If you want to be successful in business, then you’re going to have to gather information about your competition. Marketing research should always include competitive intelligence, which is considered by marketing experts to be the most powerful technique for competitive business.
Businesses must be able to stay ahead of their competition. They must understand the tactics being used and be able to pivot their business plan in a way to stay up-to-date with these tactics. Competitive intelligence has many amazing applications but it’s most powerful when used with product development and marketing.
You might wonder why you need to focus on competitive intelligence when you are already focused on market research. What possible benefit could there be? Aren’t market analytics enough? The answer is that competitive intelligence provides analytical data that goes far beyond just marketing. It covers all aspects of a business. With that in mind, let’s look at how we can improve our overall marketing strategy by using this powerful tool.
Provide Analysis of Competitor’s Products and Services
Competitive analysis helps you gain a deeper understanding of how your products and services stack up against those of your competitors. Product analysis is the most important way to use this tool. By understanding products offered by the competition, you will be able to improve your own. Are they better at manufacturing them than you are? If so, then what do they do differently than you?
The best way to improve your own business is by focusing on fixing key areas where you have a competitive disadvantage. Without proper analysis, you have no way of knowing what areas need improvement.
Explore Communications Channels
Analysing the way your competitors communicate with their audience is essential. This includes analysis of their social media channels, website, and other marketing methods at their disposal. If their social media presence trumps your own, then what are they doing differently? There are a lot of options when it comes to marketing so studying communication channels will help you adopt new strategies into your own business. Remember, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Always do what works.
For example, let’s assume that we notice a competitor marketing a similar product on Facebook. Human nature will tell us to form another alternative strategy in order to be unique. But industry leaders understand that they should embrace the same marketing tactics because it works!
Analyse Competitor’s Customers
Successful businesses publish regular reports about their customers so it’s important that you pay attention to these reports. Learn as much as possible about their customers. Then, you can find areas where your competition might fall short.
In the past, there was this tiny DVD rental company that was trying to gain a foothold in a marketplace that was dominated by Blockbuster. They paid close attention to Blockbuster’s customers and noticed a common trend – customers hate late fees. Even worse, they hate being rushed to watch and return movies. So, this tiny company decided to use that information to develop a system for offering a video rental subscription service where there were no late fees, nor was there pressure to watch movies quickly. As you might have guessed, that company was Netflix.
Compare Prices
Competitor analysis to know about how your competitors price similar products and services is essential. Correctly pricing products is a key area of business. You have to at least be close to market price if you want to earn the most profit.
While keeping prices as low as competitors might not be possible, at least you know that you’ll have to separate yourself somehow to make up for the higher price.
Author Bio: Jacob Haney is a content marketer presently working with Research Optimus, a business research outsourcing company. A writer by day and a reader by night, he is loathed to discuss himself in the third person but can be persuaded to do so from time to time.
