3 Things Your Competitors Can Teach You About Digital Marketing
Darryl Saull, April 10, 2015
You know that old saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer? Well, in the realm of digital marketing, that phrase is one to live by. Almost every single business out there has a competitor who is trying to get a bigger piece of the pie. If it is your goal to stay ahead of the competition, then you have to know which strategies work and which do not in your industry and use that knowledge to employ smarter tactics.
So where do you start? You start by researching the competition. That’s right, you can learn a lot about what works in your industry by checking in on your competition and learning which digital marketing strategies are working (or not) for them. A little competitive analysis is good for business, so here are the three things your competitors can teach you about digital marketing!
1. Target Audience
Both you and your competitors may already have a good idea of who your target audience is, but perhaps they are capturing more consumer attention. If so, it's time for you to take a closer look at the differences between your competitor’s campaign and your own. Are your competitors utilizing print, radio or even TV advertisments while your focus is exclusively online? Even though more businesses are going digital in terms of marketing, keep in mind that traditional outlets can still play an important role when it comes to targeting audiences. How established are your competition’s social media profiles? Does your competition appear to get higher levels of engagement out of their social media audience than you do?
Spending a few hours a week managing your social media profiles and interacting with your audience is a great way to generate higher brand awareness as well as consumer trust. Finding the time and resources to properly engage your audience over social media while simultaneously running a business can be a challenge, and if you are lacking a social media presence, then you are already behind. Hiring an outside firm may be your best bet. WebiMax’s dedicated Social Media Team can help bring your social media profiles to the next level.
2. Local Logic
Bring up Google and search generically for the products or services you sell in your area and see what comes up (Example: "Barber in West Chester, PA"). Is your business showing up in the local results or is someone else's? If your business does not appear in the search results, then that is a clear problem. Internet users are taking advantage of localized searches to find and research the best products and services near them, so it cannot be overstated how important it is for your company to show up in search results. Local pages are important because they will put you on the map!
While you wait for these local pages to produce organic results, let WebiMax strategize a PPC (pay-per-click) advertising campaign that will help boost you past your competitors.
3. Mistakes
While you are analyzing what works for your competitors, also be aware of what does not work for them. Being keen on their mishaps and negative strategies will teach you to avoid their mistakes.
There is no one-size-fits-all marketing campaign. Some digital marketing strategies that work in one industry might not work in another. Take notes from those who do it better, avoid their failures, keep a watchful eye on the competition and improve your digital marketing strategies to be the best.