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5 Steps to Online Marketing Success Using Competitive IntelligenceA beginner’s guide to competitive intelligence
Presented by: Lindsey Mark
Client Relations compete.com
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Agenda•What is competitive intelligence?
•Introduction to Compete and Compete’s Data
•5 Steps to Online Marketing Success Using Competitive Intelligence
•Overview
•Brief Q&A
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The action of defining, gathering, analyzing, and distributing intelligence about products, customers, competitors, and any aspect of the external business environment needed to support executives and managers in making strategic decisions for an organization.
What’s Competitive Intelligence?
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EACH MONTH COMPETE’S ONLINE CONSUMER PANEL MEASURES 2 MILLION US ONLINE CONSUMERS
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Compete versus Local AnalyticsWhy the numbers aren’t exactly the same…
• Compete tracks actual users’ online behaviors.
• Local Analytics tracks individual pages of a website using a javascript tag.
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Competitive Opportunities, there
are...
Use local analytics & competitive intelligence,we will. Local analytics is a great way to understand your own website.
However,
Some questions can only be answered through competitive intelligence tools.
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STEP 1: IDENTIFY THE COMPETITIONUnderstanding the Competitive Landscape
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Benchmark
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Brainstorm
• List Competitors
• large & small
• direct & indirect
Identify Industry Leaders
• Who had success in site engagement & popularity
Look for the “Why”
• New product offerings
• Higher engagement
Identify competitors in your industry.
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Industry Timeline
Include
• Product Releases
• Industry News
• Events
Correlate
• Which events may have caused shifts in site performance
Identify
• Industry Trends
• Seasonality
• Stellar Performance
Identify industry events that may affect site traffic
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Metrics, what are they good for?
Popularity = Unique Visitors
Loyalty = Visits
Engagement = Average Stay
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Investigate
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• Analyze Domain & Subdomain Activity
• Search Activity
• Traffic Referrals
Identify the root of your competition's stellar performance using competitive intelligence tools.
Trend Analysis Deep-Dive For Top Performers
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STEP 2: SYNTHESIZE THE DATAAnalyze reports and identify areas of opportunity
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Gathering information is only the first step of the process.
Reporting vs. AnalysisWhat’s the difference? Synthesizing
information and applying insights to
your overall business objectives.
Reporting Analysis
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Search Strategy
Search Marketing
• Who also competes for these keywords?
• What is my position in the market?
• Who am I targeting?
Search Engine Optimization
• What kinds of content/keywords will attract the visitors I’m looking for?
• What keywords would I like to rank higher for?
Questions to Ask Before You Begin.
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Critical ThinkingIs paid search more or less important to Zappos.com this year versus 2010?
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Inbound & Outbound Traffic
Uncover where your competition
is getting traffic & where that traffic
leaves after visiting.
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Critical ThinkingIn the past month, the shopping category was Zappos’ 2nd largest referrer. In which segment can we see cross-shopping behavoirs?
Hint: the answer is highlighted
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Hypothesize
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Jump to conclusions about opportunities in…
• Search
• SEO
• SEM
• Traffic Data
• Partnerships
• Service Initiatives
• Product Offerings
• Retargeting
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STEP 3: TAKE ACTION Analysis & Implementation, an iterative process
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David M. Ogilvy
Management cannot be expected to recognize a good idea unless it is presented to them by a good salesman.
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Actionable Metrics
Hypothesize
Persuade
ImplementAnalyze
Tweak
Implementing competitive intelligence is iterative.
Creating buy-in is imperative.
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It’s important to remain objective.
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Things are not always as
they seem.
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Understanding Search Referrals
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Dig yourself out of a keyword rut.
Take advantage of search work
tested & implemented by
your competitors.
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Identify Opportunities in Search
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Hypothesize why your competition had stellar performance?
Ask yourself if this tactic is repeatable?
What would your company or brand do differently?
Strategy transparency in the search spend
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Copying is a form of flattery
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Use your successful competitors as a model for your own success.
Remain true to your core values.
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Relationship Building
Which websites are key to your competition's traffic acquisition strategy?
• Affiliates
• Advertisers
• Publishers
• Influencers
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Prospecting
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Find the right partners, publishers & clients using thorough qualification tactics.
Spend more time perusing and less
time qualifying.
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STEP 4: FIX YOUR LEAKY BUCKETIdentify lost opportunities through referral traffic reporting
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Create Conversion FunnelsWhat does our current funnel look like?
What does your future conversion funnel to look like?
Purchase
Checkout
Shoppers
Visitors
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Identify Where Customers Drop-Off
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Identify marketing opportunities in competitor's destinations.
Be aware of shifts in destination share.
Hypothesize why visitors leave to the
listed destination sites.
Using outbound traffic reports
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Critical ThinkingWhere can you find retargeting opportunities in this example report for Nordstrom.com?
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Creatively engage your current customer base.
Woo loyal customers with special offers
and referral bonuses.
Encourage your best customers to become
brand advocates.
Retarget and Incentivize
Nurture customers & ask for referrals
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STEP 5: STAY HUNGRY & INFORMEDDrive for knowledge, leverage tools, push your company forward
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Keep Tabs
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Frequent checkups help ensure your website stays healthy.
Monitor your benchmarks and KPI’s
regularly.
Integrate competitive intelligence data into
your marketing practice.
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Tune In
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Set-up Google Alerts
• Competition’s name
• Industry terms
• Techniques
Continuously Update
• Make the search results specific & pertinent
Review Daily or Weekly
• Alerts have no value if not reviewed
• Put the feed in your mail client or RSS reader
Automate Alerts to keep up with your industry.
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Lather, Rinse, Repeat
Like any online marketing strategy, there is no simple fix.
Arm yourself with the tools needed to succeed.
Commit to integrating competitive intelligence into your existing digital
marketing practice.
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Marketing without Competitive Intelligence is like hitting a target blindfolded
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Today we learned…
Identify the Competition
Synthesize the Data
Taking Action is an iterative process
Fix your Leaky Bucket
Stay Hungry & Informed
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Resources
Compete Resources
• Compete PROhttp://compete.com/
• Site Performance and Comparisons
• Demographic Information
• Search Tools• Keyword, Domain,
Comparisons & Industry Categories
• Referral Analytics Tools• Inbound & Outbound
Traffic Reporting
• Compete Bloghttp://blog.compete.com/
• Articles by topic and industry
• Ranked in the top of the AdAge Power 150
Google Alerts
• Google Alerts http://google.com/alerts/
• Industry terms• Domains• Competitors• Thought Leaders• Colleagues• Your Name
• Alert Search Tipshttp://bit.ly/qbmiMf
• Phrase search (“”)• Site search (site:)• Fill in the blanks (*)• Using the OR operator
Trends & Keywords
• Google Trendshttp://google.com/trends/
• Research websites via domain
• Research keywords• Understand trending
topics
• Google Keywordhttp://bit.ly/peCbqU
• Research keyword suggestions via domain/topic
• Filter by locality• Filter by device
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Thank you!
Presented by: Lindsey Mark
Client Relations compete.com
Linkedin.com/in/lmark
Twitter.com/linji