Competition Research in Urdu/Hindi– Affiliate Marketing [2]

Merriam Webster dictionary defines the word competitor as (i) rival (ii) one selling or buying goods / services in the same market as another. So, if you have picked up a market then all the others working in the same niche will become your rivals. But, don’t take it literally; they are just competitors not your enemies. I’m not asking to be friends with them but be nicer to them, if you happen to meet someone because who knows you end up collaborating with one of your competitor one day. And don’t expect that being nice to your competitor means that they will spit out all their business secrets, it will not happen; however, there is way to get around it.

Internet has become the main tool for uncovering your competitor’s tactics and strategies. Your competitor’s website will give you a lot of valuable information about the niche you want to work in and about your target audience. I assume you have done your work by doing some market research, now it is time to move one step ahead and do some competitive analysis research and here are some of the tips on how to do competition research.

Who is your competitor?

It might seem irrelevant but every bit of information about your competitor can really help you understand about the target audience. If you know your competitors well enough then you can surely examine and evaluate the trend why people prefer one competitor over another.

What Services / Products do they offer?

Create a log of all the products and services they offer. Underline the services / products that are common and pick out the ones that are unique to each competitor. Note down each product’s Unique Selling Proposition (USP), how much does it cost, warranties, reviews about the product (good or bad: mostly product owners will not include any bad reviews on their site, therefore, search Google for any bad reviews note down user’s reaction and why they were disappointed.)

Are they Organic or Paid?

What keywords are helping them to rank high in Search Engines? Are they relying on organic results only or are they using any ad campaigns? How are they promoting their website? Is there any affiliation program? What hooks have they used to attract more visitors?

How often new content is posted on the site?

What is the frequency of posting new content on the site and how users respond to it? Are they only trying to sell products or do they write useful content for masses too?

How active are they on the social media?

Check their presence on different social media sites especially on Facebook and twitter. See how active they are on these communities, how users respond to their products and how they respond to the users?

Once you have gathered enough information about your competitors. Now it’s time to find out about your target audience. To know about the target audience we will mostly use competition research tools like QuantCast and Alexa but looking for any reviews on site like amazon, niche forums will also give you a better understanding about the people you intend to target, and if you have enough time on your hands, you can also can contact their existing customers directly and ask about products / services your competitor offers and why they are satisfied with it.

A better understanding about your competitors and target audience will open up new doors for you and should tell you about the gaps in the market and how you can take advantage of it. There is no right or wrong way of doing things; it is just what works best. Remember we are not copying anyone; we are just applying the proven principles and I don’t want you to be a copycat but to improve the existing idea / strategy and then use your competitor’s ideas / strategies in new ways that they haven’t thought of.

If you are new in the field then you won’t have to start from scratch. Just leverage on the work of your competitors because they have leveled the ground for your, all you have to do is just improve their strategies and you will easily gain a noticeable reputation in no time.

So in short don’t just randomly pick a niche. Do the research, know your audience, know your competition, find out what works and do something similar and avoid what doesn’t work and you will surely succeed.

I have also created a Hindi / Urdu video tutorial for you people on how to do competition research and how know about the target audience, be sure to watch it and let me know if you have any queries.

Download this video from MediaFire
P.S: If by any chance you have missed the previos two video tutorials then click on this link to watch them.