There are many things you can learn from monitoring the activities of your business competitors. Here are a few examples:
Pricing: You can learn what your competitors are charging for their products or services. This information can help you to set your own prices competitively. It can also enable you to spot gaps in the market for value pricing or bundling.
Marketing: You can learn what marketing strategies your competitors are using. This information can help you gain a crystal-clear picture of emerging market trends and evolving customer needs. This foresight allows you to anticipate shifts, adjust your own strategies accordingly, and stay ahead of the curve. It will rapidly help you to improve your own marketing efforts.
Product development: You can learn what new products or services your competitors are developing. By analying your competitors’ products and more importantly their customer reviews you can uncover unmet needs or pain points that haven’t been addressed. This is a goldmine for innovation. By developing products that fill these gaps you can differentiate yourself in the marketplace.
Customer service: You can learn how your competitors are handling customer service issues. This information will lead you to improve your own customer service perhaps with the use of AI chatbots or personalised support experiences..
Distribution: You can learn how your competitors are distributing their products or services. This information can help you to improve your own distribution network.
Sales: You can learn how your competitors are selling their products or services. Observing their social media engagement, content marketing tactics, and advertising campaigns can spark inspiration for your own marketing efforts. Discover what resonates with their audience and adapt it to your brand, while identifying tactics that fall flat to avoid them altogether.
By monitoring the activities of your competitors, you can gain valuable insights that can help you to improve your own business. This information can help you to make better decisions about pricing, marketing, product development, customer service, distribution, and sales. As a result, you can increase your profits and improve the overall performance of your business. While keeping an eye on established players is crucial, don’t neglect the up-and-coming disruptors. These innovative competitors often shake things up with fresh ideas and unconventional approaches.
Here are some additional tips for monitoring your competitors:
Use online tools. There are a number of online tools that can help you to monitor your competitors. These tools can provide you with information about your competitors’ websites, social media activity, and marketing campaigns.
Read industry publications. Industry publications can provide you with information about your competitors’ new products, services, and marketing strategies.
Attend industry events. Attending industry events is a great way to network with your competitors and learn about their latest initiatives.
Talk to your customers. Ask your customers about their experiences with your competitors. This information can help you to identify your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses.
Benchmarking and Goal Setting: Comparing your performance to your competitors, through key metrics like market share, customer satisfaction, and brand awareness, provides a valuable benchmark. This allows you to set realistic goals, track your progress, and identify areas where you can outperform the competition. Remember, benchmarking isn’t about blind imitation; it’s about using data to fuel your own unique growth trajectory.
Remember: Competitor analysis is an ongoing process, not a one-time event. Stay vigilant, gather data consistently, and use your insights strategically to propel your business to new heights. By watching your competitors wisely, you’ll transform them from rivals into valuable sources of knowledge, empowering you to build a future-proof business that thrives in the face of any challenge.
By following these tips, you can gain a competitive advantage by monitoring the activities of your competitors.
Wood and Disney are Chartered Accountants and Business Growth Advisors and we can help you future proof your business. Only 27% of businesses survive more than 10 years. Don’t be one of those statistics.