Frontline Perspectives

This question generally strikes fear (or anguish) into most of the marketers I talk with…because they don’t know what the competition has been doing. They know who the competition is, and once a year they might look at the list to think about market share as they prepare for a management meeting.  But regularly assessing what the competition is doing isn’t on the marketing radar at all.

So, I get that the marketing team is busy building the brand, generating leads, updating collateral, and creating new and exciting social media tactics. A lot of time goes into all of these elements.  But if you’re not regularly benchmarking these efforts against the other options that prospects have…how can you really determine what’s having the most impact?  I believe that part of the marketing team’s responsibility is keeping track of the competition (and reporting their findings — good and bad — to management).

Where to start:

1. Website rankings and keyword analysis: Quarterly measure where your website ranks against the competition for organic search, what keywords are being used in their optimization strategy, and any PPC activities. Also monitor changes to the website look, navigation and content.
2. Industry media: Monitor any mentions and placements for you and the competition in trade pubs, online directories, online newsletters, etc.
3. Trade show activity: What shows are your competitors participating in, and do they have a vertical or horizontal focus?
4. Social media: What’s happening in the typical social media platforms: blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube, as well as any “mentions” in industry blogs and other influential social venues for your markets?
5. Monitor lost sales to the competition: Price issues, product issues, service issues, etc.,  should all be tracked to understand where improvements need to be made.
6. Talk to the sales team about what kinds of tactics they’re seeing in the field.  Is the competition offering special deals, sponsoring events, etc.? What ‘s resonating with prospects?

This effort should be done quarterly, at a minimum, to provide you with good information and insight into making necessary tactical changes in your own marketing programs — all to effectively “out-maneuver” your competitors.  You should strive to be in a proactive position, and not a reactive one.

Monitor, measure and analyze. How does your marketing team rate in the area of keeping an eye on your competition?