The importance of tracking your competition’s marketing strategy (Pt. 1)

You’ve heard the saying before; “keep your friends close and your enemies closer”.  Now I’m not suggesting that the competition is the enemy but the fact is that one of the chief ways that a business can remain ahead of the game is to keep abreast of the activities of its competition, and aim to be one step ahead at all times.

Times are hard and the economy is tight and contracting more and more every day.  This means that generally consumer spending is down and disposable income is almost non-existent.  Consequently, businesses are engaged in a continuous ‘rat race’ to win consumer loyalty and by extension their ever dwindling financial resources.

What then should businesses do to maintain their competitive edge? The answer is quite simple; track your competition’s marketing strategy and capitalize on those areas in which they are weak.  Further, businesses must change their way of thinking and be willing to disrupt the conventional business flow, i.e. think outside of the box, in order to remain competitive.

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Tracking the competition’s marketing strategy will help your business to bring its ‘A’ game at all times.  This includes; knowing who your competitors are, differentiating your product and/ or service offering from the competition’s and upping the ante on your own marketing strategy to ensure that you are on par with, or exceeding your competition’s marketing programme. Your business should also constantly update its image and take care of existing customers.

Every business must know who its competitors are.  This is a critical component of operating a business.  Questions such as, ‘who else is selling what I sell or providing similar services?’, ‘at what price point are these products or services provided?’, and ‘is the consumer segment I am targeting the same as the one being pursued by other businesses?  Successfully answering these questions among others will enable the business to identify the areas it is most competitive in as well as to provide it with a platform from which it can be differentiated.

Businesses should also strive to show consumers how it differs from other competitors in its category.  In marketing, this is referred to as the Unique Selling Point (USP).  A business’s USP clearly defines consumer needs and allows the business to stand out from the competition.  Business differentiation convinces the target audience to make purchases from your business because the offerings are not identical to everything else.  Without a USP, potential buyers will not have any reason to patronize the business as the difference is not visible.

In part 2 of this post, we will look at image management and business ethics... see you then!