Leadership Do you keep an eye out on your competition?

[Cedric]

As a community leader, you’re undoubtedly passionate about the vision you’ve created and the members you serve. But part of leading a successful community goes beyond internal management—keeping an eye on external factors can be equally crucial. One key aspect to consider is your competition. While every community is unique, understanding what others in your niche are doing can provide valuable insights, both as lessons and inspiration.

I hear you, why should I pay attention to my competitor?

The idea of competition doesn’t necessarily mean you’re in a battle for survival. Rather, it’s about staying informed. Other communities may be experimenting with new features, content strategies, or engagement techniques that you could potentially learn from or adapt.

By observing what works (or doesn’t) for other community leaders, you can evaluate their strategies through the lens of your own community’s values and goals. Do they offer a feature your members might benefit from? Have they introduced a new type of event or reward system that drives engagement? Awareness of these trends helps you stay innovative and responsive to the evolving needs of your community.

Great! What shouldn’t I do?

While keeping an eye on competition can lead to growth, it’s easy to fall into the trap of constant comparison. No two communities are identical. They differ in structure, culture, and the types of members they attract. What works for another platform may not work for yours, and that’s perfectly fine. Instead of focusing on competition with the mindset of outdoing them, use your observations to inspire innovation within your own unique community framework. Don’t get lost into copying them.

I should offer something different then?

Yeah, look at your competition for gaps in their offerings. Perhaps they lack the personal touch your community prides itself on, or maybe they haven’t yet delved into certain content areas or features that your members are asking for. These gaps can present an opportunity for your community to stand out by filling those unmet needs.

I get it, work together, not against each other.

Exactly. Interestingly, competition doesn’t always have to mean rivalry. Some of the most successful communities find ways to collaborate with others in their space. Whether it’s cross-promotions, shared events, or even simply a mutual support network between community leaders, competition can foster collaboration that benefits everyone involved.

Some final thoughts

Staying aware of what other communities are doing allows you to remain dynamic, competitive, and responsive as a leader. But, it’s essential to stay true to your vision and remember that what makes your community special is what will ultimately keep your members engaged. Keep an eye on your competition, but never lose sight of your unique strengths.

Do you actively monitor other communities in your space? How has it shaped your approach as a community leader? Feel free to share your experiences below!

 

[InMyOpinion]

Of course! It is REALLY HEALTHY to keep an eye out on your competition no matter what field you're in. It isn't about copying them it's about staying in the loop and learning from what's out there.

By keeping an eye on your competition you can:

1. Stay relevant and stay ahead of trends to make sure you are always offering something fresh and updated.

2. It can help you spark innovation and inspiration. If you see what other competitors are offering or doing it may spark ideas for improvements or even a whole new direction you haven't even thought of yet. This has happened to me personally when I was running my own forum years ago, I would keep an eye on my competition to see what was working for them (and not working) and one of their ideas gave me a fantastic idea for a great forum contest I wouldn't have thought of if I hadn't kept an eye on what the competitors were doing. It actually ended up being a huge success and I was thankful that I was able to use a completely different idea to come up with (what seemed like) a better idea.

3. It also helped me realize and find my strengths and weaknesses. Understanding where I stand compared to others helped me highlight what I do best and find areas where I was able to improve. In my opinion it's all about growing and not really comparing.

4. It gave me user insights with how my competitors were interacting with their members which provided me with valuable insight. I could see what they were doing right and where they were falling short. It gave me the chance to step up my own game without making the same mistakes my competition was making.

5. It allowed me to make strategic adjustments. If I seen a competitor launch or try something that's getting a lot of attention it is very important to know so that I can either try to do something similar (though I always try to tweak things so it the exact same as the competition). It also allowed me to adjust my strategy if needed without getting blindsided.

All in all I believe keeping an eye on the competition is crucial to your success because you can learn from them and not make the same learning mistakes as they do. You can observe to see what is working, what isn't and it can even help you come up with some of your own creative ideas on how to improve your forum or website.

If you aren't aware of what your competition is doing how do you know if what you're doing is better or worse than them? How can you truly know if you are successful or not if you don't know what to compare yourself to?

 

[fdk]

Personally, although I can see the benefits of keeping on top of developments your competition might be making, it's not something that has ever particularly bothered me.

I've always been of the opinion that my time and energies are better focussed on improving my own site, or directing my resources (time) into advertising the website to enable a better reach. I can certainly see that in some cases, checking out the competition and seeing what they're doing might lead to some improvements/updates to your own site - but I'd rather come up with those ideas independently on my own, knowing that they'll work for my particular site.

Myself, I think it's somewhat unhealthy to focus too much on the competition - it's rarely a productive process to self-criticise too much, I'd much rather spend the time improving than thinking about why someone else is better.

 

[CTS]

I surf every website in my genre' to see how they do things and learn a bit about their history. I do not ever steal content nor do I criticize their operation. But along with the many forums I visit, in or out of genre', it is to get a look and feel of their sites to mentally compare to my efforts.

 

[Matthew]

I consider this a type of market research and it's absolutely important. Innovation is driven by a need and needs can often be garnered from what you feel is lacking with a competitor. This creates a cyclical effect where in theory, innovation should continue on both ends. Given how small the forum space is now a days, you are often fighting for the same audiences as well. If a forum isn't meeting my needs, I'm going to look elsewhere. Chances are, someone on one project has a project elsewhere that may meet my needs.

 

[Cpvr]

I consider this a type of market research and it's absolutely important. Innovation is driven by a need and needs can often be garnered from what you feel is lacking with a competitor. This creates a cyclical effect where in theory, innovation should continue on both ends. Given how small the forum space is now a days, you are often fighting for the same audiences as well. If a forum isn't meeting my needs, I'm going to look elsewhere. Chances are, someone on one project has a project elsewhere that may meet my needs.

I agree. It’s a good idea to keep an eye out on everything. Competition brings the best out of everyone, however, I like to see what other sites are doing in other niches and similar industries.

So, I can build up content and resources based upon what I find to be successful with my own ideas.

Let’s take Facebook for example, they cloned and copied various ideas from other social media sites to improve their platform.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? On the competitive front, it’s a good thing.

Cross promotions is also a good idea as it can drive in more members, however, it all depends on if the other community is bigger or not. You don’t want to cross promote just because, it has to be beneficial on both sides.

The forum world can only grow as much as the effort is put in by everyone involved. Especially, on the promotion front and marketing. The more seen and visible forums became, the bigger they’ll start to be.

Personally, although I can see the benefits of keeping on top of developments your competition might be making, it's not something that has ever particularly bothered me.

I've always been of the opinion that my time and energies are better focussed on improving my own site, or directing my resources (time) into advertising the website to enable a better reach. I can certainly see that in some cases, checking out the competition and seeing what they're doing might lead to some improvements/updates to your own site - but I'd rather come up with those ideas independently on my own, knowing that they'll work for my particular site.

Myself, I think it's somewhat unhealthy to focus too much on the competition - it's rarely a productive process to self-criticise too much, I'd much rather spend the time improving than thinking about why someone else is better.

I also think it’s unhealthy to focus on the competition as it’s better to focus on improving your own community and to do things that they’re not doing. Don’t worry about what others are doing, focus on your community.

It’s the best approach as you’re building something great.