# Competitor analysis: turn public evidence into one useful marketing test

Compare customer alternatives using dated public evidence. Separate facts from assumptions, then choose one useful offer or customer-journey test.

Canonical page: https://cpcinsider.com/insights/competitor-analysis-worksheet/
Author: Vladlens Kecko
Published: 2026-11-05
Updated: 2026-11-05


**Competitor analysis should clarify a buyer’s alternatives, not produce a scrapbook of other companies’ posts.** Start with one purchasing decision and finish with an evidence table, a documented uncertainty and one change you can test responsibly.

The [U.S. Small Business Administration](https://www.sba.gov/counseling/plan-your-business/) recommends examining competitors by product or service and market segment, including indirect alternatives. Our worksheet applies that principle to a service offer. It complements [SWOT analysis](https://cpcinsider.com/insights/swot-analysis-marketing/), which also examines your own internal constraints.

## 1. Define the decision and the alternatives

Write the customer situation: “A facilities manager needs predictable maintenance for one site.” Compare providers serving that situation, an in-house option and the decision to postpone. A famous company in a different market might be less relevant than the buyer’s existing supplier.

Choose a small set you can inspect carefully. State geography, language, service scope and observation date. Do not compare an emergency call-out with a planned annual agreement as though they were identical offers.

## 2. Collect observable evidence

| Field | Record |
| --- | --- |
| Buyer situation | Who appears to be served and for which task |
| Visible promise | What the public page actually says |
| Proof | A visible example, process, qualification or approved case |
| Buying step | What a visitor must do next |
| Source and date | Exact URL and date observed |
| Uncertainty | What the public evidence cannot establish |

A published claim is evidence that a company makes that claim, not proof that it always fulfils it. An active advertisement does not reveal profit, spend or causal effectiveness. A missing statement on one page does not prove the business lacks the capability.

Use ordinary public material. Do not pose as a customer to extract confidential information. Keep observations separate from interpretation and avoid copying creative or another company’s wording.

## 3. Use a fictional comparison to practise

All alternatives and observations in this example are invented; they describe no real competitor.

| Alternative | Fictional observation | Question for our offer |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Provider A | A sample visit report is visible | Can we show our actual approved report format? |
| Provider B | Visitors can request a planned inspection | Is our first step equally understandable? |
| In-house team | Existing staff already know the site | Which specialist task genuinely needs outside support? |
| Postpone | Buyer avoids spending time now | Is the problem important enough to address? |

The learning is not “copy Provider A”. It is “buyers may need to understand the deliverable before contacting us”. Validate that question through genuine customer conversations and your own enquiry records. Do not turn the fictional rows into market facts.

## 4. Choose one test you can deliver

Suppose your company already has an approved anonymised report example but only describes it vaguely. A possible test is to explain the deliverable on one relevant page and offer the example. First confirm accuracy, permissions and operational capacity.

Keep the audience, offer and sales process stable enough to interpret the result. Record the starting version, enquiries, suitable enquiries and sales feedback. Use the [marketing brief](https://cpcinsider.com/insights/marketing-brief-template/) to assign the owner, boundary and review date. This is a proposed test, not an instruction to change every page.

## 5. Review the evidence and the decision

Check that every factual row has a source and date; mark unknown price or scope as unknown. Ask whether the proposed difference matters to the buyer and whether you can support it. Prefer a clear useful explanation over an unsupported “best in market” claim.

After the review, keep, revise or stop the test according to the agreed evidence. A change in enquiries does not by itself prove the page caused it: demand, traffic and sales follow-up may have changed. Put the chosen action into your [90-day plan](https://cpcinsider.com/insights/90-day-marketing-plan/).

## Turn comparison into a practical next step

Explore [strategy support](https://cpcinsider.com/services/strategy/) or [request a free 30-minute founder-led growth review](https://cpcinsider.com/#audit). You receive a short written three-priority plan, with no obligation to hire CPCInsider.