Competitive analysis

charliescometcharliescomet subscriber Posts: 7
edited September 2008 in Business Planning
What criteria should I use when constructing a competitive analysis? Is it really important to have one for a dating site? Is quantcast.com enough to construct a good competitive analysis?
charliescomet9/7/2008 3:36 AM
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  • SandyPISandyPI subscriber Posts: 8
    O.K. this is interesting.  Confadate started as a web site doing background checks for online daters since VERY few of the dating providers actually do a background check.  Now we are reaching out to the home maker, single woman, older people by offering them background checks for every day use. ( If anyone is interested I will forward some adds).  My question is, I think having affordable, easily accessible and completely legal background checks available is a no brainier.  For example you have to hire a handyman...go to our web site order a check and with in an hour you know if this person is a sexual predator or a career criminal before you allow him(or her) into the home.  I am new to the marketing business and have no clue how best to market this.  Any ideas from you experts out there will be GREATLY appreciated. 
    Thanks in advance,
    Sandy
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  • robertjrobertj subscriber Posts: 0 Member
    What criteria should I use when constructing a competitive analysis? Is it really important to have one for a dating site? Is quantcast.com enough to construct a good competitive analysis?
    Having an understanding of the competition has many potential benefits. It could help one define their strategy for pricing, positioning and messaging. It can help one describe the market size and direction.
    The criteria one chooses should relate to the purpose for the process.
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  • robertjrobertj subscriber Posts: 0 Member

    O.K. this is interesting.  Confadate started as a web site doing background checks for online daters since VERY few of the dating providers actually do a background check.  Now we are reaching out to the home maker, single woman, older people by offering them background checks for every day use. ( If anyone is interested I will forward some adds).  My question is, I think having affordable, easily accessible and completely legal background checks available is a no brainier.  For example you have to hire a handyman...go to our web site order a check and with in an hour you know if this person is a sexual predator or a career criminal before you allow him(or her) into the home.  I am new to the marketing business and have no clue how best to market this.  Any ideas from you experts out there will be GREATLY appreciated. 
    Thanks in advance,
    Sandy

    Sandy,
    Confadate sounds like a very "useful" service for those who want to move from an on-line connection to an actual meeting. I can see several ways to "promote" this service.
    Send me a PM if you`d like to discuss some specifics.
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  • skipshoeskipshoe subscriber Posts: 0
    This is something we`ve done a fair amount of.  We believe that having a strong competitive intelligence read is key to success in your marketplace, especially something as crowded as online dating.  I would recommend a few steps in constructing your competitive intelligence.
    1) Find as many competitors as you can and spend some time on their sites.   use search engines, industry reports, etc.
    2) Organize a first cut into a spreadsheet
    3) Create a set of screens to build a short-list of the best 10-20 competitors in your space
    3) Define the "attributes" that you want to track for each competitor - things like business model, size/number of subscribers (use alexa, compete, quantcast),  revenues (Dun & Bradstreet), differentiators, etc.
    4) collect a full set competitive sites
    5) Perform a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunity, Threats) on your market
    6) create dimensions in your space that will allow you differentiate from the others... what market niches are available?  (e.g. dating for military,  urban dating, etc.)
    7) create your messaging and strategy to target your new-found niche
    8) Track your competitors through something like Rivalmap.com or Google Alerts
    Hope that helps!  Good luck!
    - Skip
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