Looking to stalk your latest prey? Snoop around on what you’re competition is up to? Okay maybe we should tone it down a bit. But isn’t it good to at least find out what your competition is up to? We will offer you a few tips on how you can monitor and keep up with your competitors.
1.Twitter. We’ve said it before, if you want to know what people are saying about your company, search on Twitter. Well take the same theory but apply this to your competitors. You may find out one of your competitors is releasing a new product or service. Maybe they are offering a huge sale on what is typically one of your best months for sales. Think about how useful knowledge like this could be for your business. Take what you know and use it to your advantage.
2.TweetBeep. Now here is where you go undercover. TweetBeep is a site which allows you to enter in your competitors name’s and they will send you email alerts when someone tweets about them. With this service you do not have to constantly check up on your competitors as it cuts out much of the busy time you would spend searching. Sometimes you might hear about a client tweeting how poor customer service was with a competitor and maybe that can open an opportunity for your business.
3.LinkedIn. Have you seen a theme yet? LinkedIn is another great source because you can find out about internal happenings. People connect with companies if they’ve been hired, promoted, or even those who have left. Having this type of insight allows you to predict some of their plans for the future. If you see your competitor hiring several HR employees you can suspect they plan on adding to their staff and growing as a business.
4.Manta. This website is designed to do much of the dirty work for you. The site contains profiles for more over 63 million companies and even lists some hard to find information about small businesses and how to contact them. Membership is free and provides the ability to track data such as annual revenues, key employees, affiliates and so on. This site is a must have and you can’t beat the price.
If you haven’t noticed the theme yet, most of these tips involve social media. Your competitors are probably watching the moves you make so why not see what they are up to. No harm, no foul.
