You own a business, and you think you're doing a pretty good job of running it. But what about the competition? Do you know what they are doing? If you don't know what your competition is up to, then you have no way of keeping them from attracting your potential customers. If you don't know their latest product, aren't aware of their latest discount or haven't heard what they are saying about you, then they could slowly eat into your business sales. Here is a quick, easy and free method to monitor the marketing and sales ploys of your competition.
RESPOND TO BLOGS, WEB SITES AND ONLINE COMMUNITIES THAT MENTION YOUR COMPETITOR'S BUSINESS OR PRODUCT. If you are alerted to mentions of your competitor's company or product in the online communities, message boards, blogs, or consumer review sites, you can go to those sites and comment,. Write how your product or service differs from the competition. If the review mentions your competition in a negative light, you'll be there to offer an alternative...your product or service! If the review is positive, you can add how your product is different or better.
TRACK 'BREAKING NEWS' RELATED TO THE COMPETITION'S COMPANY, PRODUCT OR SERVICE. When the alerts come in, you can see when reporters and web sites are talking about subjects related to your business and your competition. Take note of the reporters' names and or the web sites for which they write. You can begin to build relationships with them by feeding them the most current information on your product or service. If you contribute to the current discussion that relates to your business, you may eventually be seen as an authority that they can come to for information or clarification, which will give your business more exposure in the press than your competition's.
TRACK YOUR COMPETITORS' MARKETING STRATEGIES. You can also use Google Alerts to track your competitor's marketing strategies. When you are alerted to any mention of your competition's name or product, you will know what types of PR pitches are working for them. Then you can copy their strategy. Are they getting the main stream news markets to feature them? What was their angle? Reporters are not out to sell your product or service. They want a good story. See what your competition did, enhance it for your company and send it out to a different news source. Anytime you can get in on the discussion, especially if you have a superior product or service, people will notice. Be sure if you are going to make a comment about a competitor, that you use facts not slander. See if from the customer's point of view and offer them the benefits of your product or company. Show them how you differ from the competition, rather than tearing down the competition. if you present a l ogical argument, the customer will see the difference and the benefits, and come to you.
FIND CUSTOMERS, PUBLICATIONS, BLOGS, OR SITES THAT ARE TALKING ABOUT YOUR COMPETITION.. In order to monitor all possible news about your business competition, you need to sign up for Google Alerts Free Clipping Service. This service sweeps the internet daily to find all mentions of your competitor's company or products. It will search blogs, videos, groups, news and the web. You can ask for a comprehensive search or a search in one area. You can even choose how often you want the search performed. To sign up you will need a google account. (It's free!) Once you have a google email address, go to www.google.com/alerts (see link below) and register the terms that you want searched. It will then email you the links to any web pages that contain your keywords. Use parenthesis around multiple keywords if you want them together as in "Smith and Son Hardware."
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