So you don’t have an entire department dedicated to uncovering business trends and competitor advertising techniques.  But, that doesn’t mean you’re not already gathering this information on a daily basis.  If you have read recent articles on your industry, attended a tradeshow, or spoken with clients about where they place their advertising or their purchasing activities, then you’re already off to a good start in  collecting insightful information about your competition..

There are many sources of competitive intelligence information and simple ways to gain insights specifically on their advertising activities. Some of these techniques can even be automated, saving you time and additional work effort.

Here are a few examples:

• Subscribe to your competitors’ email list – This is a simple and excellent way to see what type of business advertisement messages they are sending their customers, the products they are featuring, offers presented, etc.
• Pay attention to their company advertising– Take note of your competitors online, in print, on the radio, on TV, etc.  Paying close attention to their direct marketing activities and advertisements can help you determine the customers they are targeting, products or services they are promoting, pricing, and more.
• Sign up for automated search engine email alerts – Email alerts on your competition can easily be set up in Google, by going to https://news.google.com. After a simplistic set-up process, you will receive alerts when new videos, discussions, blog posts, or news is posted online about your competition.
• “Like” your competitors on Facebook – This is a great way to find out what their customers are saying about them.
• Listen to your customers or clients – Chances are they are customers or clients of the competition. Listen closely and ask questions that could uncover practices of the competition or suggestions on how you could improve your business.

Tracking competitors is easier now more than ever, thanks to technology, social media and automation. Adding these simple activities will keep you one step ahead.

What other ways do you track competitor activities? Let us know. We’d love to hear them!

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kathleen

A savvy shopper and coupon fanatic, Kathleen lives and breathes coupons and deals on a daily basis. She is a marketing professional enthusiastic about competing industries and organizations, the savings landscape, traditional and new media outlets. Kathleen currently works at Valpak in competitive media and has been with the company since 2008. Kathleen is involved in the identification and communication of trends essential to the development of sales initiatives, strategic account growth, new products and services. She has an M.B.A. with concentrations in Marketing, Management, and Business Sustainability practices.

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