Competitive intelligence: the essential tool for staying competitive

In a constantly changing world, companies must constantly adapt and anticipate the changes that can impact their business.

Digital competitive intelligence is an effective way of staying informed and making informed decisions.

In this article, our Digital Agency presents the definition of digital intelligence, its objectives and the different methods to be adopted.

What is competitive intelligence?

Digital competitive intelligence, also known as digital monitoring, is a form of permanent surveillance activity which aims to analyse, collect and process information on the market, competitors, customers, technologies and innovations in order to anticipate changes and adjust its strategy accordingly.

Throughout this activity, you need to be attentive to weak signals and emerging trends in the field concerned. Digital competitive intelligence should be seen as a strategic tool for maintaining or improving your market position.

The objectives of digital competitive intelligence

Having an accurate, up-to-date view of the competitive landscape is essential to a company's success. Digital competitive intelligence therefore has several objectives:

• Anticipating trends Keeping a close eye on market trends makes it easier to understand customer expectations and identify opportunities.
• Know your competitors Analysing the strategy, products or services and marketing actions of your competitors allows you to learn from their successes and avoid their mistakes.
• Improving your own strategy A good understanding of its environment enables the company to adapt its strategy to remain competitive and innovative.
• Developing new products or services By identifying unmet customer needs, as well as technological innovations and emerging trends, the company can develop new products or services that meet these expectations.

The key stages in effective digital intelligence

There are a number of steps involved in setting up an effective digital competitive intelligence system:

1. Define your monitoring objectives The first step is to identify the priority issues for your company and the type of information you are looking for (competition, technologies, regulations, etc.).
2. Identifying sources of information They can be many and varied (websites, social networks...), blogsforums, press reviews, etc.). It is important to choose reliable and relevant sources.
3. Set up an information gathering system Monitoring: it is possible to use automatic monitoring tools (specialised search engines, monitoring software, etc.), as well as manual monitoring (document analysis, attendance at conferences, professional meetings, etc.).
4. Analysing the information collected This information needs to be decoded and qualified in order to draw relevant conclusions. To do this, it is often necessary to cross-reference different sources and compare points of view.
5. Disseminating information within the company Monitoring must be shared with the teams concerned in order to facilitate decision-making and the implementation of appropriate actions. It can be transmitted in a variety of formats (dashboards, summary notes, reports, etc.).

Methods and tools for conducting digital intelligence

There are several methods and tools that can be used to implement effective digital competitive intelligence:

Search engines and Google Alerts

These tools provide rapid access to a vast amount of online information. In particular, you can create alerts Google which will e-mail search results for specific keywords related to your business or your competitors.

Social networks

They are a valuable source of information for keeping up to date with your competitors, their products and services, and customer feedback. The main networks to monitor are LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or even YouTube.

Specific digital monitoring tools

There are several software packages and platforms dedicated to digital competitive intelligence. These include Mention, Talkwalker, Digimind and Meltwater. These solutions generally offer advanced information gathering, analysis and reporting functions.

Participation in professional events

To complete your digital competitive intelligence, it is also advisable to take part in conferences, trade fairs, forums and other events related to your business sector. This gives you the opportunity to meet your competitors and potential partners face-to-face, or to talk to experts in your field. experts to better understand market trends.

In short, digital competitive intelligence represents a major challenge for companies wishing to remain competitive in an increasingly complex and constantly changing environment. You need to take ownership of this approach and integrate it into your overall strategy, using the most appropriate methods and tools according to your objectives and field of activity.