Competitor Analysis vs Customer Journey Map

Competitor Analysis

By Product Management Skills by Pawel Huryn

Research your competitors, find their strengths and gaps, and discover how to stand out.

Customer Journey Map

By Product Management Skills by Pawel Huryn

Visualize your customers' entire experience from first touch to becoming an advocate.

Competitor Analysis

• Identifies 5 direct competitors in your market through web research
• Analyzes each competitor's strengths, weaknesses, pricing, and positioning
• Maps market gaps and unmet customer needs across the competitive landscape
• Surfaces differentiation opportunities based on what competitors aren't doing well
• Provides positioning recommendations and highlights competitive threats to monitor

Customer Journey Map

• Maps the complete customer journey across 7 stages: awareness, consideration, acquisition, onboarding, engagement, retention, and advocacy
• Documents touchpoints, user actions, emotions, and pain points at each stage of the experience
• Identifies critical moments like the 'aha moment' when users first see value and churn triggers where they drop off
• Provides prioritized recommendations for quick wins and high-impact improvements
• Outputs a structured markdown table you can use directly or adapt into visual tools like Miro or FigJam

Reach for Competitor Analysis when…

• You're launching a product and need to understand the competitive landscape
• You're preparing a pitch deck or investor brief and need competitive intelligence
• You're refining your positioning and want to know where competitors are weak
• You need to brief your team on who you're up against and how to win

Reach for Customer Journey Map when…

• You're trying to understand why users drop off during onboarding or sign-up
• You need to identify friction points that are hurting conversion or retention
• You're planning product improvements and want to prioritize based on customer impact
• You want to visualize the entire customer experience to align your team around user needs