Do You Spy On Your Competitors?
Smart businesses learn to be a little sneaky to stay on the cutting edge their competitors think they have. Surprise, you’re going to have that edge and grab up the next customers for yourself!
Competitive intelligence definition
Defining, gathering, and analyzing intelligence about product, customers, and your competitors, to aid in making strategic decisions for a business/organization (Wiki). Strategic intelligence is a branch of this which focuses on a longer term, say two years, but this varies depending on how quickly the industry is changing. This forces a company to determine where they want to or should be in XX years, and find any weak spots that may impede progress.
Your own business’s data that you constantly collect and analyze may be very valuable and provide insights you wouldn’t have a clue about without it. However, understanding your competitors, those similar in sales and revenue along with the “big boys” too, helps ensure you’re providing your customers the very best you’re capable of, and staying on top of industry trends.
Practical purposes for analyzing competitors
- Your revenue is up from last year by 25% – great right? After some research you find out the industry is up 90%…so comparatively, not so great.
- You’re running a new ad that has increased your site’s traffic a lot. Has your biggest competitor responded by coming up with something even better?
- By maintaining a working knowledge of what industry leaders and your fiercest competitors are doing, you will have a much better shot at getting (and staying) ahead of them.
Avoid unpleasant surprises, decrease response time to new things on the horizon, and become a leader in your industry, locally or beyond. Take control. Learn how to do competitor research, or let us take care of it for you, so you can relax and leave your competitors in your dust!
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