How to use competition to build better business: Scout your competition

Months or days before a gruesome season, the Florida State Seminole football team studies tapes and videos of the biggest competition known to college sports. The team comes together to strategize in a modest, open room that is packed with dreams and a projector. <#NAME> is planning the perfect defense against Clemson, <#NAME> wants to know which play will outsmart the swamp. The excitement of future victory fills the air.

We can think of marketing your small business by studying your competition in the same way that your favorite football team prepares for the biggest game of the season. Meticulous marketing and smart strategies will set you apart from the competition in no time.

Together, a plan takes your business from a budding dream to fully-realized reality. One of the best ways to build better, stronger, faster business is by analyzing habits that work in your category. You can learn a lot about yourself by studying the similar history of your competition.

First, we must learn about the competition. Like the ACC and SEC divides teams by location, we will break apart similar businesses by city or state. We need to go to regionals before we can go to nationals.

1. Do a quick Google search for your own relevant key terms. This search will take less than five minutes and teach you a ton about the competition. Try searching for someone in your business category or sub-category. Staying with Seminole’s football, general category would be “college sports” and the sub-category would be “football.” Generally speaking, the category is a broad collection while the sub-category is more targeted and specific.
   
   
2. Through an online search, choose three to five similar businesses whom you can go head-to-head against on a friendly level. These businesses will be similar to you. If you want to reach for the stars, model yourself after someone you aspire to be like with your future goals.
   
   
3. Now, find parts of their practices that you especially like. LinkedIn Influencers are a good source of business role-models. I like how Mark Cuban makes links between sports and business, don’t you? Once you have identified the competition, find ways in which your product or service offerings are similar.
4. Do you want to be alike, or different? Let’s start with the similarities you could share with your top competition. Look and see which colors they use in their brand identity. For instance, fast food companies Burger King, McDonalds, Red Robbin, Jack in the Box, Whataburger and Hardee’s all use red and yellow in their marketing materials or logo. Judging by this trend, it might be a good time to follow the crowd and join in to the color scheme.
5. However, Taco Bell sets itself apart by using the color purple. Since no other fast food chain lives as “boldly”, when you see purple you know you are getting something different. This color-choice complements their overall message: taco bell breaks the chain or normalcy with a different combination of tacos from the predictable burger.
6. This about this for a moment. Ask yourself: Is your business fundamentally different from your competition, like Taco Bell, or are you more of a blending Burger King? Here is one instance where scoping out the competition helps you with your own identity.

Finding the similarities between you and your competition is one way to become better in your own business habits. Studying the competition is like having a free trial campaign without risk. The work has been put out there, and you are ready to look at how it acts in real-time. Better business habits, like the strong muscles of a winning athlete, get refined over time and competition.

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You don't know what you're missing: Try this 1 surefire way to get Customer Feedback

Did you know that the best marketing begins with research?

Everyone’s favorite frozen find, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, has a team of food scientists who research the current trends, buzz, and tastes you love. Research helps suit-up your taste buds with a delicious pint-size treat in the comfort of your own home!

Whether you’re interested in ice cream or some other entrepreneurial streak, you can build your very own dream team to aid in market research with a fast and easy questionnaire.

One simple questionnaire can provide valuable feedback that makes the difference you’re looking for. Let’s find out how to create a questionnaire below.

First, we need to find out two things:

1.      What to ask

2.      Who answers your questions

Find three friends whom you trust. These people could be mentors you admire, family members with free time, or the neighbor who lent you some sugar last week. They can be any level of expert, as long as they are willing to help provide feedback. A team of three people is small enough to be manageable yet large enough to be diverse. Different dream team members might be a:

·         Teacher

·         Parent

·         Friend

·         Spouse

·         Online Acquaintance

Asking for honest feedback will cover first-impressions and responses. Your 3-member team will prepare you for the equally-honest feedback of people you have not yet met.

Once you have identified your team, you are ready to ask them for their input.

You might be surprised by how many people are willing to help you. Help them help you by streamlining your questionnaire. A good goal is keeping this activity within 5-questions and 5-minutes. Wouldn’t you be happy to help someone in the same amount of time as it takes to watch a funny Facebook video?

Now, create a 5-minute, 5-point questionnaire to help identify your strengths and weaknesses. Tailor your questions to fit your experiment. If you are developing a website, use questions to find out about the impressions of your website. If you are launching a campaign, you can use questions to ask about preferred brands. Possible questions include:

·         “What are your overall impressions of this website?”

·         “How likely are you to share this product with a friend?”

·         “What would make this better?”

* Substitute your area for the italicized word, or try some new questions!

Five questions are plenty for this initial research questionnaire. This will help us evaluate our strengths and weaknesses. When we know what we need to improve, we can develop a plan to get to our goals!

Ensure your team knows that you are looking to identify your strongest and weakest points of your online presence. To do this, let some of the questions be free-response. Free-response questions leave room for new perspectives. After all, we don’t know what we don’t know!

Finally, let your team know that leaving all positive feedback will not help you improve. It is important to be constructive and honest in this questionnaire. This is the perfect opportunity to listen.

Constructive criticism through a 5-item, 5-minute questionnaire is one step you can make toward achieving your goals, today!