Monitoring your competitors: 5 reasons why you should do it

You will know more about their pricing

When you know what your competitors are charging for a recurring monthly subscription, link building services, or any other type of a product, you can either undercut them or offer more value for a higher price. Undercutting them might work if your product is similar but of better quality. Offering more value, on the other hand, will show potential customers that you’re worth the investment. Choosing the right pricing strategy will enable you to maximize both your profit and revenue.

If you don’t know where to start, you can consider using professional competitor price monitoring services. This way, you’ll be making an investment that will pay back over time. These tools will help you track price changes in real-time and get alerted whenever a competitor alters their pricing.

You will have a better chance to asses new threats

Brand new, fierce competitors taking the market by storm? Businesses you already know all too well planning to change some things around in the already bloodthirsty industry? These are just some of the potential threats that you won’t miss if you decide to conduct some careful competitive monitoring. 

Each of these scenarios equals a threat to your market share, so why not keep tabs on everything that’s going on so you can come up with new strategies before the not-so-sudden changes take you by surprise? This way, you won’t have to worry about something unexpected becoming a threat to your enterprise.

You will learn more about what’s to come

Monitoring your competitors, if done right, can give you a highly valuable peek into their plans and a truly priceless and broad understanding of what you can expect from their next moves. You can later use this knowledge to prepare for their innovative ideas and come up with solutions or answers that can compete with them. 

But how can you gain insight into the upcoming actions of your industry rivals? Luckily, the answer is incredibly easy: in most cases, all you need to do is dedicate some time to attending the conferences or forums they organize. It’s an excellent way to get the latest news provided directly by a trustworthy source. 

You can also observe the changes they’re making to their business models, their organizational structures, and the way they communicate with their target audiences.

Another less fierce yet still powerful idea is to sign up for their newsletters. This way, you will receive the latest news straight to your inbox, just like any other client, and you can use any e-mail address you wish for this purpose. 

Moreover, try browsing their annual reports, reading up on any news stories about them, and, in general, staying as informed as possible by utilizing the resources already available to you.

You will understand the problems in the industry

Another important reason for keeping a close eye on your competitors’ actions is that it can help you better understand the issues they’re dealing with while navigating the same industry as you. What problems are they facing? What strategies do they come up with to solve them? How does it all affect their customers, and what’s their response?

The better your understanding of the various industry problems, the easier it will be for you to come up with your own solutions to different scenarios. You can keep tabs on those your competitors came up with, see how well they work, and base your own methods on factors such as audience response or engagement.

You will create better content

While you shouldn’t copy the content published by your competitors, watching what they do is an excellent way to gain a thorough understanding of messages that your target audience is most likely to respond to and engage with.

Studying the way people are interacting with the content prepared by your competitors, be it videos, polls, or graphics, is an excellent opportunity to draw your conclusions. You can study the comments and reactions on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn to see what users have to say. 

Look for examples of constructive criticism as well as enthusiastic praises. If you spot an issue, try to develop your own solutions but also see how your competitors react.

Conclusion

As you can see, monitoring your competitors doesn’t have to equal watching every move they make. In most cases, all you need to do is focus on a few of the most important aspects, be it their social media, the content they create and put off for their audience, or the plans they make for their future actions. 

The business world has always been incredibly competitive, and it may be challenging for your enterprise to grow if you neglect to monitor others in the same industry. Don’t shy away from drawing some rightful inspiration from their actions, and use the knowledge you gain in the process always to stay one step ahead of any potential threats that may come your way.