What is gap analysis?

Gap analysis is the general method of comparing where you are against where you should be — a target, a standard, or a competitor — and cataloguing the differences so they can be prioritized and closed. The competitive versions are the most concrete: feature gaps against rival products, keyword and content gaps against rival websites, price-point gaps against rival plans.

The method’s value is in forcing specificity: “we’re behind on integrations” becomes a list of the eight integrations two competitors have and you lack, ranked by how often they appear in lost deals. Not every gap deserves closing — some are deliberate positioning — but every gap should be known.