Matt Bertram is a award-winning marketing consultant and SEO Expert. He is the lead digital strategist at EWR Digital. Host of the Best SEO Podcast and Co-Host of the Oil and Gas sales and marketing podcast.
Are you a small company looking to boost your online success?
If so, then you’re going to need to start benchmarking data on your competitors.
But isn’t focusing on your competitors a waste of time? Not necessarily. After all, what worked for them might work for you. Collecting that data can give you an idea of how to get a competitive advantage.
Below, we’ll go into five tips for benchmarking data. Keep reading to take your online business to the next level!
1. Look At Yourself
In order to compare your performance to others, you’re going first to have to understand your company and what it’s doing well.
Most companies collect analytics on their daily, weekly, or even hourly performances. If you don’t, now is the time to start. Using a prominent analytics tool can help you better understand your organization’s working and what’s not.
If applicable, meet with people on your team to get their input. What do they see as working well in terms of your digital marketing strategy? What needs improvement?
Jot as many needed improvements down as necessary.
2. Look At Others
Now that you’ve identified your key issues, develop a list of organizations that handle similar problems well.
If you’re unsure of how to find these people for benchmarking data, use your professional connections or LinkedIn. Wherever possible, observe their systems in action.
Try to make these other companies your competitors. After all, if you can identify what they’re doing better than you, it might show you why a client might choose them over you.
Of course, you don’t want that, but it gives you invaluable information on boosting your performance. Instead of just copying what they do, however, take a hard look at it and make sure it would work for your organization.
And wherever possible, try to identify ways you can improve on what they do.
3. Contact Others
Once you’ve got a list of companies you would like to learn more about, pick up the phone and give them a call. Ask them if they’d be willing to share information about their data with you.
Now, if you’re thinking there’s no way a company would share information on their data, that’s understandable. After all, many companies try to hold their trade secrets close to their chest.
However, many are also happy to talk about their successes. If you remain professional and frame the conversation as a discussion of their success, then they might oblige you.
4. Benchmarking Data
Once you’ve collected data from several companies, take a look at it.
Compare it to yours and see how you stack up. Note down any tangible ways in which to improve.
5. Implement
Once you’ve identified exactly where you fall and how to improve, implement your ideas.
Don’t be afraid to get experimental if you need to. Track your performance with analytics software and work on it until you find something right for you.
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Benchmarking data is just one part of a successful digital marketing strategy.
If you need more help boosting your online presence, contact us! We will make sure you are able to grow your client base in no time!
