will be used an......Read More
455 Views

Christiana Rattazzi
Okta VP, Industries & Platform Product Marketing • November 2
The best competitive research I've seen goes beyond the competitor's website, press releases and YouTube videos. They might include competitor customer interviews and tailored sales demos. I've personally worked with great small businesses and consultants who are experts in doing this analysis an......Read More
540 Views

Ambika Aggarwal
Culture Amp Director of Product Marketing • September 23
This is definitely tricky since getting in-depth product intel requires intimate knowledge about your competitors products. One technique some companies employ is mystery shopping research where you hire a researcher to pose as a buyer, but your organization may have a stance against this type of......Read More
334 Views

Ryan Van Wagoner
Forethought Senior Director, Head of Marketing • September 15
My first recommendation would be to make sure you understand exactly what exactly your stakeholders are wanting to know (and why). Are they looking at making product decisions based on this information? Adjusting the pricing? Refining the messaging? Knowing the strategic goals behind the request ......Read More
363 Views

Leandro Margulis
Prove Head of Product • September 7
The definition of "Extensive competitive product research" may be different for different people. I suggest asking the CEO and Product / Engineering teams the kind of questions they are looking to answer. Sometimes the high level market research you can get from a 3rd party will not be enough, an......Read More
299 Views

Amey Kanade
Amazon Product Marketing at Fire TV (Smart TVs) • February 17
Here are some tips based on my eperience: 1. Keeping up with competitive product research, especially in tech, is hard: The tech space evolves at a rapid pace and your research can become absolute/stale within few weeks. Provide competitive intelligence back to your CEO/Product teams at an agree......Read More
616 Views

Shezana Manji
BenchSci VP of Marketing • October 12
If your'e missing the mark, take a step back. Make sure you have a clear understanding of the business challenge you're trying to solve (why do we need this research, what decisions will it help drive). I will share a tangable example of how we approached "how does our tech stack up" At a previ......Read More
416 Views

Lauren Craigie
Cortex Head of Product Marketing • September 14
We all miss the mark here. I'm not even sure I would trust a PMM that says they don't struggle with this! You can stack the deck though, to show that you're exploring every possible avenue: 1. Consider a competitive monitoring solution like Crayon. I've used them in the past and even if they ca......Read More
360 Views

Indy Sen
Hypergrowth Leader and Product Go-to-Market Advisor • May 18
There's no silver bullet for this. You want to bake competitive research into everything you do and have your antennae out. The cool thing about product marketing is that done right, you have a unique vantage point. You are the closest members of your team to customer conversastions, product conv......Read More
326 Views

Marcus Hartwig
Vectra AI Director of Product Marketing • September 1
Sales and customers will be your most vital partners for this task. They will have likely have had multiple run-ins with your competitors. As a result, they will give you an excellent high-level understanding of competitive pitches, pricing, what attracted customers to them, and how the market, i......Read More
277 Views

Mirio E. D. de Rosa
MarketingStat - Survey insights. Your value Chief Analytics Officer • September 7
The industry sector you deal with may lead to different suggestions. In general, however, “product research” may suggest you are working on a new product launch or re-staging. In such cases, begin with the framework, consider the research tools, and then move to the operating part of the research......Read More
299 Views

Pranav Deshpande
Product Marketing Leader • August 25
To start I'd say thorough competitive research is the foundation of great product marketing, so it's great that your company is investing in it. It's really important for the PMM that owns a product to be an expert on both direct and indirect competitors. Competitive research shouldn't happen in ......Read More
405 Views
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