Competitive intelligence (CI), also known as competitive analysis, is the collection and analysis of information on competitors in order to improve bu
Competitive intelligence (CI), also known as competitive analysis, is the collection and analysis of information on competitors in order to improve business performance. www.aqute.com/competitive-intelligence can be used for identifying new opportunities for growth in business or products and mitigating risk.
A company’s site, industry publications such as EV Magazine, or even competitor reviews on review aggregators are primary sources. Businesses with the budget can also benefit from conversation intelligence software, such as Invoca Signal.
Sources
When a business conducts a competitive intelligence study, it usually seeks out ‘inside’ data on the competition. It could be anything, from sales figures to production figures. This type of intelligence is usually conducted at the executive level, and it aims to give input into overarching business strategy. It is focused on capitalizing on market opportunities and sidestepping threats in the competitive landscape.
Interviews with internal stakeholders are another important source of competitive intelligence. Having a dedicated competitive intelligence channel for these conversations allows you to collect intel on your ‘dogs’ (assets that can’t compete effectively in the current market) and ‘question marks’ (assets that might succeed with different strategies, but it will take significant resources to sustain their advantage).
Social media can be a valuable source of competitive intelligence. Monitoring competitor’s accounts on platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn can provide valuable insights into their branding and industry positioning. It’s also important to check out their websites regularly, as they often feature articles aimed at their target audiences, product updates, and pricing information.
It is important to keep track, but equally important is to put this information into action. By enabling your team with the right tools, they can use the information to guide their strategic decisions. Sprout Social’s Competitive Intelligence Tools, for example, allow businesses to collect social media data from their competitors and analyze it. It helps them benchmark performance, track metrics, and get the intel they need to win more business.
Types
Incorporating CI into your business strategy multiplies the amount of information available throughout your organization, from sales representatives to product development and marketing. Clearly defining your business goals will help you focus on CI from the start and ensure that the data you collect is relevant to those goals.
There are many sources that you can use for competitive research, including news media, websites of competitors and public documentation. Primary research is the best way to gain targeted and valuable competitive intelligence. Conducting interviews with competitors’ customers, industry experts, and stakeholder is one way to gain first-hand insights into competitive strategies. You can also interview the former employees of competitors.
Incorporating competitive Intelligence questions into regular customer interview or leveraging tools allows you to quickly and efficiently collect competitor insights at scale. This is essential for identifying and assessing risks in the market, new opportunities and potential product enhancements. It’s important to focus your CI on insights that directly impact your business. Gathering irrelevant data can add to the information overload, and detract from your CI efforts. Competitive intelligence can be used to help you succeed in a market that is constantly changing by leveraging best sources, accurately analyzing data, and incorporating insight into company processes.
Orientation
Before collecting information, CI experts need to know exactly what they are searching for. Having a clear understanding of the company’s business objectives and the needs and goals of its internal customers should serve as a guide to help identify what insights are most valuable.
Orientation also includes a thorough understanding of the differences between the business’s own products and services, as well as those of competitors. This can help in developing and improving products so that they remain competitive. Or, it can be used more strategically to anticipate changes in the marketplace and create contingency plans for risky strategic decisions.
Internet proliferation has led to a constant flow of new information about your competitors, their products, and services. This can be found on their website, in blogs or news articles aimed at their audience, as well as via social media. The volume of rich data is overwhelming, especially if the companies do not have processes in place for collecting it efficiently and analyzing it effectively.
To avoid this problem, you can focus on only monitoring the competitors who are the greatest threat to your business. It’s worth considering, even though it requires a certain degree of sophistication in conducting competitive intelligence. For example, a business may want to track competitors that have similar value propositions, significant market share, or comparable customer acquisition strategies. Businesses that do this well can often capture the majority market share by having a relatively few direct competitors.
Analysis
It’s easy to find data about your competitors on the Internet. The challenge lies in making sense of this information and identifying business opportunities to gain an advantage.
Effective analysis requires that you have a clear idea of your overall business goals to ensure that your competitive information is aligned with your organization’s goals. This ensures that you’re not spending time gathering information on competitors that doesn’t relate to your business strategy. It also helps prevent a company from becoming overly reactive to competitor activity, which can lead to copying competitors rather than innovate or pursue its own strategic vision.
Once you have a clear understanding of your objectives, it’s time to start gathering competitive intelligence. Using frameworks like SWOT and PEST can help you organize your competitive data and make it actionable for your business. These frameworks can be useful because they give you a structure to interpret and analyze competitive data so that you can make confident decisions.
Evaluation of your competitors’ pricing and product offerings is another key component to competitive intelligence. This is an important step because it allows you to identify gaps within your own products and service, as well as how your competitors position themselves against their competition. This information can be used for improving your own marketing campaigns, and to better reach out to customers. Call recordings from sales reps of your competitors can be used to determine how customers are responding to their messages.
Insights
There are literally zettabytes worth of data on competitors. Tools like SEO/SEO or social media platforms can help businesses analyze and sift the data and gain valuable insight into markets, competitors, customers and more.
However, merely collecting this data isn’t enough to reap the rewards of effective competitive intelligence (CI). It’s about how you prioritize it and analyze it. You should use frameworks or processes that align to your overarching goals and can help leverage the information for a competitive advantage.
For example, in addition to gathering competitor website data, you could analyze and prioritize a competitor’s press releases for key information on upcoming product launches or funding announcements. Press releases can reveal patterns in a competitor’s customer base, by highlighting specific industries and indicating the presence or enterprise customers.
You can also gather competitive intelligence by conducting market research or surveys to gain a deeper understanding of your customers’ motivations and behaviors. The insights you gain will help you to develop better marketing strategies and tactics. It will also help you to identify new opportunities for growth or mitigate potential risks. This information will empower you to take a more informed and strategic approach to your business and ensure long-term growth. Studying the internal processes of your competitors is the best way to determine their strengths and weaknesses. This is a highly analytical, detailed type of CI. It can be performed either by individuals or groups within your company.
Action
Competitive intelligence is a powerful business strategy that goes beyond the cliche, “know your enemy.” CI reveals the finer details of how competitors run their businesses and the markets where they compete. It also reveals the ways in which a wide range of events and technologies can affect rival companies.
A well-developed program of competitive intelligence monitors competitors and also keeps track of customer insights in relation to products, marketing strategies, and services. This information helps businesses anticipate risks and create contingency planning to mitigate or meet them when necessary.
Developing a competitive intelligence program involves creating a clear set of business goals and objectives, as well as a plan for how the collected data will be used and shared throughout the organization. These goals will prevent the collection of data that is irrelevant or even harmful to the business.
For example, an online retailer should not be collecting data on the physical storefronts and locations of its competitors. Instead, it should focus on gathering information about how customers perceive and interact with the competitors’ digital offerings.
It’s crucial to have a consistent and scheduled competitive intelligence program in order to get the most value from it. Otherwise, it may feel more like an item on a to-do checklist than a valuable element of the business.
