Sure, it’s hard to understand why anyone would choose your lousy competitor over your awesome company. But these things happen. Unless you’re the only contractor in town, your market has choices. For marketers, assessing your competition begins with simple steps, such as:
Conduct a Google search for relevant contracting terms, including services you provide. As you identify companies in your market …
Visit their websites. Get an initial impression to see how well this website will appeal to a prospect. Is it easy to navigate? Does the copy promise enticing benefits? Are their risk reducers that make it tempting to take the next step? Evaluate services. Do they duplicate, exceed or fall short of your services?
Monitor social media profiles. Do they post regularly or rarely? Do they have engaging interactions with customers? Is their content useful or interesting?
Sign up for e-newsletters. It’s not unusual to get on the mailing list for your competitors, but you might want to use an alternate email address rather than one that includes your company URL.
Attend home shows. If you’re not exhibiting, at least you can drop in for a stroll through the exhibits. You can see who is making home show investments and how well they’re doing. You can also introduce yourself. Who knows? You may meet someone you’ll want to join your team.
Ask your customers, informally and conversationally, who they used before and why they chose you this time.