Want to stand out in a sea of local contractors? Then you need to spy on the competition.
From identifying opportunities to highlighting failures, competitor analysis can give you key insights into what works (and what doesn’t). Even better, it gives you a sneak peek into how your own strategy stacks up against the competition.
The best part? With the right tools at your disposal, competitor analysis can be completely free. That’s right: You don’t need to sacrifice hard-earned marketing dollars to see what your biggest rivals are doing. Here’s everything you need to know about competitor analysis to hit the ground running.
Competitor analysis sounds like a complicated strategy, but it’s easier than you might think. Let’s start with the definition: Competitor analysis involves researching and analyzing your rivals’ marketing strategies.
Our clients typically perform competitor analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of other contractors in their market. This way, they can scope out their competitors’ marketing plans, find marketing gaps, and fill them. Sounds simple enough, right?
In most cases, competitor analysis involves direct and indirect competitors. So, if you’re offering power washing services in Cleveland, you might research other power washers in your city. To take it a step further, you might research companies offering similar services, like pressure washing or gutter cleaning. You might also extend your research to surrounding cities and neighborhoods.
Maybe you did some competitor research when you started your digital marketing strategy, but their strategies haven’t really changed. Even if they’re sticking with the same old tactics, their position and situation in the market are constantly shifting.
What does that mean for your business? Basically, regular competitor analysis keeps you updated so you can make informed decisions for your own strategy. Instead of relying on “gut feeling” decisions, you’ll be able to base your marketing decisions on what’s working (and what’s not) for the competition.
At the same time, competitor analysis can help you identify “white space” in the market. Take a look at what your competitor isn’t doing, and work that into your strategy.
Your target audience is constantly bombarded with marketing promos—through email, banner ads, or social media. By identifying new ways to reach your target audience (and target your competitors’ underserved customers), you’ll win their attention and loyalty.
Now that you know why competitor analysis should be a rung on your marketing ladder, it’s time to dive into research and analysis. Here’s how to spy on the competition so you can transform your strategy with actionable insights.
That’s right: You need to subscribe to the competition. Once you’ve identified your main competitors, sign up for email newsletters, read their blogs, and follow them on social media. It might sound counterintuitive, but it’s an easy way to learn who they’re targeting and how they’re doing it.
Most businesses announce new product launches, advertise promotions, and publish other business updates on social media, so you can gain some insights into what they’re doing and what they’re planning to do. Better yet, it might give you some ideas to inspire your own content marketing strategy.
If you’re willing to throw some marketing dollars into competitor analysis, invest in social listening. It’ll show you where your competitors are mentioned online so you can benchmark your brand against the competition. It’s also a great way to glimpse into their overall strategy (and the results their strategy is generating).
Google Alerts is another free tool for competitor analysis. With Google Alerts, you can set up email alerts based on specific search terms and preferences. This way, you can stay updated on your rivals’ marketing efforts without pouring hours into research.
It only takes a few minutes to track the competition with Google Alerts. Just add your competitor’s name to your list, and then add a few relevant keywords. For example, if you’re monitoring HVAC competitors, you might add Alerts for the term seasonal discount or preventive maintenance program.
Having the latest information on your competitors’ strategies can give you the marketing upper hand. For instance, if you’re planning a marketing campaign for seasonal discounts and you know that your competitor is doing the same, you can expedite your launch date to lead the charge.
If you’re not using Pages to Watch yet, here’s your sign to start. Sign in to your Facebook Business Account, head to the Insights page, click Overview, and choose Add Pages. Add your top five competitors, and you’re good to go.
Facebook’s Pages to Watch feature will show you how your Facebook marketing plan stacks up against the competition. It can show you what type of content generates the best engagement, what time of the day they’re posting, and more.
After spending some time watching the competition, it’s time to shine and polish your own strategy. But remember: Your competitors might be targeting a different audience from you, so avoid copying their entire strategy. You need to set yourself apart—and that means making some judgment calls on what will (and won’t) work for your business.
Good news: You don’t have to publicly follow competitors on Twitter. Instead, you can go incognito with Twitter lists.
When you set up private Twitter lists, you can spy on the competition’s blog posts, social media, comments, and engagement with followers. You can create as many Twitter lists as you need to, so if you’re monitoring multiple rivals, make one for each. Alternatively, if your company has different competitors for different services, monitor them separately.
SEMrush is an incredibly useful (and free) tool for tracking your competitors’ search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.
It can help you identify keywords and SEO factors that drive leads to your competitors’ websites. Plus, it can reveal the top players in your local market, their digital market shares, and their traffic generation patterns so you gain a holistic view of their overall strategy.
Spying on the competition might feel a little uncomfortable, but it’s a non-negotiable element of any successful marketing strategy. Once you’ve gained some key insights from your analysis, it’s time to fine-tune your strategy to capitalize on new marketing opportunities, audiences, and trends.
When you’re ready to take your marketing plan to the next level, we’re here to help. Contact us to dominate the competition with proven digital marketing solutions.
