What is competitive marketing intelligence and how is it different from competitive intelligence?
IN Competitive Intelligence
byDawnHoefferle•June24,2022
Weareshapedbyourenvironment That’struewhetherwe’retalkingaboutindividualsor organizations.Companiesstartbydevelopingaproductorservicethatfillsaneedinthemarket. Theygrowbycontinuingtomeetmarketdemandandthechangingneedsofthecustomer
That’swhyunderstandingyourmarketandyourcompetitorsiscrucialtobusinesssuccess It’salso importantfordevelopmentandframingofyourmessaging,positioning,andvalueproposition It’s keyindeterminingthechannelsyou’lluseforpromotingyourproductsandservices,andwhich you’lluseforselling Andit’stheinformationusedtosupportthegotomarketteam,endtoend Competitiveintelligenceiswhatfuelsmultiplelevelsofdirectionandcorporatestrategy
Competitivemarketintelligence,though,usesthesameorsimilarinformationtodefinewaysto reachthecustomerandinspirethemtospendtheirmoneyandoffertheirloyalty Competitive intelligenceandcompetitivemarketingintelligenceareintertwined,buttheyaren’tthesamething.
What is competitive intelligence?
It’slikelyyou’realreadyfamiliarwithcompetitiveintelligence,butjustincase:competitive intelligence(CI)involvesresearching,monitoring,collecting,andanalyzingdataaboutyour competitorsandyourcompetitivespace Thepurposeistodevelopgaininsightsintowhatis happeninginyourindustryanddevelopintelligencethatcanguidetheorganizationinmaking informed,datadrivendecisionsaboutgoals,strategies,andgrowthopportunities.
Thisisn’tjustaboutkeepingtrackofyourknown,directcompetitors.It’saboutunderstandingthe competitivelandscape,whatgapsandopportunitiesexistforthecompanytoconsider,andeven whatadjacentmarketsmightbeavailabletoyou–orwhichonesmightproducenewcompetitors ordisruptiveproducts.
What is competitive marketing intelligence?
Ifthat’sthebasicdefinitionofcompetitiveintelligence,thenwhatiscompetitivemarketing intelligence?
Thepurposeofcompetitiveintelligenceistobetterunderstandthelandscapeatthebusinesslevel–whatarecompetitorsdoing,whatcouldtheybedoing,andwhatsignalsaretheysendingthatthey mightbedoinginthefuture?
Competitivemarketingintelligence,ontheotherhand,looksintheotherdirection–atthe customer Itseekstounderstand:
Howdocustomersuseyourcompetitor’sproducts?
What’smostimportanttoyourstakeholderaudience?
Howdocustomersuseyourproducts?
Howdotheyfeelaboutyourbrandandyourcompetitors?
Whatarethepainpointsyouraudienceistryingtosolve?
Howdopotentialcustomersviewyourproductsincontrasttoyourcompetitors? Etc.
Competitiveintelligenceandcompetitivemarketingintelligenceisn’taneither/orscenario They servethesamepurpose–ensuringthatthecompanycanmakeinformeddecisions–buttheydoso withadifferentperspective.Oneishowtorespondandanticipatecompetitormoves–theotheris howtobetterhelpandspeaktopotentialbuyersandusedtodevelopabettercustomerexperience.
Tobesure,optimizingthecustomerexperience–frominterestthroughpurchase,use,and advocacy–isjustasimportantasunderstandingthecompetitivelandscape Customerexperience isnowacompetitiveadvantage,andsometimestheonlything–intheconsumer’smind–separatingoneproductfromanother Companiesthatprioritizethecustomerexperiencearemore likelytoweathereconomicchallengeswell–accordingtoMcKinsey&Co thosethatdidsointhe lastrecessionrealized3Xshareholderreturns.
Sources of competitive marketing intelligence
Onceyouunderstandtheanswerto“Whatiscompetitivemarketingintelligence?”andits differencetotraditionalcompetitiveintelligence,thenextstepistobeginactingonthat knowledge Collectingtherightinformationtoanalyzerequireslookingintherightplaces Here areafewplacestosourcethisinformationfrom:
Competitor’swebsites:Acompetitor’ssiteisagreatplacetolookforinformationfor competitiveintelligence,butitcanalsopointtowardcompetitivemarketingintelligence insightsaswell Watchforchangesinlayoutormessagingonthesite,aswellaswhatsortsof leadmagnetsthecompanyisusing.Eventhekeywordstheytargetcansaymuchabouttheir owncustomerresearchanditsresults.
Productreviews:Thesecanbeawealthofcompetitivemarketingintelligence Customer sentimentcomesthroughclearlyinincentivizedreviews,andtheycanalsoofferasenseofthe impactacompetitor’smessagingishavingonitsintendedaudience Infact,evenlookingat whoisleavingareviewcanpointtowhichaudiencesyourcompetitorislandingwellwith, andwhichonestheyarenot
Thirdpartyarticlesandblogs:Whatarebloggersinthespacesayingaboutyouandabout competitors?What’sthefeedbacktheyaregiving?Whendotheymentionyourproductsand thoseofyourcompetitors,andinwhatcontext?
Socialmedia:Similartoproductreviews,socialmediacanbeagoldmineofcustomer sentiment Don’tlimityourselftojustTwitter,Facebook,andLinkedIn–alsoconsidersites likeReddit,whereconsumersopenlydiscussaproduct’sperformanceaswellasthe effectivenessofmarketingmessagesandcampaigns Thiscanalsoprovideinsightsonyour
Marketreports:Thesethirdpartyreportsarecrucialforcompetitiveintelligenceand marketingintelligencealike,especiallywhentiedtoothermovementsbyyourcompetitors Forexample,ifareportshowsagrowthforecastforanorganization,isthereacorresponding changetomessagingorhowtheyaddressaudienceneeds?Aretherenewproducts,andwhat istheconsumerneedthatthosefill?Tiethattogetherwithlaterreportstocompletethestory.
Embrace competitive marketing intelligence for better customer alignment
Competitivemarketingintelligenceisacornerstoneforunderstandingandspeakingtotheneeds anddesiresofyourpotentialcustomers Theinsightsdevelopedfromthisinformationcaninform yourmarketingstrategyfromvaluepropositionstosellsheetsandcanimpacttheentireGTM chain,fromproductdevelopmenttosales.
Getstartedbymonitoringyourcompetitor’sinfluenceandreceptionbybuyersandevaluatinghow yourownmarketingactivitiesfitintothelandscape Thereareinnumerableplacestodrawinsights from–useatoolthathelpsyouuncoverandmakesenseoftheinformationyoufind.Then,ensure thatyou’reabletosynthesizeyourfindingsintoacompletestorythatcanbesharedwiththerestof thegotomarketteam Addingsystematicresearchandreviewofthecompetitivemarketing intelligencespacewillgiveyoutherunwaytoseechangescomingandmakedecisionsconfidently.
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