No matter how solid your financials are or how perfect your product is, your company is never impervious to the competition. Your competitors are constantly trying to outperform you and capture your customers. That’s why keeping an eye on the competition at all times is a basic prerequisite for business success.
It is this keen eye for competition that has allowed the likes of Amazon and Apple to rise to the top of the corporate world, and it is exactly what you should be doing to stay ahead.
The best resource to get started with this is a market map. A market map is a tool that allows you to assess market conditions as they stand and make a record of every type of competitor you are working against. Read on to find out more.
1. What is a Market Map?
First off, let’s break down what a marketing map actually is and why any marketing manager could benefit from creating one. Also known as perceptual mapping, market mapping is the process of sketching out your entire market in a graph, map, or chart in order to get a clear idea of your competition.
It is a means of illustrating your sector and laying out exactly where in the market your competitors lie, and what advantages or vulnerabilities they have compared to you. The goal is for a market map to be a live document that is always being updated and can be a constant touchstone for everyone in your office.
2. Types of Market Map
There are different types of market maps that can help you gain different perspectives on where your company stands vis-a-vis the competition. These are:
Product Competitor Market Map
This is a map showing all of the different products that are competing with yours. You could have a map dedicated to every product that competes with one of your products, or a more general map showing the products that are in competition with everything your company offers. The goal here is to see how your competitors are trying to address the same market gaps as you and what you can learn from them.
Company Competitor Market Map
This is a more targeted market map that lays out all of the companies that are in competition withyour own. It can be companies from your industry, your city, or your geographic region. The goal is to identify companies that are competing in your market and categorize them, for example by “biggest” to “smallest” threat, as well as labelling why they are in competition with you.
Talent Competitor Market Map
We all know that all companies are only as good as the talent they are able to attract and retain. If you are looking to fine-tune your employment setip and find the perfect qualified candidate, you should build a map of the right candidates for the job.
Naturally, this requires in-depth, insider knowledge of your labor market, which is why it is highly recommended that you consult a qualfiied recruitment agency to draft the map for you. This way, you can also have a live resource for monitoring passive candidates that you could poach in the future.
Futute-Proof Your Business Today
Now that you know how to create the perfect market map for your business, it’s time to future-proof your company. For this, we have got you covered. Make sure to consult our dedicated Business guides for expert advice on how to build a truly resilience business model.
