Do you like playing detective?  I do!  So I’ve always enjoyed taking a peek at what the competition is doing.  By researching your competition you can learn so much about your own business as well as your audience. It also helps you understand the way your competitors think…and this will teach you many things that can help you improve your profits and products.

1. Keywords to Use

When you find your competition, figure out what keywords they rank high for. Then determine whether or not these are keywords you want to compete directly on, or if you can identify better keywords to use to attract the same audience.

Resource:  There is a free tool for researching keywords at Google Keywords Planner.  You can use this tool to find suggestions for keywords to target, and then when you Google those keywords you can see where (or if) your competitors rank.

2. How to Engage with Your Audience

Watching how your competition engages with their audience can teach you how to improve your own engagement. Identify the mistakes and successes of your competition to be sure you’re covering all bases.

Tip:  Follow your competitors on social media and make a point to visit their sites regularly to spy on their engagement tactics.

3. Ways to Differentiate Yourself

By seeing how you and your competition are the same, you can identify more ways to make your business stand out. The more ways that you can differentiate your business from theirs, the better and the higher your profit will be.

Tip:  There are numerous ways to differentiate yourself from the competition, so pick one that makes your business stand out.  When you pick a differentiator, ask “So what?”  You’ll know you have the right differentiator when you have a compelling answer.

4. Weak Points to Exploit

By completely studying all that your competition has to offer, you can identify gaps in your product offerings and/or complementary products that can increase profitability.

Bonus:  This is also a great way to differentiate your business from the competition.

5. The Best Topics That Elicit Engagement

When watching your competition, which topics of discussion on social media and blog posts get the most engagement from the audience? Is the engagement productive or counter-productive?

Resource:  Check out my free social media engagement guide, which has more than 100 ideas for generating engagement on social media.

6. Identify Important Niche Influencers

Do they promote affiliates and others within your niche that you can promote, too? Will it help if you start offering these products and promoting the same gurus? If so, how; if not, why not?

7. How Much They Charge for Their Products

Knowing what your competition charges, how they process the payments, and how they deliver the products and/or services they offer can go a long way to making good decisions for your own business.  When appropriate, buy products and services from your competitors to learn about the customer experience they offer.

 

When you’re spying on your competition to help with your own marketing, remember:  use the research to create your own unique experience.  It’s OK to model the ideas and business practices that fit your business philosophy…just don’t steal or plagiarize.