In our previous blog, we discussed how to differentiate your advertisement from your indirect competitors. These are competitors whose ads are bidding in the same space as yours, but their offering is irrelevant to your desired target audience. This can happen when the keywords you’re bidding on are broad and capture a wide breadth of search queries. They may not be your direct competition, but there is a lot to learn from organizations who’s advertising space is related to yours.
Now that we’ve laid the ground with who your competitors are, you need to find spaces where there’s little or no competition. Doing so can open unexplored opportunities and context for where to go next.
Where Isn’t Your Competition Competing?
During your initial competitor analysis, you may have realized that some organizations that you’d see as direct competitors were missing. This could mean one of two things:
- They are unaware of the space.
- They choose not to compete in that space.
The important thing to take away is they may choose to compete later. Perhaps they’ve tried the space at an earlier point in their PPC campaign and found it unsuccessful. This doesn’t mean they won’t revisit the campaign later with clearer data on where to optimize for conversions. If they are a direct competitor and are unaware of an advertising space, there isn’t much to deter them from analyzing your PPC campaigns and finding them out. This is why a seasonal reconnaissance of your competition’s domain activity can help you stay one step ahead!
Research their product and service offerings to see what direction they’re taking with their PPC. If your industry has predictable trends and seasons, then take note of how they’re preparing. Ask yourself questions like:
- Did they announce a major event or release?
- Were there changes to their partnerships, internal structure or team?
- How are they responding to industry innovations and change?
The answers to these questions can tell you a lot about how they’re marketing their products and services. During your analysis, you may have discovered that your direct competitors are focusing on an entirely different sector from you all along.
How Does Your PPC Need to Change?
After putting all the pieces together, the next step is figuring out your best course of action. This is where some analyses fall apart because organizations fail to follow through. If you’re unsure of what to do next, reexamine your analysis and let the data guide your discussion. Once you’ve concluded your analysis, it should help you answer three main questions:
- Who your competitors are
- Who your competitors aren’t
- How your competitors are competing
Now, it’s time to start looking at your own PPC strategy and enable change where you see fit. Put simply, if you’re competing well in your key spaces, then you may want to consider experimenting into new territory. If your competitor is performing strongly in an area that is relevant to you, then you may want to consider strengthening your position there. If your campaigns are saturated with indirect competition, then tightening your targeting methods will help optimize your spending.
Analyzing your competition can be an alarming experience. Knowing who you’re competing with is half the battle. You still need to decipher where to go next and your best course of action. Luckily, you don’t have to do it alone. Start seeing results with your PPC by speaking with an expert today by filling out our form! With 15 years of experience in developing successful PPC strategies, Strongpages has generated significant results for clients in a variety of competitive industries.
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