It’s no secret that a company’s success links directly to its ability to compete for space on the market. This means understanding and tracking information about other companies in your industry in order to compete successfully. This is called competitive intelligence.
According to Fuld + Company, “Competitive Intelligence (CI) is the collection and analysis of information to anticipate competitive activity, see past market disruptions and dispassionately interpret events.” It is, quite literally, intelligence that can help make your company more competitive.
Keeping an Eye on the Competition
Having a thorough understanding of your competitors is essential for any company’s success. MarTech Advisor contributor Eugene Levin writes, “Effective strategies incorporate competitive intelligence, allowing you to learn from, counter and improve upon competitors’ marketing tactics.”
Having this kind of information makes it possible to outsmart your competitors and avoid any pitfalls they may have encountered. Given the nature of modern communications technology, tracking your competitors is easier than ever before. Levin continues, “Resources like market review report, annual public report from competitors, Google Trends and even surveys are a great place to start.”
Levin also recommends following your competition closely by subscribing to their newsletters and following their social media feeds. Sometimes the information that could benefit your company is in plain sight.
Picking Through Intel
There is an abundance of information to be gathered about your competition. It can be a little overwhelming, so it’s a good idea to narrow your focus on what kind of information would best help your company reach its goals. Crayon contributor Emily Dumas writes, “If you narrow down the types of intel you care most about, data points that align with current initiatives, it will be easier to digest the data.”
This can be a time-consuming process, but it’s necessary to sift through the available information to find the nuggets of intel that can help your company. Dumas points out, “You want to gather the most intel about each of your competitors so that you can dig in and analyze the data to pull out the valuable insights.” This is the competitive-intelligence equivalent of sifting for gold.
Identifying Market Blind Spots
After compiling and analyzing data on your competition, you will have a better chance of picking out blind spots in the market. One example of this is to consider the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategies of your competitors. Levin writes, “After analyzing SEO results and traffic for your top competitors, you’ll have a strong idea of the keywords everyone is fighting over, as well as terms that have untapped potential.”
If you can direct consumers to your brand through keywords that your competition has overlooked, you’ll have a direct advantage in the market. This is just one example of how competitive intelligence can benefit a company.
Having a working knowledge of how competitive intelligence works in the marketplace can give you an advantage when starting a new career. Northern Kentucky University’s online MBA program offers three emphasis areas including one on competitive intelligence, which equips students with techniques for assessing a company’s competition and translating that data into actionable insights.
Learn more about NKU’s online MBA program.
Sources:
MarTech Advisor: How to Dig Deeper on Competitive Intelligence
Crayon: 6 Steps to Design a Successful Competitive Intelligence Process
Fuld + Company: What Is Competitive Intelligence?
