Skip to main content

Competitor Research for eMarketing.

Competitor Research for eMarketing.


Where are we now? (External Perspective).

As you plan for eMarketing and during the plan's implementation, one needs to pay careful attention to the activities of competitors. So competitor research for eMarketing is essential when attempting to answer the question where are we now ( external perspective)? There are a number of approaches that can be employed, with the emphasis on each approach shifting depending upon the nature of our eBusiness and market. Here are some key tools of competitor research for eMarketing:

Use search engines.

General topics such as Google, Yahoo!, and MSN.

Type names of competitors.

Type industry, product or term.

Search 'down' into a directory structure e.g Yahoo!

Search a competitor's web site.

Product information, press releases, job opportunities.

Pricing information.

Distribution information such as where to buy.

(So publish only what you'd give away at a trade show!)

Hunt for trade associations.

Search for personal pages or 'Blogs.'

Different perspective e.g fans, ex-employees.

E.g. www.blogger.com, www.myspace.com, www.youtube.com

Ask your target market.

Send questions to named personnel, newsgroups, personal pages, mailing lists.

Conduct a survey using.

Buy secondary reports e.g. Datamonitor, Mintel.

Newsgroups and post queries.

Newsgroups on bulleting boards or forums.

Deja.com (Google).

Read online financial information.

Research public companies.

III.co.uk Ample UK.

FT.com UK.

Read online competitive information.

E.g. Hoovers.com - Paid for, in US.

Study demographic reports.

Statistics.gov.uk/census in UK.

Census.gov in US.

Original source material.

Business Source Elite, Newspapers, Kelly's, Kompass.

Monitor special interest material.

E.g Marketing Week (BSE) , Campaign (BSE), Marketing (BSE).

Use a professional researcher.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Marketing Environment

The Marketing Environment. What is the marketing environment? The marketing environment surrounds and impacts upon the organization. There are three key perspectives on the marketing environment, namely the 'macro-environment,' the 'micro-environment' and the 'internal environment'. The micro-environment This environment influences the organization directly. It includes suppliers that deal directly or indirectly, consumers and customers, and other local stakeholders. Micro tends to suggest small, but this can be misleading. In this context, micro describes the relationship between firms and the driving forces that control this relationship. It is a more local relationship, and the firm may exercise a degree of influence. The macro-environment This includes all factors that can influence and organization, but that are out of their direct control. A company does not generally influence any laws (although it is accepted that they could lobby or be part of a trade o...
Post a Comment
Read More »

Public Relations(PR) - Page Two

Public Relations(PR) - Page Two. Public relations as part of the marketing communications mix. Organising events. Corporate events are used to woo publics in both a formal and an informal manner. A formal corporate event could include a manufacturer inviting employees from all of its many distributors to visit its manufacturing plant for a training day. This has a direct business payoff. A more informal event could include a day at the races or a short-break abroad, where clients are wined and dined at the cost of a company, in order to generate goodwill. This has an indirect business payoff. Facility visits. Visits to a factory, such as a chocolate factory, or a facility, such as a nuclear power plant also generate a positive perception of an organisation. In the case of a factory visit, loyal customers or other interested parties can experience for themselves what is behind a well-known product. In the case of a nuclear power plant, concerned or misinformed publics have the chance to...
Post a Comment
Read More »

Public Relations(PR) - Page Three

Public Relations(PR) - Page Three. Public relations as part of the marketing communications mix. Product placement in media. This is an interesting and original use of PR. There are very many examples in movies and TV programmes that 'place' products. For example, a car manufacturer places a car in a movie and the hero drives it, or wears a watch that is looked at by the villain displaying the time, underscored by the manufacturer's logo. Today, computer games include banners and posters during game-play as the action unfolds. Examples of product placement in games would include field sports with adverts placed alongside a pitch, or car racing games where you pass billboards displayed in a city. Lobbying government bodies. Lobbying is named after the 'lobby' area of the British Houses of Parliament where traditionally 'lobbying' would have occurred. Lobby in the past would have meant catching the eye of a Member of Parliament, in order to persuade him or her...
Post a Comment
Read More »