How to Perform a SaaS Competitor Analysis

The SaaS market is a battlefield. Every day, new players enter the arena, vying for the attention and wallets of the same customers you’re targeting. To thrive in this hyper-competitive landscape, you can’t just focus on your own product and marketing efforts. You need a deep understanding of your competitors – their strengths, weaknesses, strategies, and market positioning. This is where a thorough SaaS competitor analysis comes into play.

Why is competitor analysis so essential for SaaS success?

Simply put, it gives you the insights you need to make informed strategic decisions. By studying your competition, you can:

• Identify market gaps and opportunities: Discover unmet customer needs or underserved segments that you can capitalize on.
• Understand customer needs and preferences better: See what your competitors are doing right (and wrong) in the eyes of your target audience.
• Benchmark against best-in-class players: Learn from the top performers in your industry and identify areas where you can improve.
• Inform pricing, positioning, and product development: Craft a pricing strategy that’s competitive, a positioning that’s unique, and a product roadmap that’s aligned with market demand.
• Avoid costly mistakes: Learn from your competitors’ failures and successes to avoid making similar missteps.

The SaaS world is dynamic. New competitors emerge, existing ones evolve, and customer expectations shift rapidly. A one-time analysis isn’t enough; it needs to be an ongoing process to maintain your competitive edge.

This guide goes far beyond simply browsing competitor websites and social media. We’ll provide a structured, data-driven approach to competitor analysis that yields actionable insights you can use to fuel your SaaS growth.

Let’s dive in!

Defining Your Competitive Landscape: Who are your real competitors?

Before you can analyze your competitors, you need to identify them. This involves understanding the different types of competitors and creating a system to track them.

1. Identifying Direct Competitors

Direct competitors offer similar solutions to the same target audience. They are the companies that immediately come to mind when you think about your competition.

Example: If you offer a project management SaaS like Asana, your direct competitors would include Monday.com, Trello, and Wrike.

Methods to identify direct competitors:

• Market research reports: Reports from firms like Gartner, IDC, and Forrester often list key players in specific SaaS categories. (Note: Access to these reports may require a subscription).
• Review sites: Sites like G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius allow you to compare software within specific categories.
• Keyword research: Use tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to see which companies are bidding on the same keywords as you.
• Social media listening: Monitor social media conversations to see which companies are being discussed in relation to your product or industry.
• Industry events and conferences: Attend industry events (virtual or in-person) to see who else is exhibiting or speaking.
• Ask your customers: During sales calls or onboarding, ask your customers which other solutions they considered.

2. Recognizing Indirect Competitors

Indirect competitors offer different solutions that address the same underlying need. They may not be immediately obvious, but they can still steal market share.

Example: For a project management SaaS, an indirect competitor could be a team communication platform like Slack or even spreadsheet software like Google Sheets, as these can be used to manage projects, albeit less effectively.

Methods to identify indirect competitors: Similar to direct competitors, but focus on the core problem you solve rather than the specific features you offer. Think about alternative ways customers might be addressing that problem.

3. Identifying Potential Future Competitors

It’s not just about who you’re competing with today; it’s also about who you might be competing with tomorrow.

• Look for companies in adjacent markets that might expand into your space.
• Consider companies with strong resources or disruptive technologies that could pose a threat. For example, a large company with significant resources could acquire a smaller competitor or develop a competing product in-house.
• Pay attention to startups that are gaining traction or receiving significant funding.

4. Creating a Competitor Matrix

To organize your findings, create a competitor matrix. This can be a simple spreadsheet or a more sophisticated database. Here’s a basic structure:

Competitor Name	Type	Website	Target Market	Key Features	Pricing	Strengths	Weaknesses	Notes
Asana	Direct	asana.com	Teams, Businesses	Task management, workflows	Freemium, Paid	Strong brand, user-friendly	Can be expensive	Focus on collaboration
Monday.com	Direct	monday.com	Teams, Businesses	Project visualization	Paid	Highly customizable	Steeper learning curve	Strong in visual project management
Slack	Indirect	slack.com	Teams, Businesses	Communication	Freemium, Paid	Widely adopted	Not ideal for project management	Often used alongside project management tools
Competitor 3	Direct/Etc	website.com	Target Market Example	Key Feature Example		Strength Example	Weakness Example	Any additional notes
Competitor 4	Direct/Etc	website.com	Target Market Example	Key Feature Example		Strength Example	Weakness Example	Any additional notes
Competitor 5	Direct/Etc	website.com	Target Market Example	Key Feature Example		Strength Example	Weakness Example	Any additional notes

5. Prioritizing Your Analysis

You likely can’t analyze every single competitor in depth. Focus on the top 3-5 that pose the greatest threat or represent the biggest opportunity. Consider factors like:

• Market share: Who are the dominant players?
• Growth rate: Who is growing the fastest?
• Product similarity: Who offers a product most similar to yours?
• Customer overlap: Who is targeting the same customers as you?

Analyzing Key Areas: What To Investigate and How

Now that you’ve identified your key competitors, it’s time to dig deeper. Here are the key areas to analyze:

1. Product and Features

Understanding your competitors’ products is crucial.

Core Functionality

• What are the key features and capabilities?
• How does the product solve the customer’s problem?
• What unique value propositions do they highlight?
• For example, does a competitor’s project management tool offer unique Gantt chart features or advanced reporting capabilities that you don’t?

User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI)

• Evaluate ease of use, navigation, and overall design.
• Sign up for free trials or demos to experience the product firsthand.
• Look for customer reviews related to UX/UI on sites like G2 and Capterra. Are users praising the intuitive design or complaining about a confusing interface?

Integrations

• What other tools and platforms do they integrate with? A wide range of integrations can be a significant selling point.
• How robust are their APIs? This is important for businesses that need to connect their SaaS tools to other systems.

Product Roadmap

• Try to get a sense of their future plans. Do they have a public roadmap? Are they actively soliciting feature requests?
• Look for announcements about upcoming releases or new features.

2. Pricing and Packaging

Analyze their pricing page meticulously.

Pricing Models

• Do they use subscription tiers, freemium, usage-based pricing, or a hybrid model?

Pricing Tiers and Features

• How do they differentiate their plans? What features are included (and excluded) at each tier?
• Is there a clear value progression as you move up the tiers?

Discounts and Promotions

• Are they offering any special deals, annual discounts, or incentives for new customers?
• What is their strategy for specific period, like black friday?

Value Perception

• How does their pricing compare to the perceived value they deliver? Do customers feel they’re getting their money’s worth?

3. Marketing and Sales

This is where you uncover how your competitors are attracting and converting customers.

Website Analysis

• Examine their messaging, positioning, target audience, and calls to action.
• Use tools like SimilarWeb to estimate their website traffic, bounce rate, and other metrics.

Content Marketing

• Analyze their blog, white papers, ebooks, webinars, and case studies.
• What topics are they covering? What’s the quality of their content? How engaged is their audience (comments, shares)?
• Do they have a strong content strategy that attracts and educates potential customers?

Social Media Presence

• Which platforms are they active on (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)?
• What’s their posting frequency, engagement rate, and follower growth?
• What type of content is resonating with their audience? Are they using video, infographics, or other engaging formats?

Advertising

• Use tools like SEMrush or SpyFu to see if they’re running paid search (PPC), display ads, or social media ads.
• What keywords are they targeting? What does their ad copy look like? Where are they sending traffic (landing pages)?

SEO Strategy

• Use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to analyze their keyword rankings and backlink profile.
• What keywords are they ranking for? Who is linking to their website?
• [Check out our comprehensive guide to SaaS SEO]

Sales Process

• If possible, go through their sales process as a potential customer. Sign up for a demo or free trial.
• Observe their sales techniques, follow-up methods, and overall approach. How quickly do they respond to inquiries? Are their sales reps knowledgeable and helpful?

4. Customer Support and Success

Analyze how they are taking care of customers.

Support Channels

• Do they offer email, phone, live chat, a knowledge base, or community forums?
• Test their response times and the quality of their support.

Customer Onboarding

• How do they guide new users through the product?
• Is there in-app guidance, tutorials, or comprehensive documentation?

Customer Success Programs

• Do they have dedicated account managers or customer success teams?
• What initiatives do they have to ensure customer retention and growth (e.g., regular check-ins, training programs)?

Customer Reviews

• Analyze reviews on third-party sites like G2, Capterra to understand customer sentiment.
• Look for common themes, both positive and negative. Are customers consistently praising their support or complaining about bugs?

5. Company and Financials (if available)

This information can provide insights into their stability and resources.

Company Size and Structure

• How many employees do they have? (Check LinkedIn)
• What can you learn about their leadership team and organizational structure?

Funding and Investors

• How much funding have they raised? Who are their key investors? (Crunchbase is a good resource)
• This information can indicate their growth potential and resources.

Revenue and Growth

• Publicly traded companies will have this information readily available.
• For private companies, you may need to rely on estimates from industry reports or sources like Owler.

Company Culture

• What are their values and mission?
• How do they treat their employees? (Check Glassdoor reviews)
• A strong company culture can be a competitive advantage.

Synthesizing Your Findings and Drawing Insights

You’ve gathered a ton of data. Now it’s time to make sense of it all.

1. SWOT Analysis for Each Competitor

For each key competitor, create a SWOT analysis:

• Strengths: What are they doing well? What advantages do they have?
• Weaknesses: Where are they falling short? What are their vulnerabilities?
• Opportunities: What are the potential areas for growth or improvement for them?
• Threats: What external factors could negatively impact them?

2. Identifying Your Competitive Advantages

Based on your analysis, determine:

• What are you doing better than your competitors?
• What unique strengths can you leverage? (e.g., a specific feature, a strong brand reputation, a more intuitive user interface)
• Where are your competitors most vulnerable?

3. Uncovering Market Gaps and Opportunities

• Are there any unmet customer needs or underserved segments that no one is adequately addressing?
• Can you offer a better solution, a niche feature, a different pricing model, or target a specific segment more effectively?

4. Developing Actionable Strategies

This is where you translate your insights into concrete actions.

Product Development

• Prioritize features that address market gaps or provide a clear competitive edge.
• Improve your UX/UI based on your competitors’ shortcomings.
• Consider adding integrations that your competitors lack.

Marketing and Positioning

• Refine your messaging to highlight your unique value proposition and differentiate yourself from the competition.
• Target specific customer segments where you have a stronger offering or where competitors are weak.
• Develop content that addresses pain points your competitors are ignoring or that showcases your unique strengths.

Pricing and Packaging

• Adjust your pricing to be more competitive or to target a specific market segment (e.g., a lower-priced plan for small businesses).
• Consider offering different packages to cater to various customer needs and budgets.

Sales and Customer Success

• Train your sales team to effectively address competitor objections and highlight your advantages during sales conversations.
• Develop customer success programs that improve retention and reduce churn, especially if your competitors have weak customer support.

5. Creating a Competitor Battlecard

Summarize key information about each competitor on a “battlecard” – a concise, easy-to-reference document. This is a valuable tool for your sales and marketing teams.

Example Battlecard Structure:

• Competitor: [Competitor Name]
• Overview: [Brief description of the competitor]
• Target Market: [Their target audience]
• Pricing: [Their pricing model and range]
• Strengths: [Their key advantages]
• Weaknesses: [Their key vulnerabilities]
• How We Win: [Our key differentiators and strategies to win against them]

Monitoring and Iteration: Staying ahead of the curve

Competitor analysis is not a one-and-done activity. The SaaS landscape is constantly changing.

1. The Importance of Continuous Monitoring

• New competitors will emerge.
• Existing competitors will update their products, pricing, and marketing strategies.
• Customer needs and preferences will evolve.

2. Tools and Techniques for Ongoing Tracking

• Set up Google Alerts: Get notified when your competitors are mentioned online.
• Follow competitors on social media: Stay up-to-date on their latest news and announcements.
• Subscribe to their newsletters: See what they’re promoting and how they’re communicating with their audience.
• Regularly revisit review sites: Monitor changes in customer sentiment.
• Use competitor tracking tools: Tools like Crayon and Kompyte can automate some aspects of competitor monitoring.

3. Adapting Your Strategy

• Be prepared to adjust your strategy based on new competitor moves and market changes.
• Regularly review and update your competitor analysis (e.g., quarterly or bi-annually).

4. Staying Agile

The most successful SaaS companies are those that can adapt quickly to changing market conditions. Your competitor analysis should inform an agile approach to product development, marketing, and sales.

To Sum Up

Competitor analysis is an indispensable tool for any SaaS company that wants to succeed. By understanding your competitive landscape, you can make smarter decisions, identify opportunities, and ultimately, build a better product and a more successful business.

Don’t let your competitors get ahead. Start your competitor analysis process today. Use the framework outlined in this guide, leverage the tools mentioned, and remember that it’s an ongoing process.

Download our free Competitor Analysis Template: [Link to downloadable template]

Sign up for a free trial of Semrush and see how it stacks up against the competition: [Link to free trial]

By embracing competitor intelligence, you’ll be well on your way to achieving sustainable growth in the dynamic world of SaaS.