3 Simple Ways To Spy On Your Competitors’ Customers

When you’re trying to promote a new product or service, what’s the main rule you follow? Know your customers.

When you’re doing your best to produce successful content for search engine optimization, what’s the rule? Find out what questions your customers have, and answer them!

When you’re developing a new product, who are you trying to please? The customers; of course!

When you’re launching various types of promotions, who are they aimed to? Okay; that was enough. You know the answer!

Your customers are always the main factor that drives your actions.

There are various ways to get information about the needs and wants of your customers. Most of all, you’re trying to get the details you want through direct communication, as well as through the analytics of your website and social media pages. Are you forgetting something?

Your competitors!

They have valuable information that you want and need. How can you get it? By keeping an eye on them!

The Importance Of Spying On Competitors In Business

Don’t worry; this type of spying doesn’t involve anything illegal. You won’t be accessing any private information and you won’t be dealing with hacking practices.

Tony Marcos, a marketing expert from ResumesPlanet, explains: “It’s a completely safe and legitimate strategy that can push you to the top of your industry. Is it the noblest thing to do? Maybe not. But guess what: there’s nothing wrong with a little espionage in business, and it becomes an easy decision to make when you realize that all of your competitors are doing it, too.”

If we’re talking about a startup, then it’s even more important for you to know what your competitors are doing and how they are meeting the needs of their customers. You still don’t have a huge base of customers to analyze, so you have to start somewhere, right?

So, Where Do You Start?

First of all, you need to know what information you’re looking for. Here are few details to focus on:

Psychological Profile

How do these people make decisions? What are their interests and opinions regarding the products they buy? What’s their lifestyle? What’s their buying behavior?

You can find the answers if you analyze your competition, and you can use that information to create your buyer persona. From that point on, it will be easier for you to deliver a highly relevant message that will capture the attention of this target audience.

Demographics

Demographics involve statistical data related to the population that purchases the type of products or services you offer. The development of a successful startup is hugely dependent on this factor. You need information about the prevailing age, sex, income, educational level, religion, occupation, family, marital status, and more.

In addition to these details, you also need geographical data. That will help you create a message that’s relevant to an even narrower, local audience.

Technology

How do these people communicate with the brands of your competitors? How do they purchase products? What tools do they use to get in touch with the customer support department?

When you get this information, it will be easier for you to develop a successful website and offer all tools that guarantee a buyer’s convenience.

3 Ways To Watch Your Competitors To Get Info About Their Customers

The truth is, you’re not going to spy on anyone or anything. The information you’re looking for is already available. It’s out there, waiting for you to access it. You just need to know what the proper sources are.

Based on the types of sources, there are three main ways to keep an eye on your competitors:

#1 Access Publicly Available Information

If you want information, it’s waiting for you! There are different types of publicly available information you can access:

Press Releases, Case Studies, & Other Types Of Documentation That Your Competitors Have Released

How do you find this information? Easy. Just use Google. Type a major competitor’s brand followed by press release or case study as your search phrase.

You’ll find plenty of news, press releases, and updates that the company published. They will be published on the official websites of your competitors, as well as throughout social media and press release platforms (try PRWeb and PR.com). All of these documents give you info about the current and future initiative of the company. They give you insights into the needs of the customers, which you can certainly target through your own campaign.

Why would you spend time reading competitors’ press releases? They tell you what initiatives different brands have undertaken in order to meet the needs of their customers. When you find the results of those initiatives, you can look how successful their policies were. Depending on the findings, you can do something similar or drastically different within your own company.

Forums

People talk! They like sharing feedback about the products and services they use. The Internet gives them tons of options to do that! For you, it gives you plenty of opportunities to spy on competitors’ customers.

Public forums, such as Reddit, Quora, and industry-specific forums, are a major part of your spying strategy. You should also take Facebook into consideration. It’s not a forum per se, but it’s a platform where people engage in discussions and talk about brands.

Become part of these forums! Search for keywords related to the brands and projects you want to monitor. Check out the sections where your specific target audience is talking about your competition. You’ll find out what they are happy with, but you’ll also become aware of the things that make them angry. That’s where you can get the upper hand over your competitors.

Mention is a great tool to use during this process. It shows you how your competitors are being mentioned, so you’ll figure out what their audience thinks about them. The tool gives you clean reports that are ready for you to analyze.

#2 Watch The Offline Talks, Too!

The Internet gives you a lot, but it doesn’t give it all. A real spy goes further than publicly available info!

Don’t worry! You won’t be using wiretapping or any other kind of equipment that makes you feel uncomfortable. All you need to do is show up on public events related to your industry. If, for example, you’re about to start selling your own cheese, you may hit the cheese markets, festivals, and all other events related to your product.

You’ll show up as a customer. You’ll visit the stands of all competitors and you’ll be listening to the conversations of the people around you. That’s not eavesdropping; it’s just standing there and paying attention to any conversation that reaches your ears.

During these moments, people usually speak more candidly. They are under immediate impressions of the brands, so they express opinions that are not being affected by social proof. For you, that’s gold!

In addition to events and offline forums, you can also start attending various presentations and speeches that your competitors are organizing. These are usually followed by Q&A sessions, so you can listen to the questions the customers have, and you can address the same issues through your own content marketing campaign.

#3 Use The Right Tools

Every spy has their special tools. If you want to be James Bond, you better use all technology you have at your disposal.

Fortunately, there are plenty of online tools that will make the spying process easy for you. In addition to Mention, which we already mentioned above, we’ll list few others you may consider:

Google Keyword Planner

This tool is essential for the development of your search engine optimization campaign. However, it’s also a tool that lets you spy on the customers of your competitors. It shows you what keywords they are mostly using to research the products or services they need.

Google Alerts

Set up Google Alerts to alert you whenever a competitor’s brand is being mentioned online. This tool lets you spy the audience over the entire web. You’ll understand what they think about your competitors, but you’ll also get hints on the issues they have with different brands. From there on, you’ll be on your way towards creating an effective promotional campaign.

Ahrefs

Now, this tool is specifically developed for the purpose to spy on the competition. It reveals the backlinks to their websites! You’ll see what bloggers and influencers think about these brands, and you’ll probably discover areas that need improvement. If you’re the one who improves those aspects, you’ll attract these customers your way.

To wrap it up, espionage is imperative when you’re trying to build a brand that’s more successful than its competitors. Fortunately, the spying techniques are easy and you won’t have to work too hard to get the information you need. You’ll be on the right track if you simply follow the tips we provided above.

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