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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 Brenda Robinson on August 10, 2010 at 5:12pm: I have been doing a lot of bridal show and doing well. with my garment's and weight loss packages

Comment by Melissa Miville on August 10, 2010 at 9:49pm: I agree that we should all work together. It can only help us all out in the long run. As a wedding planner I contacted all of the other wedding planners in my area just to get together and talk about ideas and brainstorm about what we can do to improve the industry in our area. Only ONE would meet with me. The rest wanted nothing to do because apparently they find it too much competition. But now when I have a potential client contact me and I am already booked...guess who gets the referral.

Comment by Rev. Annie Lawrence NYC on August 11, 2010 at 6:50am: I actively build relationships with other wedding officiants (and vendors). It's great to know that if I am overbooked, I can refer a couple to a trusted "competitor" who I know will do a great job for them. Some of my favorite weddings come from photographers who like working with me. I am grateful for their referrals, and I do the same for them!

Comment by A Bride,A Groom,A Notary LLC on August 12, 2010 at 4:57pm: I agree so very much with what you are all saying. I have tried to reach out to other vendors in my specialty. I was ignored or brushed off like a bothersom pest, "Sad." I have found ONE person in my area who is in my specialty and she has been gracious and even passed clients to me that she could not fit into her schedule. Times are hard, money is tight, but still each one teach one, or lend a helping hand. The good you do will come back to you some how.

Comment by Stephanie Benedetto Padovani on August 14, 2010 at 8:14am: My husband and I have actually even worked with our direct competitors in our area to help each other define our unique offerings. Fortunately, we're really good at narrowing and defining our niche, so we don't feel threatened. There really is a place for us all; so many of our brides would never call one of our competitors and vice versa.

So my favorite way to keep tabs on our competitors is to just ask them! Of course, that doesn't work for most people. My husband is an information junkie, so he goes through the local wedding directory boards every so often to look at websites and he also visits the chat rooms at the Knot on a regular basis. It's a great way to see who the "hot" vendors are and what they're doing that brides like.

If we're booked, we pass on enthusiastic referrals for another professional we think would be a good match. This creates good will within our competitive network and with the brides themselves.

Great tips, Christine!

Comment by Rev. Annie Lawrence NYC on August 14, 2010 at 10:32am: Stephanie: Thanks for bringing up *defining our roles* and our competition. This is true for me too. My fellow NYC officiants have specialties that *I call upon* when needed: one is fluent Spanish bi-lingual, one is fluent French bi-lingual, another is an Interfaith Rabbi, 2 work with African ancestry & ritual, etc.etc. One of my specialties is "Gay Weddings Minister"--I am an activist for Marriage Equality and can't wait til that goes through in NY! Working together, we've got the entire community covered! :) On my way to do 3 weddings now. Have a great day all!

Comment by Nicole Nichols Photography on August 20, 2010 at 12:37am: Great article, love it!

Comment by Stephanie Benedetto Padovani on August 20, 2010 at 11:07am: Rev Annie: So true. Our competitors are some of our greatest allies! When we can let go of our fear about "the competition," we not only feel much better, it opens us up for powerful partnerships.

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