No matter what industry your business is in, you’re bound to have competition and that can make it challenging to reach everyone in your target audience. But while your efforts to attract consumers may be praise-worthy and even somewhat effective, the people that you reach could still be attached to your competitor. In order to successfully gain a bigger customer base, you’ll need to compare your respective marketing strategies and take note of the differences. By keeping an eye on your competitors, you may be able to learn what it takes to rise above them.

You can learn both good and bad marketing tactics from your competitors, and possibly save your company the time and money that it might have lost in acquiring this knowledge through its own trial and error. What is working for them? What isn’t working for them?

Every industry has different strategies that work, and if your competition is doing something differently than you and is successful at it, perhaps you can emulate it. For instance, if your competitor is effectively using print advertisements to raise awareness of their brand, it could be a good idea to utilize the same advertising medium. Combine the research you do with some common sense, however. If there’s a reason that a particular plan of action is unlikely to work for you the same way as it did a competitor, it might not be worth the risk.

Another way you can benefit from keeping a close eye on your competitors is by checking out the things they are doing wrong or the things that aren’t working. If you can avoid their marketing mistakes, your brand will benefit because you will not be financially invested in those particular tactics. This also gives you the chance to improve upon your competitor’s failing ideas – their concept may be good, but they might be delivering the message incorrectly. If your brand can devise a way to improve one of their ideas, it could work out in your favor, ultimately increasing your brand awareness and consumer base.

It never hurts to do some background research on your competitors and their tactics. This gives your business the potential to formulate new marketing ideas that could increase your brand exposure. For professional advice about your brand and how you can increase awareness, check out what Neff Associates has to offer!