To stay on top of your business’ competition, take a closer look at what is being done differently by your competitors online. Have you taken a look at their social media presence, the keywords they use in shareable content, or how they engage their audiences? There are several business tools and applications you can use to keep your business up-to-date on trends working for companies just like yours.

Benefits of Monitoring the Competition’s Strategy

Entrepreneur says conducting competitive research can help you develop a sustainability strategy for your business. Competitive research is done by gathering and analyzing information about your industry to understand your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses better. A thorough report will highlight competitor marketing strategies, competitive advantages, and content strategies.

If you have an idea of what the competitors are doing to boost their business, you can create more informed strategies and adjust your goals as needed. Here are some of the advantages of completing a comprehensive competitive research report: 

• Understand the industry and market better by identifying what brings the most value to your customer base.
• Improve marketing practices by reflecting on what is trending, what is working, and what isn’t working in the current environment.
• Recognize marketing gaps with a SWOT analysis of your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. This can also help to point out needs that go unaddressed.

[Read the full article from Entrepreneur here.]

Ways to Monitor Industry Competitors

If you are interested in competitive research for beginners, Mediatoolkit shares a few suggestions that are good starting points for small businesses looking for insight into their industry competition. 

• Google keywords that resonate with your industry. The most common ones will lead you to marketing, advertising, and social media campaigns that work the best with audiences interested in your types of products and services.
• Keep an eye out for industry press releases or news articles about competitors. You can regularly check on local news sites and common public relations distributors for the latest updates. 
• Google Alerts offers a more automated notification system for businesses looking to stay on top of new developments in their industry. You can choose what news you want to receive alerts for and how often. 
• There are a surplus of applications for tracking competition on social media. Key indicators to look out for are engagement rates and the use of user-generated content.

[Read the full article from Mediatoolkit here.]

How to Conduct a Competitive Analysis

You can take your competitive research to the next level by completing a full-blown analysis. A competitive analysis outlines key weaknesses and strengths to help you gain an edge on your competition and within your own business. Here’s what Shopify says should go into the analysis:

• Identification of 7-10 competitors
• Creation of an organized spreadsheet for data gathered on competitors
• Determination of competitor types
• Identification of competitor positioning
• Determination of competitive advantage
• Understanding of the competition’s marketing strategy
• SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis

[Read the full article from Shopify here.]

How do you plan to change things up in 2023 to stay ahead of the competition? Share your thoughts on LinkedIn and Facebook.