Knowing who your competitors are and what they offer
can help your business stand apart.
How are you differentiating yourself? Researching the competition doesn't have to be
complicated or time-consuming, especially with the wealth of information available on the
web. By investing even a small amount of time, businesses of any size can develop a
framework for making competitive assessments. By keeping track of who your competitors
are, what customers are saying, and how they position themselves, you can set your business
apart. So don’t wait, go ahead and use your
high speed Internet to check out their website, look at reviews, visit their
LinkedIn profile, follow them on social media, and even make a purchase from them.
Online resources to help you research competitors and differentiate your business.
You are competing for the same customers. Once you have a good idea of who your
primary competitors are, conduct a SWOT analysis to see what your Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats are. It will help you prioritize the areas you’ll want to expand in
and others you’ll want to work on.
Competitor research may seem like an overwhelming task, but a persistent effort will pay off. It’s a safe
assumption that many of your competitors have newsletters or a social media presence,
and those resources are full of no-cost data to review. Getting started is usually the hardest
part – but having
small business communications systems in place will make it easier.
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