Increase Market Share – Using Competitor Analysis

Whatever the nature of your online business, there are usually plenty of other sites that offer similar goods and services, or target the same geographic area. If you want to increase your market share (and who doesn’t?), the first thing you need to do is stake out the competition. It’s only by knowing what you’re up against that you can create a compelling marketing plan – one that explains to potential customers why your site is the best place to do business.

All Kinds of Competitors

There’s a lot to be learned from loss – especially when that loss is a lost opportunity for an online sale. By identifying your direct competitors – those sites that offer goods and services identical to your own – you can learn why your potential customers are choosing their site over yours. Then, see if you can improve your marketing pitch with some of the competitors’ proven techniques, or use these techniques as a springboard to create something even better.

Your indirect competitors also affect online success. For example, if you run a site dedicated to softball equipment, you may consider that an isolated niche. But practically speaking, you’re not competing only with other softball equipment sites – you’re also in indirect competition with department stores that may have softball-related items in their sports section. While it may be unrealistic to think your site can de-throne Walmart, you can still learn from that store’s wider selection, and see if there’s some way that you, too, could become an attractive one-stop shop for all things softball.

Lastly, you should think about phantom competition (bwa, ha, ha!). Phantom competition refers to the many reasons people choose not to buy online, whether it’s because they’ve found a DIY solution and they don’t need your product anymore, or because they got distracted and lost interest.

Figuring out where you lose sales – to direct, indirect and phantom competition – can help you see those sales through the next time around.

Beat ‘Em At Their Own Game

Once you know why the other guy’s making the sale, you can use this information to spice up your marketing approach. Has your competitor created a “members-only” club for special discounts? Has he boosted his visibility by publishing regular articles in trade publications? Is there something about his product or service that fills an important market need?

You may curse your competition today, but you’ll thank them later – especially if you take their winning ideas and incorporate them into your online marketing plan.

How Conduit Gives You a Competitive Edge

Conduit community toolbars are a flexible marketing tool that allows you to try on new promotional techniques, put them directly in front of potential customers, and monitor the results in real time. Offered as a free download to site visitors, toolbars can be loaded with fun features customized for your target market. At the same time, they serve as an always-on advertisement for your site. Sitting in the top of the browser window whenever subscribers are online, Conduit toolbars broadcast your most important marketing message – and give you a platform for trying out the approaches that worked so well for the competition. By monitoring user response, you’ll quickly arrive at the optimum formula for online success.

Conduit helps you increase your market share by making it easy to adopt tips and techniques from successful businesses all over the web. Like your mother always said – share and share alike!