In the internet marketplace, businesses are an open book. Yours included. You cannot keep many secrets in a culture that requires us to be transparent. So, we will show you how to take advantage of this transparency with 5 ways to gauge the competition and gain a competitive edge.

Who are your competitors? Identify your market leaders and your direct competitors and keep a running list.

After you have identified them, do these things:

1. Visit their website frequently

Notice what is new. New products? New venues? What blogs are they writing? How has their website changed? From this, you can see how and where they are growing and adapting. Are they following trends in the industry? This is worth considering as you move forward. Do you need to offer the same to stay competitive?

2. Read their blogs

By reading their blogs, you can learn what the trends are in your industry. Pay attention to WHAT they are talking about. You can determine their target audience and how it differentiates from yours.  You can also evaluate their blogs effectiveness. Is their format, language, and tone unique? How does it appeal to potential customers?

By searching specific keywords that you both write about, some insight can be gathered about their SEO position.  Do they come above you in the search engine? To understand why consider these things: How often are their blogs posted? How long are their articles?  Would it benefit you to write another blog on the topic from a unique vantage point? Would it help to write expanded blog on that topic? Sometimes a better blog is all it takes to position you above your competitor on the search engine.

3. Google your competition

How does their listing appear? What articles come up in relation to their name? Write down anything that is notable? Do they have a Google map listing?    Googling your competition will likely position you to be targeted with their online advertising. This opens an opportunity for you to learn about their online ads. Write down the ads you see for later reference.

4. Follow them on Social Media

Click the Social Media buttons on the website and opt in. This way you can see who they are reaching, where they are reaching them, and what they are saying. Again, it is helpful to write down some of what you see or save it in some way, so you can refer to it when you are creating your own social media campaigns.

5. Subscribe to their email list

These emails are full of priceless information for you. As an email subscriber, you are positioned as a potential customer, and from this vantage point, you get an inside look. Who is their target audience? What are they saying? What is their tone? What are their lead magnets? What is their unique selling proposition? What is their call to action in each email? How are they building a relationship with the lead?

You can also see how frequently they send emails, what offers they are making, and what they are doing to draw leads into their sales funnel. This is a gold mine of information! Do not just read them and trash them; save these emails to a folder and treasure them. You will refer to them when it comes time for your next marketing campaign.

Finding priceless information on your competitors is easy in today’s internet marketplace.  If you are not doing these 5 things to gauge the competition, you should be!  It will help you gain a competitive edge! Gather the information and keep it. You will never copy it, but you will refer to it to help you evaluate your own marketing campaigns. You will use the gold mine of information gleaned to inspire creativity and differentiate your campaigns for a new marketing cycle.