How to Build Your Competitive Intelligence Strategy
No business can win in today’s intense competition if it does not build a successful competitive intelligence (CI) strategy. CI helps enterprises assess their competitive advantages and weaknesses while guiding them toward operational improvements. This post will discuss the proven strategies in competitive intelligence that you can use to build yours.
What Is the Competitive Intelligence Strategy?
A systematic method to gather and manage competitive intelligence data is one method of defining a competitive intelligence strategy. Many CI firms and professionals develop plans and protocols for data aggregation concerning your competitors, industry dynamics, and internal improvements.
A CI strategy helps you discover your competitor’s business strategies and how to counter them. Also, you learn about your company and its operations using the operational assessment and systems approach.
Also Read: Marketing Analytics Strategies for Your Business
How to Build a Competitive Intelligence Strategy?
CI Step 1 | Define Objectives and Competitors
Businesses must know their most prominent rivals to understand how they can enhance their strengths. Additionally, you must have conceptual clarity regarding what goals you wish to accomplish using your competitive intelligence strategy.
CI Step 2 | Identify Metrics and Progress Milestones
You must specify how you plan to measure, benchmark, and analyze the competitors via data management techniques. What will be your business growth milestones if you improve your competitive standing or industry rating?
Document these milestones with your team and other stakeholders responsible for your progress in each business area. E.g., online presence, brand awareness, corporate sales, retail revenue, etc.
CI Step 3 | Measure and Monitor Performance
Companies must find out how your enterprise delivers its brand promise to meet the growth milestones you identified in step 2. Also, observe how your competitors perform on the same quality metrics.
You must monitor your internal operations, stakeholder performance, consumer sentiments, and competitor decisions. After all, a competitive intelligence strategy must be holistic and detailed without ignoring the core priorities.
CI Step 4 | Improve Weaknesses and Resilience
You will discover where your company is weaker than your rival business firms. Competitor analytics and CI datasets show the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with you and your competition.
Therefore, you must focus on the business aspects that need serious enhancements to stay competitive in the market, attract more investors, and please more clients.
CI Step 5 | Revise CI Dataset Periodically
Competitive intelligence strategy has no end-point; it is a journey lasting for decades. So, you must revisit and revise your CI strategy. Your business rivals might change, or industry trends could shift in your favor.
Public policies might increase compliance pressure on you and your enterprises; some firms could go bankrupt. Besides, acquisitions and strategic mergers can benefit you in improving your competitiveness.
Competitive Intelligence vs. Market Research
CI differs from market research services in multiple ways; they ultimately serve different missions. The proven strategies in competitive intelligence consider the industry-level dynamics focusing on your company and its competitors.
Meanwhile, market research monitors your branded products and services available in the market. So, the scope of competitive intelligence vs. market research is fundamentally distinct.
You use the CI strategy exclusively to compete with other enterprises, whereas market research reveals novel consumer demands. Eventually, you benefit from market research in improving your market position.
Still, it is a side-effect of the connection between customer relations, sales, and completive metrics.
Conclusion
Leaders cannot afford to build competitive intelligence without a plan or system set in place conforming to agreed-upon standards. Therefore, proven strategies in competitive intelligence are vital for efficient business development.
Your industry employs virtually immeasurable resources to deliver its goods and services. However, you cannot fulfill your vision without tackling your competitors like a war veteran. So, never hesitate to ask experts to guide you with their CI strategies.
A leader in competitive intelligence strategy, SG Analytics supports organizations using large-scale data management and competitor monitoring systems. Contact us to integrate strategic intelligence enhancements to surpass your rivals.
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