Definition
Competitor benchmarking involves tracking how often competitors send, what they promote, and how their visible performance compares to yours. It reveals market norms and whitespace you can exploit.
While you cannot see competitors' internal metrics, you can observe their frequency, offers, subject lines, and public signals, and use that to calibrate your own strategy.
Observing competitor frequency, offers, and subject lines reveals market norms you can compare against. The goal is differentiation, not imitation, so use findings to inform your own strategy. Re-evaluate as competitors and the market evolve.
What to Compare
Frequency and cadence, offer types, subject-line patterns, and positioning all show what your market expects.
Public engagement signals like social shares and reviews complement your own data.
Why It Matters
Competitor benchmarking reveals market norms and whitespace. It turns guesswork about frequency and offers into data-driven positioning.
Best Practices
- Monitor competitor frequency, offers and subject lines.
- Compare your metrics to visible competitor patterns.
- Use findings to differentiate, not copy.
- Monitor competitor frequency, offers, and subject lines regularly.
- Set goals based on market norms plus your own data.
- Re-evaluate benchmarks as competitors change.
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Related Glossary Terms
A/B Testing
A/B testing in email marketing is the practice of sending two variations of an email to a small sample of your list to determine which version performs better before sending the winner to the remaining subscribers.
Account-Based Marketing Email
An account-based marketing email is a highly targeted message sent to a specific organisation or decision-maker group as part of a focused B2B strategy.
Announcement Email
An announcement email is a dedicated campaign that communicates a specific update, milestone, or change to subscribers, from product launches and feature releases to company news and events.
ARPU (Average Revenue Per User)
ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) is a metric that measures the average revenue generated per email subscriber over a specific period, used to evaluate list value and campaign effectiveness.
Attention Rate
Attention rate is the percentage of email opens that last longer than 5 seconds, distinguishing genuine reads from passive opens, preview-pane views, or Apple MPP auto-loads.
Average Order Value in Email
Average order value in email is the average amount spent per transaction from recipients who clicked through from an email campaign.
Frequently Asked Questions
Track their sends, offers, and public performance signals over time. Observing competitor frequency, offers, and subject lines reveals market norms you can compare against.
It reveals market norms and whitespace you can exploit. The goal is differentiation, not imitation, so use findings to inform your own strategy.
No, but frequency, offers, and public signals give a strong picture. Re-evaluate as competitors and the market evolve.
Blindly copying strategies without testing them on your audience. Observing competitor frequency, offers, and subject lines reveals market norms you can compare against.
Monthly or quarterly, depending on how fast your market moves. The goal is differentiation, not imitation, so use findings to inform your own strategy.