Imagine you are an Army General preparing your forces for a big battle. Where do you start? Do you know where all the enemy lines are? How strong are your opponents’ forces? How many ground troops? Who supports them? There are many questions that need answers before you can develop a battle plan – and a winning strategy.
Today’s web reminds me of a battlefield. The battles fought in the digital minefields are real, the competitors are legitimate and the rewards of winning web wars are tangible.
The importance of a sound strategy and competitive research in the digital marketing world cannot be overestimated. Surprisingly, too many companies go into the battle without knowing anything about their competitors and, even worse, they sometimes commit to large budgets just to confront their assumptions with the real world, and end up flushing their hard earned marketing funds down the drain.
A much smarter approach is to analyze, prepare, and plan before the first marketing dollar is spent on a digital campaign. Preservation of marketing budgets focus on return on investment (ROI), and the creation of predictable strategies based on true competitor analysis, as well as a digital marketing plan leading to web victories, are the purposes of this whitepaper.
Digital marketing has revolutionized how businesses create and gain visibility, build and maintain their reputation, find new business opportunities, and cultivate long-term relationships with their audience. Digital marketing is recognized as the most cost-effective form of marketing with measurable ROI.
There are several reasons why a competitor analysis is crucial to a digital marketing strategy:
- Markets and competitive landscapes always change
- Players and people within specific industries change
- There is a clear shift to a younger generation of decision makers familiar with digital marketing
- Majority of purchasing decisions are based on previous online research
- It is easy to adapt to change by adjusting your digital strategy to ever-changing requirements
- Transparent tracking and measurement of marketing spend and results
- Ability to target specific geographies and buyer personas
Simply put, a competitor analysis is your road map to a digital marketing plan that will help you win the web war.
If you need a Competitive Analysis Report for your business today, WSI will develop a detailed map of your competitors and strategies to step up your business game and start making your web presence an investment, not a running cost.