Valerie Dennis Craven

Change is inevitable. In this decade alone, we have seen a number of rapid changes: How and where we work, and shifts in economy, politics and technology, to name a few. These changes affect everyone — businesses, workers and customers. Organizations who stay proactive in how to adjust marketing in changing times will be ahead of those who don’t.

A great input in your marketing plan is the competitor audit. Budgets shift, new products or services are released, heck, even customer mindsets or profiles may be different! As times change, are you aware of how your competitors are evolving?

The more intel you have when creating your marketing strategy, the more honed-in you can be on needs, gaps, actions, goals and outcomes. This equals a better likelihood for budget optimization and overall campaign success.

Why conduct a marketing competitor audit?

You can’t respond or compete well in the market if you don’t know what’s happening in the market. A competitor audit is a great time to evaluate and refocus your brand’s position while also keeping tabs on your competitors. You will gather insights that allow you to:

• Identify opportunities: Find gaps in the market
• Develop competitive advantage: Learn from successes and setbacks
• Improve ROI: Allocate your marketing resources more effectively
• Stay informed: Keep abreast of industry trends and strategies

What to look at in a marketing competitor audit

What you consider as your audit inputs will change based on what you are looking to learn and your industry. Have a good baseline of information from both your competitors and yourself, and revisit this over time to stay up to date. Common audit considerations include:

• Market summary: Evaluate the current state of your industry
• Competitors: Who do you want to look at
• Message: How they position or sell themselves to your audience
• Online properties: Where are they active online, and how engaged is their audience
• Product list: What products or services do they offer, and have they added or changed anything
• Performance: How effective their marketing and online efforts are working

How often to conduct or review your audit

A good rule of thumb is to look over your current audit every quarter or two. This ensures your efforts and outputs stay or can get back on track. Perform a new audit annually, or sooner if something has shifted (such as a new competitor coming into your space, technology has changed the industry, your products or services have shifted significantly, etc.).

Don’t toss your old audit; over time you can see how the competitive landscape has changed, infer how outcomes and results may play a role, and get ideas for future plans, to name a few reasons.

With the intel you gather from a competitive audit, you will be able to make more confident and informed marketing decisions within your own organization.