A competitive matrix is a tool that helps you visually compare your company against competitors. To see how you stack up.
It typically features a grid or table that lists your brand and key competitors on one axis. And important market factors on the other.
There are many types of competitive matrices that show data in different ways.
For example, this is the Growth Quadrant from Semrush. It’s a competitor matrix you can generate using the Market Explorer tool.
This quadrant-based matrix helps you visualize your industry’s competitive landscape. And divides competitors into four categories:
We’ll explain what these categories mean later. And show you how to build this matrix using your competitors’ data.
First, let’s explore the benefits of using a competitive matrix.
A competitor analysis matrix provides competitive insights that help you gain an advantage in the market.
The matrix’s main purpose is to show where your company stands compared to your competitors. To be more aware of your (and your competitors’) strengths and weaknesses.
This can then be used to:
In short, a well-researched competitive analysis matrix provides you insights to confidently navigate fierce competition. Even in a perfectly competitive market—where most businesses sell identical products.
There are various types of competitive matrices, each for different use cases. You can choose one or more depending on your analysis goals.
Let’s take a look at some of the most popular types.
A competitor comparison grid (also called a competitive positioning matrix) is a framework that visualizes how customers perceive your company relative to your competitors.
It considers factors like price, quality, service, and innovation to help you understand your market position.
Typically, it’s drawn using two axes that each represents a crucial success factor.
Let’s look at the G2 Grid for competitive intelligence tools as an example.
Image Source: G2
It has “Market Presence” on the y-axis—which is calculated using G2’s scoring methodology that draws from a number of sources. And “Satisfaction” on the x-axis is based on user reviews.
Based on these scores, companies are divided into four quadrants:
You can visualize the digital competitive landscape for your industry similarly with Semrush’s Growth Quadrant matrix.
Open the Market Explorer tool and click the “Find Competitors” tab. Then, enter your location and domain name, and click the “Research a market” button.
Scroll to the “Growth Quadrant” widget.
You’ll see your website’s positioning compared to competing sites. Like this:
Using the “Total Traffic” and “Total Traffic Growth, %” metrics, the websites are categorized as:
You can choose different metrics for comparison as well.
Just click the drop-down menu next to “X-axis” and “Y-axis,” make your selections, and hit “Apply.”
Now, see where you (and your main competitors) stand for your selected metrics.
Note the key metrics where your competitors are stronger. And use the insights to plan your growth strategy.
Further reading: What Is a Competitive Analysis & How to Do It (With Template)
A competitor comparison chart (also called a competitive landscape chart) is typically a table used to compare your products, services, or tactics against those of your competitors.
Like this:
This competitor matrix is especially useful for a broad competitive analysis. Because the side-by-side comparison gives you quick insights such as:
Use the competitive comparison chart template (the second tab) to create your own.
You can also use comparison charts for narrower analyses (e.g., product or feature comparisons).
Which can be useful for:
Or, identify a handful of areas that are most relevant to your business to focus your analysis on.
You can use the competitive landscape chart template (the sixth tab) to do this. And edit the fields to fit your needs.
Gartner’s Magic Quadrant compares how brands stack up in a specific technology market. And analyzes them on their ability to understand and influence the future of the market and their performance in key areas like market share, product capabilities, sales channels, and customer experience
Based on the above factors, each company is placed into one of the following quadrants:
One example is Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for DevOps Platforms. And the data within it can help you make informed decisions.
Let’s say your brand falls in the “Visionaries” quadrant. You have a disruptive idea but lack the resources to execute it.
That insight tells you where to focus.
And you could consider joining hands with a business in the “Challengers” quadrant. Since they need what you have—vision—you may be able to negotiate a good partnership.
Just remember that the Gartner Magic Quadrant Matrix is a snapshot. Not a definitive ranking.
A strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) competitor analysis matrix evaluates a company’s internal strengths and weaknesses. Plus external opportunities and business threats.
It helps you:
Here are some questions to help you get your SWOT analysis data:
SWOT Analysis |
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Strengths |
Weaknesses |
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Opportunities |
Threats |
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Gather your leadership team and brainstorm SWOT questions and answers. This way, you’ll get diverse perspectives from multiple stakeholders at your organization.
Then, compile your results in this SWOT analysis template (the fourth tab).
Here’s an example SWOT for a newly launched, fictional organic coffee brand called The Conscious Bean.
Further reading: SWOT Analysis: What It Is & How to Do It [Examples + Template]
A competitive profile matrix helps you benchmark your offering directly against major competitors. To provide a more nuanced view of how you compare overall.
It focuses on rating competitors on critical success factors (CSFs) by using a weighted scoring method.
Here’s how it works:
Here’s a simplified competitive profile matrix example.
How do you interpret this table?
The company with the highest total score is typically the strongest.
So, make sure to examine how you rank in each CSF compared to others. And revise your strategy accordingly.
Use this competitive profile matrix template (the fifth tab) for your analysis.
To complete a matrix, you need to conduct competitor research and gather data—likely using competitive intelligence tools.
We’ll show you how.
Start with a list of all potential competitors—direct, indirect, and emerging players in your market.
Find them using resources like:
Or simply head to Semrush’s Market Explorer tool and click “Find Competitors.”
Select your location, enter your website name, and hit “Research a market.”
In the default “Overview” tab, you’ll see “Market Summary.” It shows a list of key players. And their market share.
Scroll down to reach the “Growth Quadrant.”
You’ll see the competitive landscape along with competitors’ positions in the market.
Now, identify your quadrant (“Leaders,” “Established Players,” “Game Changers,” or “Niche Players”). And click “Domains” near the top right corner of “Growth Quadrant.”
You’ll see the full list of the competing domains in your market.
Scroll to the list of domains in your same quadrant and select a few for your analysis.
Next, select comparison factors based on your competitive analysis goals.
They’ll guide your research. And help you choose the right competitive matrix type for your analysis.
For our example, we’ll look at the following factors:
Then, add you/your competitors and your comparison factors to a copy of the matrix template that works best for your situation. In this case, we recommend using the competitive landscape chart (the sixth tab).
Now, you’ll need to collect the data that corresponds with your comparison factors to fill in the matrix.
Here’s what that entails based on the ones we identified above:
We’ll use Semrush’s Traffic Analytics tool to get the website traffic data.
Open the tool and click “Check Competitors.”
Next, select the location, enter your domain and your competitors’ domains, and click “Analyze.”
You’ll see the important website traffic metrics for the selected sites for the last full month (you can change the date range if you wish). So you can analyze your site’s performance against the competing domains.
Click “Export to PDF” to get this data in your email.
Or paste it directly into your template copy.
Now, let’s go over how to get competitors’ social media data using the Social Tracker tool (part of Semrush Social). It lets you track the social media activity and performance of up to 20 competitors.
Open the tool. And follow the Social Tracker configuration instructions.
At the top of the “Overview” tab, you’ll see the chosen competitor’s audience size, posting activity, and engagement on different social platforms.
Scroll to the “Comparison With Competitors” widget to see how you stack up against your competitors.
The “Audience” tab shows the total number of followers or subscribers across the social platforms. Including the changes in the audience size.
Click the “Activity” tab to see the total number of social posts of each competitor. For the selected period.
Similarly, analyze the total engagement.
You can now add this data to your competitive landscape chart.
Further reading: How to Uncover Your Competitor’s Social Media Strategy
Comparing demographic, geographic, and socioeconomic data can reveal valuable insights about your target audience.
Use Semrush’s One2Target tool to find this information.
Enter the same domain names and select the location. Then, click “Analyze.”
In the “Demographics” tab, you can pull data about age, gender, and country.
In the “Socioeconomics” tab, you’ll see household size and employment status. Plus education and income level.
These insights can guide your product, pricing, and marketing strategy.
For example, if a large part of your audience is in a low-income bracket, then you’re most likely operating in a price-driven market. That means buying decisions are likely to be influenced most by the price of the product.
In such markets, you may want to focus your messaging around value for money. And drive sales volume with discounts, offers, and promotions.
Now that you’ve collected your data, simply add it to your comparison matrix. In this case, the competitive landscape chart.
It might look something like this:
The main goal of creating a competitive matrix is turning data into insights you can act on to drive growth.
But maintaining a long-term competitive advantage also requires an awareness of your competitors’ actions.
Use Semrush’s EyeOn to automate tracking your competitors’ online marketing activities.
It keeps you updated on your competitors’ newly published pages, blog posts, Google ads, social media updates, and more.
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