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?
Competitive PositioningProduct Marketing Career PathEnterprise Product MarketingDeveloper Product MarketingProduct Marketing KPI'sInfluencing the Product Roadmap
16 Answers
Dropbox VP, Head of Product Marketing • 4y
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 tai...
3258 Views
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...
965 Views
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Gusto Head of Product Marketing, Benefits • 4y
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 ...
933 Views
Inngest Head of Marketing • 4y
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 eve...
532 Views
BenchSci VP of Marketing • 4y
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, wha...
1093 Views
Prove Head of Product • 4y
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 que...
566 Views
Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco Campus Network Experiences | Formerly Tellme Networks, Microsoft, Box, Vera, Scout RFP, and Sisu Data, to name a few. • 4y
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...
629 Views
Ironclad VP of Product Marketing • 4y
This is definitely tricky since getting in-depth product intel requires intimate knowledge about your competitors products. One technique some companies employ is mystery...
531 Views
Forethought Senior Director, Head of Marketing • 4y
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 deci...
629 Views
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...
546 Views
Sanity.io VP of Product Marketing | Formerly Calendly, InVision, Clearbit, Amazon (consultant) • 2y
There are different types of competitive product research. Therefore, it's important to ask execs who this research is for.Doing extensive competitive product research to...
840 Views
OpenAI Product Marketing | Formerly Twilio • 4y
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...
739 Views
ServiceNow Product Marketing Lead | Formerly Freshworks, ServiceMax • Fri
When competitive research misses the mark, it's often because it stays too close to feature comparisons. CEOs and product teams may need to understand why customers pick ...
88 Views
MarketingStat - Survey insights. Your value Chief Analytics Officer • 4y
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-sta...
391 Views
Google Head of Product Marketing, Security, Google Cloud Platform • 4y
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...
363 Views
Amazon Product Marketing at Fire TV (Smart TVs) • 4y
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 re...
2166 Views
Related Questions
What are your top 3 methods for conducting effective competitive research? How much attention are you putting on direct competitors and how does the compete programs look like at Atlassian?Competitive insights is often a back burner to launches and other PMM work. Are their tips in prioritizing and making research actionable? How do you stay on top of competitors when it's a crowded market and things are changing every day?What tools or frameworks do you utilize when conducting competitive and market intelligence?What kinds of market research do you do to shape the product roadmap and build, buy, and partner strategy? And more tactically, what format do you share your analysis?