The competitive intelligence process culminates with the analysis of the information gathered in the previous steps. This information may include such things as the characteristics of the companies and their organizational needs and strategies, financial data, expansion records, performance statistics, and future plans. Your analysis will enable you to use this information when developing competitive marketing strategies for your own company.

A potential problem with a competitive intelligence process is that it can generate a huge volume of data, but little useable information. Reams of detailed data about your company's competitors won't be helpful if there's little way to compare the competitors or make sense of what the data implies. This is why it's important to analyze the data. Doing this involves extracting particular information, structuring it, and making sense of it.

You can structure a competitor analysis using three main steps. You can compare your competitors to one another and to your own company, you can use particular techniques to help determine the competitors' next moves, and you can create competitor profiles.

It's useful to compare your competitors with one another to determine their relative positions in the market. You can do this by creating a positioning map, and by comparing the competitors' strengths and weaknesses.

You can create a positioning map that plots which market segment each competitor is in and what consumers they are mainly aiming their products and services at. This will give you a better idea of who your direct competitors are.

Strengths and weaknesses will differ between competitors. One way to make it easier to compare competitors' strengths and weaknesses is to use a table. You can then assign scores to each of the companies in a particular market segment, to indicate their relative strengths in particular areas.

As well as comparing competitors, it's useful to determine what your competitors' next moves may be, based on an analysis of their previous behavior and strategies. Anticipating what each competitor is likely to do next and how it's likely to react to particular situations can help you keep your company one step ahead. Techniques you can use to establish competitors' likely actions include role-playing and using a matrix.

To use role-playing to get an idea of what a competitor might do, you first study the competitor's previous behavior and identify any patterns. Then you can assign a team to play the role of the competitor in a specific scenario. The members of the team attempt to adopt the competitor's perspective and typical approach, reacting to the fictional situation and making business decisions as if they were members of the competing company.

You can use a matrix to categorize competitors according to how they typically react to competition. You might use a matrix to mark which companies typically react aggressively, those that are slower to react, and those likely to imitate any deals or promotions that your company initiates. This can help you determine which companies are likely to pose the biggest threats to your company's initiatives.

The third way of analyzing information about your competitors is to create competitor profiles. A competitor profile can be as detailed or as simple as you like. It can be kept and constantly updated so that managers can refer to it whenever they need to analyze competitors' likely responses to particular business decisions.

Typically, a competitor profile should include concise descriptions, outline key areas, and emphasize distinguishing aspects of a competitor.

A competitor profile should contain concise descriptions so that it's easy to review relevant information about the competitor at any point. You can choose what information to include based on your needs.

You should outline the key areas where a competitor's strengths and strategies lie. This can alert you to areas where your company needs to develop if it's to surpass the competition, and areas that shouldn't be the basis for its competitive marketing strategies.

You should highlight the aspects of each competitor that distinguish it from other companies. These distinguishing factors are usually potential sources of competitive advantage.

After identifying competitors and gathering information about them, you need to analyze the information. This involves extracting information that's relevant, structuring it, and interpreting it. You can then use the information to inform your company's competitive marketing strategies. To analyze competitor information, you can compare competitors, use specific techniques to determine their likely next moves, and create competitor profiles.