Introduction
Hi there! I’m Ivan Tsekov, a growth marketer with over eight years of experience under my belt. Throughout my career, I’ve honed my skills in PPC, SEO, CRO, and Email Marketing, constantly on the lookout for tools and strategies that make life easier for marketers like us.
Today, I’m excited to share with you an incredibly effective and simple strategy: using Spycrow and Google Trends to find the top-performing competitors. Then, you’ll learn how to analyze the data, generate insights, and create an actionable plan.
Goals and KPIs
Before jumping into the details, let’s clarify this strategy’s primary goals and KPIs. It’s always important to set clear objectives so you know what success looks like.
Goals:
- Generate data about your competitors: Understand how your competitors are performing in terms of traffic.
- Analyze traffic trends: Identify trends in traffic growth or decline over time.
- Understand traffic share: Compare your traffic with that of your competitors to gauge your market position.
KPIs:
- Total traffic: The overall volume of traffic your competitors are getting.
- Monthly growth: The month-over-month growth or decline in traffic.
- Traffic share: The percentage of total traffic in your industry or niche that your competitors hold.
These goals and KPIs will guide us as we implement the strategy, ensuring that we’re focused on gaining actionable insights from the data.
Key Takeaways
Here’s a quick summary of what you’ll learn from this article:
- How to quickly gather competitor traffic data without needing advanced analytics skills.
- Steps to analyze competitor performance and understand your market position.
- Methods to use insights from traffic reports to inform your marketing strategy.
What is Competitor Traffic Monitoring?
Competitor traffic monitoring is the process of tracking and analyzing your competitors’ web traffic to understand their market position and strategies. This can reveal a lot about their success, market trends, and even potential opportunities for your business.
In my experience, this kind of monitoring can be incredibly insightful but often comes with challenges like complex tools or overwhelming amounts of data. That’s where Spycrow and Google Trends come in. Spycrow simplifies the entire process by delivering detailed reports directly to your inbox. Google Trends will help us analyze industry trends over a longer period of time.
Strategy Process
To put this strategy into action, here’s how I usually proceed.
Step 1: Submit Your Website to Spycrow
The first step in this process is to submit your website to Spycrow. Here’s how to do it:
- Visit Spycrow.io.
- Enter your email address and website URL. No account creation or payment information is required.
- Once you’ve submitted your details, Spycrow will automatically identify your competitors and start generating data about their traffic.
- Expect your first report within 24 hours, delivered directly to your inbox.
What’s excellent about Spycrow is that you don’t need to add your competitors manually. The tool does this for you, saving you time and ensuring you get the most relevant data. Once you receive your report, you’re ready to analyze the data and start drawing insights.
Step 2: Receive the Report and Analyze the Data
Once you’ve submitted your website to Spycrow and received your first report, it’s time to dive into the data. This step is crucial because the insights you gain here will directly inform your competitive strategy.
When you open the report, you’ll notice it’s broken down into several sections: Historical Traffic Performance, Traffic Share, and a Breakdown by Company. Here’s how to approach each section:
Historical Traffic Performance:
- Start by looking at the traffic increase percentage for each competitor. This gives you a quick overview of who’s gaining momentum and who might be losing ground.
- The report will show traffic changes for the past three months. Use this data to identify trends—are certain competitors consistently growing, or do they have fluctuations that might indicate seasonal campaigns or issues?
Traffic Share:
- Next, examine the traffic share percentages. This metric helps you understand how much of the overall market traffic each competitor controls.
- Compare your traffic share to that of your competitors. If your share is lower, consider why that might be—are they running more effective campaigns, or is their content strategy more robust? On the flip side, if you have a larger share, this can validate that your strategies are working effectively.
Breakdown by Company:
- Finally, delve into the detailed breakdowns for each competitor. This section provides monthly traffic figures, which can be crucial for spotting longer-term trends or anomalies.
- For each competitor, note any significant spikes or drops in traffic. These could correlate with specific campaigns, product launches, or other marketing efforts. If you spot a sudden increase in traffic, it might be worth investigating further to see what’s driving that success.
Step 3: Use the Competitor List to Generate a Google Trends Report
After receiving and reviewing your Spycrow report, the next step is to use Google Trends to gather additional data on your competitors’ brand visibility and relevant industry keywords. This step will help you compile valuable data that you can analyze in the following steps.
Here’s how to proceed:
- Identify Key Competitors:
- Select the top competitors from your Spycrow report, particularly those with significant traffic or growth. Make a list of their brand names as well as any important keywords related to their products or services.
- Visit Google Trends:
- Go to Google Trends.
- In the search bar, enter the brand names of your competitors. Google Trends allows you to compare up to five terms at once, so you can easily benchmark multiple competitors against each other.
- Generate Brand Term Reports:
- Input your brand name along with your competitors’ brand names into Google Trends to compare interest over time. This will give you a visual representation of how interest in these brands has fluctuated.
- Note the timeframes where changes in interest occur, as this data will be essential for deeper analysis in the next step.
- Generate Product/Service Keyword Reports:
- Next, conduct a similar search using industry-related keywords, such as “project management software” or “team collaboration tools.”
- Compare the “Interest over time” for these keywords across different periods, observing how interest has evolved. This data will also be critical for your later analysis.
- Download and Document the Data:
- Once you’ve generated these reports, download the data directly from Google Trends. This allows you to keep a record of the trends and reference them easily in the next stage of your strategy.
- Organize your findings, ensuring that both brand term trends and product/service keyword trends are clearly documented for further analysis.
Step 4: Analyze Brand Search Trends Throughout the Year
Now that you have gathered data from Google Trends, it’s time to analyze the data for both your brand and your competitors. This step will help you identify patterns, seasonal trends, and potential opportunities to refine your marketing strategy.
Here’s how to proceed with the analysis, along with an example of how to organize your data:
1. Identify Seasonal Patterns
Begin by examining the “Interest over time” data for your brand and your competitors. Look for any recurring spikes or dips throughout the year. These patterns can indicate seasonal trends, such as increased interest during certain holidays, industry events, or specific quarters.
Example:
Let’s say you’re monitoring the following brands: Asana, Trello, Monday, and ClickUp. You track their “Interest over time” on Google Trends from January to April 2023. Here’s how you might organize that data:
| Month/Year | Asana | Trello | Monday | ClickUp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2023 | 70 | 85 | 60 | 75 |
| February 2023 | 68 | 80 | 62 | 73 |
| March 2023 | 72 | 90 | 65 | 78 |
| April 2023 | 75 | 88 | 68 | 80 |
In this example, you might notice that Trello consistently has higher interest compared to the other brands, and there is a general increase in interest for all brands in March and April, possibly due to a common industry event.
2. Compare Against Competitors
Next, compare your brand’s trends with those of your competitors. To do this effectively, calculate each company’s month-over-month growth. This comparison helps you understand how each brand performs over time, providing insights for benchmarking your performance against your competitors.
Example:
Here’s how you might organize your data with growth percentages included:
| Month/Year | Asana | Growth (%) | Trello | Growth (%) | Monday | Growth (%) | ClickUp | Growth (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2023 | 70 | – | 85 | – | 60 | – | 75 | – |
| February 2023 | 68 | -2.86% | 80 | -5.88% | 62 | 3.33% | 73 | -2.67% |
| March 2023 | 72 | 5.88% | 90 | 12.50% | 65 | 4.84% | 78 | 6.85% |
| April 2023 | 75 | 4.17% | 88 | -2.22% | 68 | 4.62% | 80 | 2.56% |
In this table, you can see how each brand’s interest changes month over month. For example, Trello experienced a significant increase in interest in March (12.50%) but saw a slight decline in April (-2.22%). Analyzing these trends can help you benchmark your brand’s performance and identify when competitors are gaining or losing momentum.
3. Correlate with Industry Events
Next, consider how these trends align with industry-specific events, holidays, or other significant dates. This context can provide deeper insights into why certain trends occur.
Example:
Let’s say the industry conference typically happens in April, and you want to see how it might affect search trends over several months:
| Month/Year | Asana | Industry Context |
|---|---|---|
| January 2023 | 70 | Post-holiday period, typically lower engagement |
| February 2023 | 68 | Preparations for Q2 campaigns, slight activity dip |
| March 2023 | 72 | Pre-conference buzz begins |
| April 2023 | 75 | Major industry conference held |
In this scenario, the data shows an increase in interest for Asana from February through April, potentially driven by the anticipation and actual occurrence of a major industry event. Understanding this context helps you plan your own marketing activities to align with periods of increased interest.
For example, if you know that an industry conference leads to a spike in brand interest in April, you might plan your marketing efforts to ramp up in March, ensuring your brand is top-of-mind as interest in the industry peaks.
4. Spot Emerging Trends
Beyond seasonal patterns, keep an eye out for emerging trends that could signify shifts in the market. For instance, if a particular keyword related to your industry starts to gain traction, it could signal a shift that you can capitalize on.
Example:
Let’s add keyword trends related to your product category:
| Month/Year | Project Management Software | Remote Work Tools |
|---|---|---|
| January 2023 | 65 | 50 |
| February 2023 | 67 | 55 |
| March 2023 | 70 | 60 |
| April 2023 | 75 | 65 |
This data shows a growing interest in “Remote Work Tools” over the first four months of the year. If this trend continues, it could be a good indicator that focusing more on remote work features in your product might be a smart move.
5. Document Insights and Plan Next Steps
As you go through this analysis, document your key findings. Note any significant trends, seasonal patterns, or emerging opportunities that could inform your future marketing efforts.
Example:
| Insight | Actionable Step |
|---|---|
| Trello spikes in interest in March | Launch a pre-conference campaign targeting the same audience in March. |
| Asana’s steady growth | Continue investing in the strategies that drove growth, such as content marketing or PPC campaigns. |
| Emerging trend for “Remote Work Tools” | Develop and promote new features tailored to remote work environments. |
By organizing your data and insights in tables like these, you’ll be better equipped to make informed, strategic decisions that can enhance your brand’s market position.
Step 5: Generate Insights and Conclusions
Now that you’ve gathered and analyzed Spycrow and Google Trends data, the final step is to generate actionable insights and conclusions that can inform your future marketing strategies. This step is about synthesizing the information you’ve collected into clear, strategic actions.
Here’s how to approach this:
1. Synthesize Key Insights
Start by summarizing the most important findings from your analysis. These insights should highlight trends, opportunities, and potential areas of concern. Consider both the quantitative data (e.g., growth rates, interest over time) and qualitative observations (e.g., the impact of industry events).
2. Translate Insights into Strategic Actions
Next, translate these insights into specific, actionable strategies. This involves identifying what changes or initiatives you need to implement to capitalize on the trends you’ve identified.
Example Actionable Steps:
| Insight | Actionable Step |
|---|---|
| Trello spikes in interest in March | Launch a pre-conference campaign targeting the same audience in March. |
| Asana’s steady growth | Continue investing in the strategies that drove growth, such as content marketing or PPC campaigns. |
| Emerging trend for “Remote Work Tools” | Develop and promote new features tailored to remote work environments. |
3. Prioritize Actions
With a list of actionable steps, prioritize them based on potential impact and feasibility. Consider factors such as available resources, budget, and alignment with your overall business goals.
Example Prioritization:
| Priority Level | Actionable Step | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| High | Develop and promote new remote work features | High market demand and alignment with emerging trends. |
| Medium | Launch pre-conference campaign in March | Competitive move to counter Trello’s expected interest spike. |
| Medium | Continue current growth strategies for Asana | Builds on existing success, less immediate action required. |
4. Implement and Monitor
Once you’ve prioritized your actions, the next step is implementation. Create a timeline and assign responsibilities to ensure each strategy is executed effectively. After implementation, it’s crucial to monitor the results and adjust your approach as needed.
Example Implementation Plan:
| Actionable Step | Responsible Team | Timeline | Monitoring Metrics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Develop new remote work features | Product Development | Q3 2024 | User adoption rate, feature usage |
| Launch pre-conference campaign | Marketing | March 2024 | Campaign engagement, lead generation |
| Continue growth strategies | Marketing | Ongoing | Traffic growth, conversion rates |
5. Review and Iterate
Finally, periodically review the effectiveness of the implemented strategies. Use the data you gather post-implementation to refine your approach. This iterative process ensures that your strategies evolve with the market and continue to deliver results.
Example Review Process:
- Quarterly Review: Assess the impact of new features on user engagement and overall product adoption.
- Post-Campaign Analysis: Evaluate the success of the pre-conference campaign by comparing it against set KPIs like lead generation and conversion rates.
- Ongoing Monitoring: Keep tracking Google Trends and Spycrow reports to stay updated on market shifts and adjust your strategies accordingly.
Conclusion
In today’s fast-paced digital world, staying ahead means more than just keeping up—it’s about being proactive and strategic. By using Spycrow for competitor insights and Google Trends for market analysis, you’re equipping yourself with the tools to make informed, impactful decisions.
Take these steps and turn them into actions. Drive your brand forward with confidence, knowing you have the tools and strategies to lead in your market. The journey to success starts with the decisions you make today—stay focused, stay agile, and make your move.
