How to Conduct Competitive Research

Tweet

In addition to researching what your competitors say about themselves, it is equally important to know if and how they deliver on those promises, Levy says. This information is a bit more challenging to uncover, but it's still available. Some of the ways Levy suggests to understand how well your competitors deliver on the promise of their brand include:

• Shop them yourself. Whether shopping online or at a retail location, make sure you visit your competition, view their products and pricing, and have the same experience as a customer.
• Have a knowledgeable colleague shop them for you. You can engage mystery shoppers or simply rely on someone else on your staff to shop your competition and report back to you.
• Ask your customers. Customers of yours may be -- or may have been – customers of your competition, too. Ask them either in formal or informal interviews where else they would purchase products and services similar to yours, and what they think of their options.

Conducting Competitive Research: Ongoing Monitoring

Once you have created a comprehensive overview of the competitive landscape, you should update your information on a quarterly basis, tracking:

• Any changes in messaging and overall visual identity
• New products, services and/or pricing
• Short-term or long-term promotions
• New advertising or other outbound communications
• New geographies
• New team members
• Significant sales wins and losses

Dig Deeper: Understanding the Competition 

Conducting Competitive Research: Using Tools

There are a growing variety of competitive research tools available, depending upon whether your competitors are publically-traded companies or privately held. These resources also run the gamut in terms of how much they will cost you, from free Google Alerts and Twitter feeds to market research reports that can run into the thousands of dollars. You must ultimately weigh your needs for competitive research against the costs of certain tools and resources.

Here are some of the resources you can use to gather competitive research:

1. Web audits. The Web is likely to be one of the first places customers will visit to research your competition, so you should start there as well. "Put on your consumer hat and visit your competitors' websites as if you were thinking about purchasing something from them," Levy says. "This is where you can start to fill in the columns of your spreadsheet." Pay special attention to anything that makes a particular competitor stand out in the landscape -- perhaps one of your competitors has more striking graphics than the others, or one offers special pricing deals, etc. If your competitors offer online purchasing, actually walk through the shopping and purchase process to see how user friendly it is (or isn't).

2. Free Web tools. One of the best ways to gather intelligence on competitors is to sign up for free services on the Internet. Subscribe to your competitors' e-mail newsletters. Set up Google Alerts on top competitors and their executives so that you get an e-mail every time they get a mention online. Monitor Twitter for mentions of your competitors' names and by subscribing to their feeds. If this sounds like too many channels of information to monitor on a regular basis, there's an easy solution to save time and simplify -- RSS feeds. Keep up with competitors by feeding things like Google Alerts, Twitter, and all of your other RSS feeds into one RSS feed through a tool such as MySyndicaat.com.

3. Public records. If your competitors are public companies, you can look up their financial filings without charge on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Edgar database. Privately-held companies are often more difficult to research, but every corporation has to be chartered in a particular state and the filings of state corporation records are public documents. In addition, Uniform Commercial Code filings, real estate records, and any litigation will also produce public records that can be mined for information about competitors for free.

4. Secondary research and business databases. It may be worthwhile to buy research reports on your industry or sector from outside firms. Often, especially in the technology sphere, analysts such as Forrester Research will publish industry overviews, many of which contain very helpful profiles of the primary competitors in a marketplace. There are also subscription services such as
Hoover's, which provides detailed descriptions of companies for a fee, and Dun & Bradstreet, which sells reports on companies with information about history, directors, customers, employees and recent developments.

Dig Deeper: How to Use Internet Market Research Tools

Conducting Competitive Research: Additioanl Resources

Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals
The non-profit association for competitive intelligence professionals.

Hoover's
Information on companies and industries.

Technorati
See if your competitors are blogging or have been blogged about.

Yahoo! Directory
A listing of industry associations to tap for competitive information.

Competitrak
Comprehensive tracking of competitive advertising and other marketing communications activities, including media spend and creative. However, their pricing might be prohibitive to a start-up.

 PREV  1 | 2