Competitive intelligence is a strategic tool that allows you to define a differentiation strategy for your business. It involves monitoring various aspects of your competitors. This initiative allows you to stay ahead of the curve and offer superior products or services. In this article, we will explore this topic. What exactly is competitive intelligence? What steps should you take to implement an effective system?
What does competitive intelligence consist of?
Competitive intelligence refers to all the methods used to continuously monitor the competitive landscape . This approach provides a comprehensive view of your industry. The initial objective is to gather information on competitors' marketing practices and strategic processes, and then to develop an effective marketing strategy to differentiate yourself .
Several elements must be considered in competitive intelligence: communication strategy, product or service updates, financial results, changes in structure, online reputation, customer relationship management, and so on. There are many areas to monitor, which is why the approach must be intelligent. Several tools exist to help with data collection and analysis.
Competitive intelligence is an essential component of marketing strategy a company's . It allows you to anticipate competitors' actions , identify strategic points for developing your market, and analyze the competitiveness of your offering .
What are the advantages for your digital strategy?
As part of a web marketing strategy, competitive intelligence helps define a digital marketing strategy. By having a comprehensive view of the market and anticipating competitors' actions, you can increase your company's performance.
Steps to implement competitive intelligence
Competitor identification
There are three types of competitors: direct competitors who offer the same products and target the same audience as your company; indirect competitors with different products but meeting the same needs as your company; and tertiary competitors who target the same audience with different products.
Identifying them allows you to define the path to follow in your strategic choices and overall operations. The list should be regularly updated. This information serves as the basis for your analyses.
Information Collection
It is an important step. It consists of gathering relevant information about the competition through different channels: company newsletters, social networks, the website, influential employees in the company, the press.
To optimize this essential task, there are free, easy-to-use tools available:
- Google Alerts : notifies you in real time about all publications that have a link to your competitors.
- SEMrush is a comprehensive tool for competitive intelligence in web marketing. It helps you analyze trends and your competitors' websites. Furthermore, it performs analysis of social media, SEO, SEM, and more.
- Netvibes : is a tool for collecting and organizing information. With a dashboard, it organizes and sorts information from blogs, social media, and selected websites.
Sorting and processing data
This step involves classifying information according to its relevance to the analysis objectives. It must be implemented continuously to be effective. Email alerts or RSS feeds can help with this task.
The data is divided into several sections, then synthesized. In this way, they overlap to establish a clear pattern.
The competitive intelligence table consists of the following elements: the different sources of information, the collection dates, the names of direct and indirect competitors, the area of establishment, the prices applied by competitors, the key performance indicators, the financial data.
Dissemination of results
The goal is to share information internally so that each department receives the information it needs. This information is essential for understanding the issues and guiding strategic decision-making . Analyses can be distributed to teams in the form of a white paper
What tools do you need for your competitive intelligence?
For competitor monitoring to be effective, analysis must be performed regularly and in real time. The work is carried out in three stages: first, information gathering; second, interpretation of the results; and finally, data analysis. Several tools are available to help you:
- Social networks
- Directories
Social media platforms are invaluable sources of competitive intelligence. They allow you to gauge audience engagement , among other things . This platform also provides the opportunity to monitor competitor activity . Each social network reaches different segments. LinkedIn is a more professional platform, while Facebook is more popular.
- RSS Feeds
To save time , information gathering can be automated . RSS feed aggregators are functional tools for accomplishing this task.
- Strategic keywords
Several software programs are available, both free and paid, to alert and save content based on strategic keywords.
- Competitive intelligence dashboards
This tool is used to manage competitive intelligence. It is built around a defined development objective. Monitoring is done using an Excel spreadsheet or a collaborative spreadsheet like Google Sheets. However, more powerful spreadsheets are available online.
- Field investigation
To supplement the information , on -site investigation is necessary . The type of information gathered is different from that found online. The methods employed are also different. Sales teams are mobilized, as they are in direct contact with prospects, suppliers, and also competitors.
Competitive intelligence is a strategic area that is still underutilized, but is nevertheless crucial. It helps to strengthen your brand's reputation.
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