Do you feel like your company is stuck and you’re not quite sure what your <a <a href="<a href="https://www.empresadeserviciosweb.com/servicios/https/”>https://www.empresadeserviciosweb.com/servicios/href/”>href="https://www.empresadeserviciosweb.com/buscar-palabras-clave–competidores-analisis-seo-<a href="https://www.empresadeserviciosweb.com/que-opciones-de-busqueda-nos-permite-el-apartado-de-palabras-clave-en-google/" title=”Guide on the keyword section in Google: how to search, use tools and get information safely”>herramientas-gratis-semrush/” title=”How to search for keywords in your competitors”>competidores?
So what you need is not just “seeing what others do.” What you need is Strategic Benchmarking. .I recommend you check out this article, it’s interesting: How to take a screenshot on your computer.
In this guide I explain everything from A to Z: what benchmarking is, the types that exist, <a href="https://www.empresadeserviciosweb.com/post/estrategias-de-marketing-resultados-tacticas-generar-leads-y-aumentar-ventas-al-instante/” title=”How to do Marketing to be able to sell a lot.” class=”internal-link”>How to do it step by step, and real examples so that you can apply it today, without complicating yourself with unnecessary theory.
✅ What is Benchmarking?
Benchmarking is a strategic process in which a company analyzes and compares its processes, products or services with those of its competitors or market references, in order to <a href="https://www.empresadeserviciosweb.com/guia-complete-how-to-identify–define-and-leverage-keywords-for-your-<a href="https://www.empresadeserviciosweb.com/youtube-strategy-ingresos-reales-monetizacion-videos-guia-practica/” title=”YouTube + strategy = real income 💼 Here I show you how 💸”>estrategia-seo/” title=”Complete guide: How to identify, define and leverage keywords for your SEO strategy”>identify opportunities for improvement.
👉 In other words: it’s looking at what others do well, learning from it and adapting it to your business.
🎯 What is benchmarking for?
- Detect performance gaps
- Get inspired by market best practices
- Optimize internal processes
- Identify innovation opportunities
- Save time by avoiding mistakes others have already made
🧠 Types of Benchmarking
| Type | What it compares | Real example |
|---|---|---|
| Competitive benchmarking | Against your direct competitors | Comparing your eCommerce with your rival’s on Google Ads |
| Internal benchmarking | Between areas of your own company | Comparing the performance of 2 branches |
| Functional benchmarking | With companies from another industry | Using Amazon’s logistics as inspiration |
| Generic benchmarking | General best practices | Applying Toyota’s Lean processes to digital marketing |
📌 When is it a good idea to do benchmarking?
- When you’re about to launch a new product or service
- If you want to understand why your competition is growing faster
- If you need to improve a process that is currently slow or costly
- To validate a strategy before implementing it
- During an internal audit or restructuring
🛠️ How to do benchmarking step by step
I’ll explain the method that real strategy consulting firms use. Simple, direct and applicable.
1. Define what you’re going to compare
It’s not about looking at everything. Focus:
- Do you want to improve your customer service?
- Optimize your delivery times?
- Reduce your cart abandonment rate?
🎯 Choose 1 or 2 key KPIs.
2. Choose who you’re going to analyze
You can look at:
- Your direct competition
- Leading companies in your sector
- References from another market that do well what you want to improve
3. Gather data
This is where it gets interesting:
- Visit their websites
- Check their social media
- Do mystery shopping
- Use tools like:
- SimilarWeb
- Semrush
- BuiltWith
- Google Ads Transparency Center
4. Analyze and compare
Create a simple table:
| KPI | Your company | Competitor A | Competitor B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support response time | 24 hrs | 3 hrs | 12 hrs |
| Shipping costs | $6 | $4 | Free |
| Web loading speed | 3.5 sec | 1.2 sec | 2.0 sec |
5. Identify opportunities and improve
Now that you have a clear picture:
- Where are you falling behind?
- What could you improve quickly?
- What should you test?
- Is there anything you can automate or delegate?
Apply, measure, and repeat.
✍️ Real benchmarking example (Digital Marketing)
Let’s say you have a marketing agency and you want to improve your sales funnel.
- You visit 3 top agencies in your country.
- You subscribe to their newsletters.
- You do a mystery lead and analyze:
- How long they take to contact you
- What type of proposal they send
- How they structure their offer
👉 You discover that they have an automated video presentation, and you only send PDFs.
📌 You apply something similar, but with your own style.
🚨 Common mistakes when doing benchmarking
- Copying instead of adapting
- Choosing companies that aren’t comparable
- Measuring without a clear objective
- Not making decisions after the analysis
- Not updating the benchmarking over time
🔗 Useful resources
- How to do benchmarking step by step (Harvard Business Review)
- Free benchmarking template in Notion (Template)
- Semrush Benchmarking Tool
🧠 Conclusion
Benchmarking is not spying for the sake of spying. It’s a strategic tool for growth.
If you do it with focus, without copying, and taking action on what you learn, you will:
✅ Improve processes
✅ Innovate with less risk
✅ Gain competitive advantage without overspending
It’s not about reinventing the wheel, but about seeing how it can spin better.
