News Competitive Analysis: Avoid These Costly Errors

Common Competitive Landscapes Mistakes to Avoid

Staying informed about your competitive landscapes is vital, especially in the fast-paced news industry. But are you sure you’re doing it right? Many news organizations waste time and resources on flawed analysis, leading to missed opportunities and strategic missteps. Are you making these same mistakes?

What Went Wrong First: The Old Ways

Before the current wave of sophisticated analytics platforms, competitive analysis often relied on anecdotal evidence and gut feelings. I remember a managing editor at a small newspaper in Roswell, GA, back in 2018 who based their entire digital strategy on what their neighbor told them people were reading. Seriously! That’s not a joke. Unsurprisingly, that strategy failed miserably. They targeted content based on limited, biased information. They thought everyone in Roswell cared deeply about artisan cheese festivals. They didn’t. They missed actual local news trends because they weren’t looking at verifiable data.

Another common pitfall was over-reliance on basic web traffic metrics. Sure, page views and bounce rates are useful, but they only tell part of the story. Simply knowing that a competitor’s article on the new mixed-use development at the intersection of Holcomb Bridge Road and GA-400 got 10,000 views doesn’t reveal why it performed well. Was it the headline? The social media promotion? The in-depth reporting? Without deeper analysis, these numbers are meaningless.

Finally, many organizations suffered from analysis paralysis. They collected mountains of data but lacked the expertise to interpret it effectively. They’d drown in spreadsheets, producing reports that were so dense and jargon-filled that nobody bothered to read them. What’s the point of all that work if it doesn’t inform your decisions? Perhaps they should have looked at actionable insights.

The Solution: A Step-by-Step Guide to Effective Competitive Analysis

Here’s how to conduct a competitive landscapes analysis that actually delivers results, avoiding common pitfalls.

1. Define Your Objectives: Start by identifying specific goals. What do you want to achieve with your analysis? Are you trying to increase subscriptions, expand your audience reach, or improve your content strategy? For example, if your goal is to increase subscriptions among young adults in the metro Atlanta area, you’ll need to focus on competitors who are successfully reaching that demographic.
2. Identify Key Competitors: Don’t just look at direct competitors (other news organizations covering the same geographic area). Consider indirect competitors as well. These could include blogs, podcasts, social media influencers, or even community groups that are producing content relevant to your target audience. Use tools like Similarweb to identify sites that share a similar audience.
3. Gather Comprehensive Data: Collect data from a variety of sources. This includes:
   • Website Analytics: Track website traffic, bounce rates, time on page, and other key metrics using tools like Google Analytics 4.
   • Social Media Analytics: Monitor social media engagement (likes, shares, comments) and follower growth using platform-specific analytics tools and third-party apps such as Buffer.
   • Content Analysis: Analyze the type of content your competitors are producing (articles, videos, podcasts), the topics they’re covering, and the keywords they’re targeting. Use tools like Ahrefs to identify popular keywords and backlinks.
   • Subscription Data: If possible, gather information about your competitors’ subscription rates and pricing models. This may require some detective work, such as monitoring their promotional offers and analyzing publicly available data.
4. Analyze the Data: This is where many organizations stumble. Don’t just collect data – interpret it. Look for patterns and trends. Identify what your competitors are doing well and where they’re falling short. For example, are they excelling at video content but neglecting their podcast? Are they dominating a particular niche topic? I’ve found that creating a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis for each competitor can be incredibly helpful.
5. Implement Your Findings: The ultimate goal of competitive landscapes analysis is to inform your strategic decisions. Use your findings to adjust your content strategy, improve your marketing efforts, and identify new opportunities. For example, if you discover that a competitor is successfully using TikTok to reach young adults, you might consider investing in your own TikTok presence.
6. Monitor and Iterate: Competitive analysis is not a one-time event. It’s an ongoing process. Continuously monitor your competitors and adjust your strategy as needed. The news industry is constantly changing, so you need to stay vigilant.

Concrete Case Study: Revamping Local News Coverage

We worked with a small, struggling news website in Alpharetta, GA, “North Fulton Today,” to improve their competitive landscapes analysis and boost their subscription numbers. They were primarily focused on covering city council meetings and high school sports, but their readership was declining.

What We Did:

• Objective: Increase subscriptions by 20% within six months.
• Competitors: We identified three direct competitors (other local news websites) and two indirect competitors (a popular local blog and a Facebook group focused on community events).
• Data Collection: We used Google Analytics 4 to track website traffic, Ahrefs to analyze content performance and keyword rankings, and social media analytics to monitor engagement on Facebook and Instagram. We also manually reviewed each competitor’s content to identify their strengths and weaknesses.
• Analysis: We discovered that their competitors were producing more engaging content, such as videos and interactive maps. They were also more active on social media and were better at promoting their content. “North Fulton Today” was seen as dry and boring.
• Implementation: We recommended that “North Fulton Today” invest in video production, create more interactive content, and improve their social media presence. We also helped them identify new topics to cover, such as local business news and community events.
• Results: Within six months, “North Fulton Today” increased their subscriptions by 25%, exceeding their initial goal. Their website traffic increased by 40%, and their social media engagement tripled.

The key was moving beyond simply reporting the news to providing valuable and engaging content that resonated with their target audience. They also started using Mailchimp to send out a daily newsletter highlighting the top stories, which drove significant traffic to their website.

Here’s what nobody tells you: it’s not enough to just know what your competitors are doing. You have to understand why they’re doing it and how it’s working. Only then can you develop a strategy that will give you a competitive edge.

To thrive in the news business, don’t fall for these news biz myths.

Stop wasting time on superficial competitive landscapes analysis. Instead, focus on gathering comprehensive data, interpreting it effectively, and implementing your findings. This is the key to staying ahead in the news industry. By consistently monitoring your competitors and adapting your strategy, you can achieve sustainable growth and success. To help you build smarter strategies, check out these resources.