What is indirect competition? Indirect competition is the kind of competition you experience from indirect competitors. These are competitors that offer different products and services to you, but targeting the same set of customers. The products and services your indirect competitors offer are sometimes called “substitutes” or “alternatives”. Consider any alternative means your target customers could use to solve their pain points as indirect competition. For customers looking to be entertained, video games are a substitute for books, or for movies. Social media can entertain, too, so you co ..read more

With so many software options available, building an effective competitive intelligence tech stack can feel like a daunting task.  But fear not! We've got your back.  We've compiled a list of the top three competitive intelligence tools in every key software category – from dedicated CI platforms to social listening tools and CRMs.  Everything you’re about to read is based on a survey of CI professionals, carried out for the 2023 Competitive Intelligence Tools of Choice report . In order of importance, as voted by CI pros at the likes of Johnson & Johnson and Zoom, the soft ..read more

This article was adapted from What is customer and market research? on our sister site, Product Marketing Alliance. As a competitive intelligence pro, you’re likely hyper-aware of what’s going on in the market, but are you missing a crucial piece of the puzzle? Analyzing your competitors is key, but understanding your customers' needs, behaviors, and motivations is arguably even more crucial. After all, it’s the target audience that’s informing your competitors’ strategies. Just like you, they’re trying to win the hearts, minds, and wallets of their chosen market. If you can understand custom ..read more

In this episode of the Complete Clarity Podcast, we chat with Ben Hoffman, Senior Manager of Competitive Intelligence at Adobe, exploring the transformative impact of AI on competitive intelligence (CI). Ben shares insights on how AI not only streamlines the immense task of data analysis, but also serves as a vital tool for strategic planning, without overshadowing the irreplaceable value of human intuition and decision-making.  We delve into the nuances of AI's application in CI, the importance of security in its deployment, and Adobe's forward-looking approach to leveraging AI for futu ..read more

Search engine optimization (SEO) can be a frustrating game. You might pour endless hours into optimizing your site, creating quality content, and getting backlinks – yet your competitors still mange to leapfrog you in the SERPs. ? If that sounds familiar, the problem might not be what you're doing, but rather what you're missing compared to the competition. That’s where an SEO competitive analysis comes in; it reveals the gaps in your SEO strategy so you can adjust and overtake the leaders in your space – and in this article, we’re going to show you how to do it. This 7-step guide w ..read more

Competitive differentiation is the process of making your product offerings unique from those of your competitors. In practice, this often means creating or discovering what you do better than them, and emphasizing these aspects of your products or services. Part of the challenge of competitive differentiation is making your customers understand that differentiation – via clear, direct messaging. This is the job of marketing, but is informed by competitive intelligence. Competitive intelligence helps you understand your competitive differentiators by offering crucial context. You’ll understan ..read more

?️ This article is based on Fiona’s insightful interview on the Compete Clarity podcast. Check out the full episode here.  If you want to stay ahead of the pack, you have to understand your rivals. But how can you use competitive intelligence to craft a winning strategy? You’ve come to the right place to find out! Get ready to learn… What role competitive intelligence (CI) should play in your positioning campaigns. How to leverage competitor insights for major product and pricing shifts. How to get started with CI. How to use SEO and SEM data to exploit unique competitive advantages ..read more

What is PESTLE analysis? A PESTLE analysis (or PESTEL analysis, sometimes simplified to PEST analysis) is a strategic planning framework that has you examine six types of external factors that can impact an organization: Political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors. PESTLE analysis gives you context for your strategic decision-making, which you can use to improve your strategic plans. The six components of PESTLE analysis PESTLE analysis has you break down the external factors that impact your organization into six categories. When performing the analysis, you ..read more

As a competitive intelligence (CI) practitioner, you’ve likely got the scoop on your rivals, but have you ever wondered what your peers are up to? After all, they certainly have lessons to share that could help you raise your CI game even higher. Luckily for you, every year we survey the crème de la crème of competitive intel to get a sneak peek into their practices (oh, how the tables have turned!). So, strap in and get ready to learn: Which teams CI practitioners work with most closely to get the job done.  How CI pros gather competitive intelligence from other departments (and how th ..read more

Business strategies are high stakes. There’s money on the line, and mistakes matter. That’s why pressure testing your business strategy is key. In this article, we’ll explain what business wargaming is, and how you can use it to test and improve your business’ strategies and tactics. What is a war game in business strategy? Business wargaming (aka corporate war gaming) sees you battle test your strategic plans before putting the fate of your business in their hands. A war game workshop is a role-playing workshop where you pressure test your business strategy. To test your strategies, you’ll f ..read more