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4 Easy Ways to Keep Tabs on Your Competition

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Wedding Professionals:

According to Inc. Magazine, “…competitive intelligence may be more important for small companies than for large ones, because small businesses feel the impact of competition more immediately and more deeply.” I agree with that statement. In my opinion, competition can be healthy and it shouldn’t be viewed as a threatening topic. The key is - take a look at what your competition is doing and think about how you can do things differently to stand out and encourage potential wedding clients to say ‘yes’ to you.

The reality is that while accumulating information about your competitors is important, it can often seem like a huge time and money drain. However, here are some quick tips for ingraining competitive intelligence into your culture and day-to-day operations without breaking the bank.

Determine who your competition is. This first entails having a very clear understanding of your own business goals and marketplace position, so that you can identify the other wedding professionals who are competing directly with you – whether that means competing in your geographical region (i.e. New York City), niche (i.e. eco-friendly weddings) or general business category (i.e. affordable wedding favors). Once you have identified who is competing with you, focus in on the top three competitors. By focusing, you’ll save time and you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the players that matter most.
Know what to monitor. After you have chosen three competitors, assess their goals, what they are offering to wedding clients, how and where they are marketing themselves, and what wedding clients are saying about them. To assess a competitor’s goals, visit their website and read their press releases. Sign up for Google Alerts to receive regular emails, which will alert you when your competitors’ business names are mentioned in blogs, news articles, etc. To know what wedding clients are saying about your competitors, turn to wedding websites that contain ratings and reviews. You should also tap into social networks like Facebook and Twitter to read comments and to search for reviews.
Create a process. Either allocate 15 minutes each day to follow this information or consider giving this assignment to an intern. Then, establish a folder to store competitive advertisements and updates. And most importantly, allocate at least one hour per month to review and analyze this information.
Make better decisions. This entire process is meant to help you to make smarter decisions when enhancing your own offerings, marketing strategies and tactics.

Do you have any tips about gathering and/or using competitive intelligence? If so, please share your comments with our wedding forum.

About This Blog: Christine Dyer is the Creator and Founder of BridalTweet. Christine has an MBA in marketing and shares over ten years of marketing expertise with the wedding community. In this weekly blog, you'll find advice on an array of wedding business topics such as how to market to brides, social networking, wedding PR, wedding sales, vendor networking, branding, pricing and much more. Please pass this news along to your own professional wedding network. To receive this advice in your email inbox each week, Sign Up for a Free BridalTweet Membership.

Comment by Dina Eisenberg on August 8, 2010 at 12:37pm: My best tip for using competitive intelligence is to take what you find and use it to forget connections and opportunities with your competitors. There's a lot to be gained, in support and revenues, from building a relationship with those who are in the same or similar niche. Unfortunately, wedding professionals are slow to collaborate.

Warmly,
Dina

Comment by Jennifer Hammock on August 9, 2010 at 7:52pm: very slow!

Comment by Therese Dozier on August 10, 2010 at 12:05pm: @ Dina, I thing you meant forge :) But I totally agree with you. It seems though if you do that they tend to think you have some other motive.. it is sad :(

Comment by Dina Eisenberg on August 10, 2010 at 12:15pm: Yep, I did add a t- thanks, Therese I say we just make it an emerging trend by starting first! Offer help before someone asks, in way that makes the other person feel good, not embarrassed. (I think I spelled that right :)

Comment by Therese Dozier on August 10, 2010 at 12:22pm: :) yes, I agree!I think like you, I like to offer help to anyone, even my competition because if I were in a stitch i would love to be offered help.. Mama says " do unto others..." . And I believe that. Often good hearted people like you and I often get mistaken, at least in my immediate market.. But I am with you, on how slow wedding professionals are to collaborate..

Comment by Christine Dyer on August 10, 2010 at 12:22pm: @Therese, @Jennifer & @Dina It sounds like I should write another blog post about how to effectively forge relationships with vendors. I will work on that. Thanks for the idea! In the past, I did write these 2 blogs, which might help you...
New Thoughts on Vendor Networking &
4 Tips for Bartering with Other Wedding Vendors

Comment by Brandy Blackford on August 10, 2010 at 12:23pm: Having someone in your same line of business enables you to recommend and refer based upon knowledge and experience versus picking a name out of a hat. As much as I would love to work every wedding, I know that I can't, either I don't have the time, the experience or frankly the fit. Being able to say I can't but XYZ can just shows that I have researched and found others that will work to the same standards that I set for myself and my business.

Comment by Therese Dozier on August 10, 2010 at 12:25pm: Thanks Christine for the links! I will check them out.. I don't like to feel this way, but there is comfort in knowing I am not the only one.. I just want our industry to understand that there is enough to go around and we all look good if we help each other out.