Overview

Understanding your competitors is the foundation for developing strategy. Claude can help you collect competitor information, conduct multi-dimensional comparative analysis, and generate structured competitive analysis reports.

Use Cases

Product planning reference
Market positioning analysis
Investment decision support
Strategic planning development

Steps

Step 1: Define the Analysis Framework

Clarify the dimensions and scope of competitors to analyze.

I want to analyze competitors in the online education platform space:
Direct competitors: Tencent Classroom, NetEase Cloud Classroom
Indirect competitors: Bilibili, Zhihu
Substitutes: Offline training institutions

Please design an analysis framework:
- Product positioning and target users
- Core features and highlights
- Pricing strategy
- Marketing strategy
- Technical architecture
- Strengths and weaknesses
- Market performance (user count, revenue)

Step 2: Collect Competitor Data

Gather information from multiple channels.

Please help me collect competitor information:

Data sources:
- Official websites and app stores
- Industry reports
- News coverage
- User reviews
- Social media

Organize for each competitor:
~/research/competitors/tencent_classroom_profile.md
~/research/competitors/netease_cloud_classroom_profile.md

Include:
- Company background
- Product history and versions
- Key metrics (DAU, MAU, revenue)
- Core feature list
- Pricing information
- User feedback summary

Step 3: Feature Comparison Analysis

Create a detailed feature comparison table.

Please generate a feature comparison matrix:

| Feature | Us | Tencent Classroom | NetEase Cloud Classroom | Bilibili |
|---------|-----|-------------------|------------------------|----------|
| Live courses | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Recorded courses | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Interactive Q&A | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Assignment system | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Certificate issuance | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| AI recommendations | ✓ (Beta) | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Community features | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓✓ |

Identify:
- Our differentiated advantages
- Where competitors lead
- Market white spaces
- Improvement priorities

Step 4: SWOT Analysis

Conduct SWOT analysis for each competitor.

Generate SWOT analysis for main competitors:

## Tencent Classroom SWOT

**Strengths**:
- Tencent ecosystem traffic support
- High brand awareness
- Strong technical capabilities

**Weaknesses**:
- Inconsistent course quality
- User experience needs optimization
- Single monetization model

**Opportunities**:
- Vocational education market expansion
- Growing enterprise training demand
- Expansion to tier 3-4 cities

**Threats**:
- Tightening regulatory policies
- Emergence of new competitors
- Declining user willingness to pay

Compare with our SWOT to find:
- Strategies to attack competitor weaknesses
- Areas requiring defense
- Collaboration opportunities

Step 5: Generate Analysis Report

Integrate all analysis results.

Please generate a competitive analysis report: ~/research/competitive_analysis_report.md

# Online Education Platform Competitive Analysis Report

## Executive Summary
- Market landscape
- Key findings
- Strategic recommendations

## Market Overview
- Market size and growth
- Major players and market share
- Industry trends

## Detailed Competitor Analysis
[In-depth analysis of each competitor]

## Feature Comparison Matrix
[Previously generated comparison table]

## Pricing Strategy Comparison
[Price comparison and strategy analysis]

## User Feedback Comparison
[Satisfaction, pain points, expectations]

## Marketing Strategy Analysis
[Customer acquisition channels, promotion methods]

## Differentiation Analysis
- Our unique advantages
- Barriers difficult for competitors to replicate
- Potential differentiation directions

## Strategic Recommendations
### Short-term (3 months)
- Address core feature gaps
- Optimize user experience

### Medium-term (6-12 months)
- Build differentiated features
- Establish competitive barriers

### Long-term (1-3 years)
- Ecosystem development
- Brand building

## Appendix
- Data sources
- Detailed feature list
- User review excerpts

Warning: Competitive analysis should be objective and fair. Don't disparage competitors just because they're competition, and don't exaggerate your own advantages. Make rational judgments based on facts and data.

Tip: Update your competitive analysis regularly (e.g., quarterly). The competitive landscape changes quickly, and outdated analysis can mislead decisions. Establish a competitor monitoring mechanism to capture changes promptly.

FAQ

Q: How do I get competitors' internal data?

A: Legitimate channels include: public financial reports, industry reports, third-party data platforms, and user surveys. Don't illegally obtain trade secrets.

Q: How many competitors should I analyze?

A: Focus on 2-3 direct competitors and understand 3-5 indirect competitors. Too many will spread your efforts thin; too few will narrow your perspective.

Q: How should competitive analysis results be applied?

A: Guide product planning, marketing strategy, and pricing decisions. But don't blindly imitate—find differentiated paths based on your own strengths.