Balancing Technical Writing and Marketing: The Art of Competitive Analysis
This exploration highlights the convergence of technical writing and marketing communications within the framework of competitive analysis. It discusses the critical role of comparisons in understanding market dynamics, enhancing product value, and guiding consumer decisions. The need for effective comparisons is examined through the lenses of consumer perception and market competition. Valuable insights are provided on how technical writers can contribute to marketing strategies, aiming for improved sales and better customer understanding. This synthesis of skills is essential for career advancement in the field.
Balancing Technical Writing and Marketing: The Art of Competitive Analysis
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Presentation Transcript
Competition Analysis: A Lesser Explored Combination of Technical and Marketing Communications Sr. Technical Writer – MarCom Cyberoam Technologies Pvt Ltd. Ahmedabad Anima Palshikar
What has brought you here? • Subject: Interesting or Confusing • How and Why a comparison can be a combination of Technical and Marketing Communication? • Relation amongst Marketing Communication, Technical Writer and Technical Communication • Can we consider making a career in Competitive Analysis (how)?
What do you think, what is a Comparison? Definition says : An act of evaluating two or more things in relation to each other. Social Perception: A way of Life • Philosophy: • The thief of joy • The reason of joy
Different Needs Different Comparisons Consumer • To understand the similarities and differences • Matching the requirement to the available options • To understand value for money • To take a right decision Vendor • To understand the market and competition • To find out the strengths and weaknesses • To understand the scope of improvements and Sale
Why we are discussing it in the forum of Technical Communicators?
Profile Overview - Conventional A Technical Writer • Is a bridge between a Technocrat and an end user. • Translates Technical concepts into simple language. • Documents all the stages of a product or software life cycle. • Documents all the processes of a product/service/software life cycle.
Technical Writer’s Positioning End User Documents Development Market • Gap Analysis • BRD and PRDs Technical Writer • Marketing Comparisons
Competitor Study in Organization Why - Market • kill the competition • help in decision making • boost up the sales • market the product Why - Development • Gap Analysis • Betterment of the product
Marketing Comparison Approach – My Product is the BEST • Identify/create the market • Identify/choose your competitor • Identify your strengths • Identity competitors’ weakness • Understand the user’s psychology • Identify pitch line and stick with that
Marketing Comparison How to start with a Marketing comparison ? • Know your product and competitor product thoroughly • Study all the available literature and collaterals, User Interfaces • Develop price to performance ratio analysis • Hands on with product, if possible • Highlight what the user will enjoy with a particular product or what their suffering would be with competitor product.
Marketing Comparison Points to compare Features Comparison Value for Money User Experience
Must Have for Marketing Comparison • Interesting and useful read for the user • Backed with appropriate references • Improve readers’ knowledge regarding the product and motivate them to ask more from the competition • Penetrating Customers thought process • Presenting weakness of the product in a convincing way
Comparison: A Development Point of View Approach - There is always a room for improvement • Feature comparison • Market need • Efficiency • Granularity, Usability and Scalability • Innovation • Price • Best product with reasonable price • Competitor price, Discounts, Schemes, Trade up programs
Comparison: A Development Point of View How to do a Gap Analysis? • Address customer problems • Analyze genuine feature requests and their scope • Interact with concerned teams or customers to understand the requirement and implications
Must Have for Gap Analysis • Feature requirement with use cases and visuals (if required) • Business criticality - time and geography wise • Brief information regarding competitor’s approach • Clear visibility of market trends • Short and crisp reading for the developers
What is the challenge? • Two schools of thought • Truth with hard core facts – Left Brain • Marketing Standards – Right Brain • Balance of Left and Right Mind
Skill Set Inside • Right Attitude • Eye For Detail • Good Analytical mind • Good understanding of customer perceptions and psychology Outside • Language • Statistics • Graphics- Illustration • Real Scenario and Use Case
About the Hangover • Thumb Rule - Comparisons should not make you loose a deal • Ready for the responses from the competitors. Sometimes comparisons backfire
Aid to… • Sales and Marketing Campaigns • Branding and Advertisements • Newsletters • Offers and Schemes • Core Documentation
Thank You anima.palshikar@elitecore.com
