Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity – not a threat
Steve Jobs
There isn’t a harm in creating products that are similar to your competition; in fact, competition drives innovation and can offer customers more options. However, if you fall behind industrial trends or technological advancements, it would inversely impact your revenue and KPIs. Hence, analysing your competitor’s strength and weaknesses can guide you to create a better version of your product.
Conducting competitor analysis early in the product ideation phase helps you to understand the market landscape, identify gaps, learn from others’ successes and failures, and refine your unique value proposition. This leads to shaping your product strategy and positioning right from the start.
How can you perform Competitive Analysis?
To strengthen your product stand, it is beneficial to conduct a Competitive Analysis to ensure customer chooses you over another product. Competitive analysis also helps you to understand your competitors Sales and Marketing strategy and capture market share for your products. Issac along with his team begins identifying areas to focus to know where his product would stand –
List your Key Competitors
Identifying competitors in Journeling industry is paramount Issac’s product to understand where his business idea would bring value to his end customers and how he can live upto their expectations.
He dedicates his time researching competitors through Search engines, Android/IOS app stores, Social media, Industrial or online sessions and by Customer reviews. Here is the list of highly adopted journeling applications he has found –
- Day One
- Penzu
- Daybook
- Journey
- Daylio
Lets dive in a bit into granularity to comprehend how are they holding their stand in the market.
Perform SWOT Analysis
To know your.product’s position in the market, it is essential to know Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat of yoru competitor which will guide you in –
- Decision making in initial stages as well as staying at the top
- Goal-setting to provide a clear direction, provide a sense of motivation, measure process and enhance resilience to foster challenges
- Allocate resources to focus on areas where they will have competitive advantagles and address weaknesses that may hinder progress
- Alignment and Communication with stakeholders to ensure they understand current situation and influential factors
- Adapting to the dynamic changes without impacting the ongoing processes by regularly assessing their position
Issac works with his team to gather information on all areas and starts analysing the areas –
GENERAL INFORMATION COLLECTION CHART
| Day One | Penzu | Daybook | Journey | Daylio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search Engine | – Stated as #1 Journeling app – Top in the search engine – Recommendated as top 7 by Zapier and other sources | – Listed in top 15 | – Listed in top 15 | ||
| App downloads | – AWARD WINNING (Editor’s choice) – Ratings: 4.8 by 97k people – Category: Health & Fitness – On Chart: #127 – Size: 251.9MB – Compatible: iphone (iOS 16.0 or later), iPad (iOS 16.0 or later), Apple Watch (watchOS 6.0 or later) – Latest version: every month | – Ratings: 4.2 by 2.2k people – Category: Productivity – Size: 77.7MB Compatible: iPhone (iOS 10.0 or later), iPad (iOS 10.0 or later), Mac (macOS 11.0 or later) | – Ratings: 4.7 by 682 people – Category : Lifestyle – Size: 87MB – Compatible: iPhone (iOS 16.0 or later), iPad (iOS 16.0 or later), Mac (macOS 13.0 or later) – Latest version: every 6M – 1 year | – Ratings: 4.7 by 4.7k people -Category: Lifestyle – Size 87MB – Compatible: iPhone (iOS 16.1 or later), iPad (iOS 16.1 or later), Mac (macOS 13.0 or later) – Latest version: Every month | – Ratings: 4.8 by 45k people – Category: Lifestyle – Size: 140.6MB Compatible: iPhone (iOS 13.0 or later), iPad (iOS 13.0 or later), iPod (iOS 13.0 or later) – Latest version: Every month |
| Social Media1 | Follower count: – Instagram: 17K – X (Twitter): 30.4K – Facebook: 16K | Follower count: – X (Twitter): 4.2K – Facebook: 9.2K | Follower count: – Instagram: 1750 – X (Twitter): 484 – Facebook: 1.4K | Follower count : – X (Twitter): 3.4K – Facebook: 24K | Follower count: – Instagram: 6868 – X (Twitter): 2,6K – Facebook: 2,5K |
| Customer Review | – Great user experience – Minimalistic UI – Great customer service – High user adoption – Less user retention – Accessible on multiple devices | – Simple journelling application – Unable to recover erased entries – Desktop version not available – Limited version/ bug fix upgrades – No stable features – Need better customer support – Application crashes multiple times – Email opt out not available – Sync between devices is inconsistent | – Simplified UI – Personalization – User retention is low – Accessible on multiple devices – Potential loss of data due to upgrades – UI inconsistencies within devices – Fewer features than other journeling app – Application crashes multiple times – Help function not available – Great free journal – Version upgrades are helpful but may have some outstanding bugs | – Great User experience – Ability to Extract data from one journal and load it on Journey – Flexibility to customize – Great Customer Support – Higher user adoption from other journeling apps | – Simplified and Minimal UI – Great Mood tracking – Meaningful insights about yourself – Mood analytics integration with Apple health would be helpful – Customizable UI – Higher user adoption – Lifesaver – Stats are game-changer in one’s life – Application is beyond satisfaction |
FEATURES
| Day One | Penzu | Daybook | Journey | Daylio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Journal lock | S | S | S | O | O |
| Application lock | S | S – paid | S | S | S |
| Cloud sync | S | S | O | S | S |
| Entry Exports | S | S | O | S | S |
| Email Reminders | S | S | O | O | O |
| Notification | S | O | S | S | S |
| Sort Entries | S | S | O | O | O |
| Goal Setting | O | W | O | O | S |
| Mood Reporting | O | W | O | S | S |
| Important days | O | O | O | O | S |
| Achievements/Streaks | S | O | O | O | S |
| Apple health connect | S | W | O | S | S |
| AI | O | O | S | O | O |
| Throwback memories | S | O | S | S | O |
| Tags | S | O | S | S | O |
| Templates | S | O | S | O | O |
| Alexa/Google assistance | O | O | S | O | S |
| Google/Facebook/Apple login | S | O | S | O | S |
| S | O | O | O | O | |
| Location | S | S | S | S | S |
| Attachments | S | S | S | S | S |
| Plugins | O | O | O | S | O |
| Coach | O | O | O | S | O |
| Calendar | S | S | S | S | S |
| Audio | O | O | S | O | O |
| Video | O | O | O | O | O |
| Photo | S | O | S | S | O |
| Map | S | O | O | S | O |
| Statistics | O | W | S | O | S |
Compare Cost Structure
Another crutial factor in Competitive Analysis is Pricing structure. It helps in understanding their positioning relative to competitors to make informed decision. Adjusting pricing strategies lowers the risk of losing customers to competitors offering better value for similar products and services.
Issac works with his team to identify pricing in two areas – General procing structure, Pricing by Feature in order to evaluate his product’s positioning.
GENERAL PRICING STRUCTURE
| Freemium | Free Premium | Monthly | Annual | Lifetime | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day One | Unlimited | 1 Month | – | $34.99 | – |
| Penzu | Unlimited | – | $4.99 | $59.882 | – |
| Daybook | Unlimited | 7 Days | $4.49 | $53.883 | $94.99 |
| Journey | Unlimited | 7 Days | $6.99 | $83.884 | $94.99 |
| Daylio | Unlimited | 7 Days | $4.99 | $59.885 | $59.99 |
PRICING BY FEATURE
| Freemium | Premium | |
|---|---|---|
| Day One | – Journal lock – Cloud Sync – Exports – Email Reminders – Notifications – Sort Entries – Achievements – Apple Health connect – Throwback memories – Tags – Templates – SSO – Location – Attachments – Calendar – Photo – Map | – Unlimited Devices – Unlimited Journals – Multiple Photos per entry – Video attachment – Audio Recording – PDF Export – Drawing – Text Reminders – Email entries – Import Instagram posts – Integrate with Apps like fitbit and more – Custom App Icon – Elegant Journal Colors |
| Penzu | – Journal lock – Cloud Sync – Exports – Email Reminders – Sort Entries – Location – Attachments – Calendar | – Multiple Journals – Custom Covers & Fonts – Military grade protection – Tags – Advance Searching |
| Daybook | – Journal lock – Notifications – AI – Throwback memories – Tags – Templates – Alexa/Google Assistance – SSO – Location – Attachments – Calendar – Photo – Audio – Statistics | – Unlimited devices – Custom Templates – Elegant Themes – Export to PDF – Upload upto 10 Photos – Voice assistance – Mood analytics |
| Journey | – Journal lock – Cloud Sync – Exports – Notifications – Achievements – Mood Reporting – Apple Health connect – Throwback memories – Tags – Alexa/Google Assistance – Location – Attachments – Plugins – Coach – Calendar – Photo – Map | – Daily Encouragement Prompts – Email Reminders – Add location – Memory reminder – Unlimited Devices – Custom Themes & Wallpapers – Unlimited .pdf, .dox – 10GB data – 3000 Entries backup – Remove PDF Watermark – Attach 10 Photos, 1 Audio, 1 Video – End-to-end excryption – Share journal |
| Daylio | – Journal lock – Cloud Sync – Exports – Notifications – Achievements – Goal Setting – Mood Reporting – Important Days – Achievements – Apple Health connect – Google/Alexa assistance – SSO – Location – Attachments – Calendar – Statistics | – Charting – Unlimited Goals – Pin lock – Icons, Moods – Infinite Reminders – Automatic Backup – Color Themes – Change App Icon – Unlimited Important days – Custom Templates – PDF Expport |
- A Product’s Social Media perfomance is not limited to the displayed information. By using analytical platforms, it can retrieve insights such as Revenue per channel, Engagement, Total signups, Audience Growth, Age, Gender, Page, Profile, Post impressions, New Followers etc which will give your business capability to set Social Media Objectives, Goals, KPIs, Performance metrics, Playform performance and Recommendations that will lead to better serve your customers ↩︎
- Special discount for new users available ↩︎
- Special discount for new users available ↩︎
- Special discount for new users available ↩︎
- Special discount for new users available ↩︎