Whether you own a business or work somewhere, you’ll always face competition. In fact, the competition is so intense these days that even if people work day and night, it is still difficult to get on top. But there are secrets to doing this.
We all have heard the quote: “Hard work is the key to success” but in today’s time you need to do smart work. This means you need to keep a check on what your competitors are doing. Analyze them and then develop your own strategies to out beat them. It is one of the most effective ways to keep up with the fast-changing world. So, how can you do it?
There are different ways to keep track of what your competitor is doing or planning to do. You need to always oversee their marketing efforts and the following things:
Table of Contents
1. Social Media
85% of consumers will make purchases from brands they follow on social media platforms. So, you should always notice the posts of your competitors on all digital mediums. This provides you the best insight into their strategies and its results. It also helps you to predict their future goals and strategies.
From this, you can also get to know how the audience views it and what works well with the audience. In simple words, you can learn from the failures of your competitors and not repeat the same mistakes.
Have a look at the type of content they create. Understand their way of narration. Analyze the type of posts that get the most engagement. Another thing to learn is how they are dealing with criticism and hate. You can also use different tools to compare your and your competitor’s social media profiles.
2. Reviews
If you want to know why your competitor’s product is successful, reviews can help you the most. Check out the reviews of your competitor on Google, Facebook, or other platforms. You’ll understand what the customer values in their product.
You will also be able to identify problems faced by the customers on using their product. Note these problems and make sure your product plugs these holes. This can become your USP and make your product better than the competitors. Learn about their customer service. See how they engage with their customers and gain insights on their promotions and pricing strategies.
Don’t ignore the positive reviews either as it tells you the features that you must highlight in your future marketing campaigns.
3. Website
Observe your competitor’s website objectively like a third person. Only then you’ll gain better insights. Think about the user experience it provides. Are the pictures taking longer to load? Does the website lag in between? Are the users able to navigate through the website easily? Are the customers able to find their desired answers?
You must not fail to analyze the type of content on their website. Compare this with your content. What are call-to-actions that they use? How do they narrate their brand story? Is the website aesthetic?
Manually, this may seem like a lot of work to do. Thus, it’s always wise to hire tools like Stillio that can help you do competitor research with zero-hassle. It generates automatic screenshots of several websites’ pages at regular intervals and stores it in your desired location. This way you don’t even have to remember or identify this as a task.
4. Newsletters
If you want to know about every single move of your competitor, then subscribe to their newsletters. This way you’ll always be aware of their offers, promotions, marketing strategies, and the ongoing things in their mind.
Notice their subject lines and subheads. Is the introduction grabbing your attention? How frequently do they send these letters? Do you feel the urge to click on their website? All these questions will help you analyze where you went wrong.
5. Vendors
Vendors know a lot about the company they are dealing with. Thus, they are the best people to connect with, if you want a real-time peek into your competitor’s processes. However, you need to be very careful during this discussion as otherwise, it may seem like poaching.
Over to you…
These are a few ways through which you can keep an eye on your competition without their knowledge. All these ways are ethical and help your business to grow without wasting time on experiments.
