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Marketing Competition Analysis – Standing Out From Your Competitors

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Today, when it comes to the Internet, understanding your competition through a marketing competition analysis has become crucial. Just several years ago, the Internet was a diversion full of entertainment, fun, and confusion for most people. While that of course is still true today, there is one major addition that needs to be understood: the Internet has literally blossomed overnight when it comes to highlighting and showcasing businesses, and functioning as a platform to attract customers and clients.

Because of that, the ability and desire to gain new customers and clients over the Internet, and attract customers from search engines and social media sites has become extremely competitive. You may not see it or feel it, but your competitors are working just as hard as you, if not harder, to gain prospects and customers on the Internet.

For your business, no matter the industry, it’s necessary that you do the same when it comes to standing out from the crowd and showcasing yourself online so that customers and new prospects can find you with ease.

Crowded Marketplaces Mean Less Opportunity To Stand Out

As the Internet in general becomes more crowded and chaotic with businesses offering incentives and advertisements at every turn, it becomes more important than ever to stand out from the crowd and attract customers with your products and services. Otherwise you risk having your business being lost in the flood of countless other businesses just like yours.

Leverage a competition analysis to understand what your competitors are doing with everything from search engine optimization, to social media accounts so that you can differentiate and stand out. No matter what the industry, you have to bring your ‘A’ game online, lest you be bested right out of a job.

Online Presence Equals Offline Dollars

Being online doesn’t just mean getting people to follow you on Twitter, or having people check out your blog. Sure, that’s important, and they can lead to offline conversions and results. A strong online presence that puts you out ahead of your competitors can directly and swiftly lead to offline dollars and profits for your business.

As more and more people go digital when they are searching for products and services, and a greater number of people work to review and purchase products or services online, it’s critical that you get out there and have a lasting, visible presence on the Internet where customers can come directly to you. This, in turn, will rapidly improve your business while dramatically cutting a variety of your costs.

Need help with your marketing competition analysis?  WSI Connect has the expertise that you need.  Contact us today to learn more.

How Your Business Can Leverage Social Media Engagement

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In 2013 social media engagement will play an important role in small and medium sized business growth. Sure, social media has been around for several years now, with sites like Twitter and Facebook, but up until now it’s been the big brands like Target, WalMart, Nike, and others who have invested significant resources in social media.

This year, though, is the year of the small business. Never before has it been easier for small and medium sized businesses to leverage social media outreach, connect with customers, and use sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest to drive traffic back to their sites and create lasting relationships with customers. But to make that happen, you’ve got to do a few things first:

Understand Social Media is a Conversation

First and foremost, you must understand social media is not an advertising platform, but a conversation. Talk with your customers – not to them – and listen to what they have to say about your products, brand, offerings, and more. Only then will you get the most out of building these relationships and creating a set of loyal customers.

Engage and Listen To Customer’s Concerns

Have you ever gone on Twitter to complain about the cable company, or bad traffic on the highway during rush hour? Guess what; we all do that. Other people are heading onto social media to complain and gripe about your brand, too, and while that may scare you, it actually presents an amazing opportunity. Like never before, you can reach out to these people, hear their concerns, and seek to find a solution to their problems that can strengthen your business and their loyalty.

Monitor What People Are Saying About Your Brand

Out in the blogosphere, a lot of people have a lot of opinions on local businesses, both good and bad. And in social media sites, you can index and search for those opinions to monitor what people think about you, your products, your brand, and your company’s reputation. It’s market research more pure and unfiltered than ever before, and it’s at your fingertips every day on social media sites.

Be Transparent and Accessible

One of the best parts about using social media for your small or medium-sized business is that you can be transparent and incredibly accessible to your customer base. Whether it’s tweeting behind the scenes pictures, sharing fun facts about your employees on Facebook, or just answering customer questions each and every day through Google Plus, transparency builds brand loyalty and trust, and in turn, your brand’s reputation over time.

Become a Reliable and Trusted Brand In Your Industry

Social media is content hungry, and with good content and a great brand, you can build a reputation over time to become one of the most popular brands in your industry. Social media allows you to leverage networks and relationships online that turn into offline sales and customer loyalty like never before, and can make small and medium-sized businesses seem mighty with just a few tweets and posts!

Interested in how WSI Connect can help you leverage social media engagement?  Contact us today to learn more.