Competitive Intelligence Importance
Competitor tracking is gaining wider significance because of its underlying importance in influencing market position. Proper competitor tracking mechanism explores finer ways to have a better market position and an increased customer base. Competitive intelligence has always been a mandate today and a compulsory ingredient for an accurate strategic planning. Can a cricket team fight against its opponent without properly analyzing their strength and weakness? It’s the same like going in the battle field without knowing enemy’s game plan. If this happens, certainly the chances of winning are nearly impossible. What is the ultimate goal of every marketer??? Of Course, a rising market share… and how can this be achieved? Through a deep analysis of market trend, checking customer orientation, knowing about the competitors and their market segmentation, making a proper R & D of strategies and then accordingly making out your own plan. All this requires dedicated efforts and eagle eye view upon moving market
What You Need To Identify While Studying Market Competition
Competitive intelligence is a step by step approach to drill down the opponent’s strategy. It’s not a single step but a series of small phases to be studied for getting the complete picture of the same.
- First of all, a crucial step is about knowing who actually your opponents are. This is the most obvious and yet most mistaken part of robust competitive intelligence. For a machine vendor, not only the other machine vendor are the ones whom he has to look for, but also he needs to give attention towards the latest technology, latest market trends, customer orientation etc.
- Next phase is identifying the financial power, time since your competitor is in the market, company size, etc.
- Third phase is identifying your opponents market hold, its influence between the customers.
- Thereafter is the need to get a comprehensive info about their growth rates, margins, manufacturing etc. This requires an intensive market research and dedicated efforts
- When both these inputs are aggregated at a common platform, there is now time to get closer to your competitor with a forward step. After collecting all the necessary information, try to maintain relationship with your competitors with the help of various associations and network. This will further help you know more about them and make yourself better.
Building a Competitive Intelligence Framework
To effectively gather and analyze competitive intelligence, consider the following steps:
- Define Objectives: Clearly outline what you want to achieve through competitive intelligence. This will help you focus your efforts and prioritize information.
- Identify Sources: Determine where you will obtain information. This may include public sources (news articles, industry reports, social media), proprietary research, and networking with industry experts.
- Collect and Analyze Data: Gather relevant data and analyze it to identify patterns, trends, and competitive advantages or disadvantages.
- Share Insights: Communicate your findings to relevant stakeholders within your organization to inform decision-making and strategic planning.
Benefits of Competitive Intelligence
- Improved Market Positioning: By understanding your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, you can identify opportunities to differentiate your products or services and gain a competitive edge.
- Enhanced Decision Making: Competitive intelligence provides valuable insights that can inform strategic planning, product development, pricing, and marketing efforts.
- Risk Mitigation: By anticipating competitors’ moves, you can identify potential threats and develop strategies to mitigate risks.
- Innovation: Understanding competitors’ strategies can inspire innovation and help you stay ahead of the curve.
Competitor tracking is a deep rooted secret of establishing better market hold. Identifying the implicit aspects, exploring the prevailing opportunities and putting a strong strategy forward, one can strongly compete even with the most prominent competitors and surpass them. The techniques mentioned above give you a necessary start for getting an all round information for the opponents.
