Knowing What Your Competition Is Up To

Whether the market is strong or frail, it’s essential to know what your competition is up to. You can gain a lot of insight to who their customers are, what they are doing to market themselves, how they merchandise their product and much more by routinely visiting their stores and websites as well as following them on their social media accounts. But before you dive into knowing what your competition is up to, make sure you are prepared.

For starters, you will need to have email accounts and social media accounts available to use that do not link back to your business. Don’t use your business name or personal name on Twitter or Facebook  because it’s likely they will recognize you. This may mean having more than one account, since you should definitely have accounts for your business. By doing this, this gives you cushion room to get engaged in their social media chit chat, newsletters, email announcements and more without them knowing it’s “you”. If they know you are their competition and following their marketing efforts, they may remove you from their lists. That is exactly what you want to avoid, so make sure you are prepared before you sign up, follow or friend them in any capacity.

Outside of using the internet to track what they are up to, it’s important to actually get into their store. Every six to eight weeks is long enough between visits to recognize what is new and yet short enough between visits that you won’t forget what is already there. Take note of their product assortment, merchandising strategies, sales and promotions, special events and anything else that makes up their store enviorment. One very important thing to notice while in their store is their customer. Who is she or he? Pay close attention to their customer service and associates, as well. How does it compare to your own store?

Taking the time  to know who your competition is will only help you if you utilize what you learn. Apply their strengths to your business, learn from their mistakes and be smart enough to recognize the difference. And don’t stop learning from them – ever. Make it a responsibility to follow their business as if it’s part of your business… Just  don’t let them know you are doing this!