How to Spy on Your Competitors to Grow Your Business

 In today’s world, there’s really no hiding anything. Especially when it comes to business.

In this article, we’ll dive into ways that you can “spy” on your competitors to advance your company.

Before we do that, let’s answer the question of whether or not it’s ethical to do so. 

The word “spy” has a negative connotation to it so it can be a bit misleading. 

But what we’re really trying to do here is observe what others are doing and finding ways to improve your business based on that data.

We do NOT want to copy, rip-off, or steal.

The goal is to model what’s working, avoid mistakes/pitfalls where possible, and provide the end-customer the best value and experience possible.

Now, while we do want to focus on the competitors that are more "successful" than you, we also want to look at those who aren’t as successful as well.

Why you might ask?

It’s so you understand what’s keeping them from being more successful and learning what NOT to do.

Because no matter whom you look at, you can find lessons that will benefit how you think and approach your own business.

SO let’s dive into different areas of other businesses to look at…

Reviews

One of the best approaches to “spying” is to look at the reviews of your competitors. You can uncover a lot and find some extremely valuable data.

Why?

Because it’s direct feedback from the customer or client’s themselves.

Ideally, you look at reviews from third-party websites and not reviews on the companies' own website.

What you’re looking for is what people like about the product/service(s) and where the drawbacks or issues are.

If you consistently read that people wish that Product Y had a specific feature(s), it’s something to consider for your own products/services. 

So it’s important to look at both sides and not just focus on the negatives. 

That way, you’re gathering as much data as you can, you’re able to understand what’s important to customers, you can make improvements to your products/services, and you can modify your marketing so it speaks more to the main points/features/benefits that people actually want and not just what you think they want.

That will help your message resonate better and increase your sales conversions.

Look at Their Websites

Next, we can look at your competitors’ websites to get an idea of their language, their use of pictures, their content, what they’re offering, etc. 

If you know you these companies are successful, then you want to look into what’s helping them and a website may be a big part of their success equation.

After all, it's one of the major sources of information and lead/sales conversions that a business has.

As a side note on websites, the simpler it is, the better. Many businesses have overly complicated websites that actually hurt their business more than help their business.

Advertising

If you’re spending money on any sort of advertising, then looking at your competitor’s ads is a must. 

Especially if you know that it’s profitable.

For example, Facebook has made advertising very transparent so you can see the ads that any company is currently running on its platform through the Facebook Ads Library.

If you find the ad has been running for a while, then it’s likely working (unless the company likes throwing money away).

Look into their images, video, and their copy. Do they use long copy or short? Do they use bright images? Are their videos value-based or more like commercials? What are they offering in their ads?

Try to understand why it’s working well so you can model it for your own advertisements.

And it’s not just on Facebook.

Look at Google, banner ads, ads in emails, magazine or paper ads, billboards, etc. 

Depending on what industry you’re in, that’s going to affect where your competitors are advertising.

Funnels

So once people see your competitors’ ads, where do they go?

What process do they take prospects through to convert them into paying customers?

If possible, have you gone through the process yourself to understand what they’re doing and why?

Again, we want to model the successful so if a company has spent time and money to test different ways of doing things to find the optimal way, you want to leverage that instead of spending the time and/or money yourself. 

But just to mention again, the goal is NOT to steal anything here—it’s to model.

Offers

Next up is looking into what other businesses are offering to their customers/clients. Do they do anything special or add any bonuses that help attract more people to them? 

Do they package their products/services differently that’s more appealing to the end-consumer or client?

When you make offers, the goal is not to be a commodity where your products/services are easily comparable to anyone else’s.

Because if that’s the case, there’s always someone that can go lower on price and undercut you. And that's not a game I think any business really wants to play.

There are ways to combat that through building a brand, positioning, and customer loyalty but it will certainly help to create more value and differentiate yourself.

Processes

If possible, can you look into another successful business’s processes of how they operate so effectively? 

Do they have specific strategies or methods that allow them to be more efficient, more effective, reduce costs, generate more sales, etc.?

This could be their sales process, their email marketing campaign/style, how they train employees, their content creation process, their customer service strategies, etc.

There are a lot of areas that operate a business and a simple improvement in each can have dramatic results on how the business runs as a whole.

Fulfillment

When fulfilling products/services, do your competitors do anything different that helps them differentiate or improve their business?

Do they package products in a certain way? Are they adding in special messages? Do they have special delivery options, etc.?

The business transaction is not over when the cash is collected. It’s about the experience afterward and how the business leads the customer to the next step.

A lot of companies are missing this important step in their process. They just expect that people will buy again or refer others to their business because they had a good experience. 

Sure, they may but it’s not likely. 

They need guidance so you want to make it easier for them to do business with you again.

Look Outside of Your Industry

When looking at competitors, it’s natural just to think of your own industry because of course, that’s where you are.

But if you’re really looking to differentiate, you have to start looking outside.

Keep your eyes and ears open as you go about your day-to-day.

Observe every business that you interact with and look into how and why they do certain things. 

What do they do that makes you feel good about doing business with them? What do they do that makes you keep coming back as a repeat customer versus anywhere else?

The biggest breakthroughs may very well come from this one strategy alone.

Summary

Many businesses can find extreme value in taking some time to explore and learn about the companies/products/services that they’re competing against.

When you look at virtually every aspect of another business, you’re able to see opportunities for improving your own business that you couldn’t see otherwise.

If you focus solely on looking at your own company in a vacuum, you’ll waste time trying to figure things out whereas you may be able to find answers much easier when you look outside.

Speaking of outside, I want to reiterate the importance of looking outside your own industry. Because it’s not about just finding what your competition is doing and one-upping them. 

Sometimes being creative and doing something different is what will help you stand apart and take your business to the next level. 

After all, it’s much harder for prospective customers to compare you to everyone else when you’re basically in a different league.

At the end of the day, what they ultimately care about the most are results and what you do for them.

All the best in your business,