Who This Helps
This is for growth marketers tired of presenting spreadsheets that get nods but no action. The Strategy Basics: Competitive Map course gives you a one-page artifact to turn your analysis into a clear, approved plan. It solves the exact problem Aisha faced: building a clean comparison grid with evidence, not just opinions.
Mini Case
Sam’s team was stuck debating which competitor to counter. They spent 3 weeks analyzing 12 different companies. Sam built a simple Differentiation Grid focusing on three core features for their target segment. In one meeting, they saw they owned ‘ease of use’ but were losing on ‘reporting depth.’ They shifted 40% of their Q3 content budget to deep-dive tutorials. Feature adoption for their core tool jumped 18% in 60 days. The grid made the choice obvious.
Do This Now (5 Steps)
- Grab your last three competitive analyses. Circle the two most common competitor names.
- List the top three purchase factors for your primary customer segment. Be brutally honest.
- Draw a simple grid. Put your company and those two competitors on one axis. Put the three customer factors on the other.
- For each box, write one piece of hard evidence (a screenshot, a pricing page quote, a review). No guesses allowed.
- Find the one box where you clearly lose. That’s your biggest risk. Find the one where you clearly win. That’s your story. Your grid is done.
Avoid These Traps
- Mapping everyone. You need the right competitor set, not every logo in the market. Comparing yourself to 10 companies helps no one.
- Using jargon. Stakeholders glaze over at ‘synergy’ and ‘paradigm.’ Use customer language from reviews.
- Ignoring your losses. Only highlighting your wins makes you look biased. Acknowledging a weakness builds credibility.
- Making it pretty before it’s useful. Use a whiteboard or a slide. Fancy design comes later.
- Forgetting the next move. The map isn’t a report; it’s a tool for a decision. Always end with ‘so we should…’
Your Win by Friday
Your win isn’t a finished strategy doc. It’s a scheduled 30-minute check-in with your key stakeholder. Walk them through your half-built Differentiation Grid. Show them the one risk and the one opportunity you found. Ask for their evidence to fill in the blanks. You’ll leave with shared clarity on what to do next—and the approval to do it. No more guesswork, just momentum.