It’s exciting, isn’t it? You’re finally stepping into the business world after perfecting your one-of-a-kind product.
Taking that first step to launch your brand on the market might seem tough. But really, it isn’t. The real challenge lies in outperforming your competitors so that you can carve out your space in the business landscape.
Watching the competition is the only way to stay a step ahead. Learning about your competitors’ offerings, financial decisions, and marketing strategies will allow you to make informed decisions about your company’s growth.
But when you’re starting out, time and resources are often scarce. Gathering insights about your rivals can be challenging. To help, we’ll share a few strategies that will help you keep tabs on the competition and stay on top of them.
#1 Follow on X
Formerly Twitter, X is still one of the best sources of information. Businesses use this micro-blogging platform to promote their products or services, communicate with their customers, and share advice and information, says NI Business Information.
To be precise, about 18 million businesses worldwide are active on the platform, which makes it a hub for real-time updates and industry trends.
Create an account on Twitter if you haven’t already, and follow your competitors. There, you can catch their latest product launches, marketing campaigns, and customer engagement techniques. It will help you stay informed about market shifts and consumer preferences.
Tools like X Pro—formerly TweetDeck—can help you organize feeds, track mentions, and analyze audience behavior, ensuring you stay competitive. Are they jumping on trending hashtags or hosting Twitter Spaces? These are clues about what is working for them.
#2 Read Online Reviews
Want to know where your competitors are lagging behind? Check their online reviews.
Reviews from customers provide an unfiltered insight into what customers love and what they don’t.
Platforms like Google Reviews, Trustpilot, and Yelp are filled with unfiltered customer feedback. Take a good look at them.
Positive reviews highlight what is working well and where you will need to match—or exceed—them. It can be a hint at features or experiences you can replicate or improve upon.
Negative reviews are what matter the most, however. If people are constantly complaining about long wait times, poor communication, or lackluster features, you’ve found your edge. These pain points are opportunities for you to step in and do better.
#3 Find Out Where the Competition is Showing Up
To outsmart your competition, you need to know where they are making waves.
Monitor your competition’s social activity. Are they active on LinkedIn or Facebook? Tools like Hootsuite or Brandwatch can help track where they post most frequently and which platforms drive the highest engagement for them.
Analyze your competitor’s website as well. Look at their pricing models. If a competitor’s pricing page has a free trial option, offer it.
App Developer Magazine reveals that 30-day free trials had the highest conversion rate (56%) and client acquisition (32%).
Dive deeper into their blog content and FAQs. Check if they are addressing the pain points of their target audience. Also, gauge their site traffic, top-performing pages, and SEO strategy. Tools like SimilarWeb or SEMrush will come in handy for the task.
Don’t overlook their website design. If their site is clean, user-friendly, and mobile-optimized, and yours isn’t, it’s time to refine it.
Minor design adjustments won’t take too much. But a major overhaul would take significantly longer, from a few weeks to several months.
You can cut short that time into a fraction if you use an AI-powered website builder. These builders are powered by, which is why they can generate web designs based on parameters set. And this is what makes them ideal for people who lack design or coding knowledge.
You just have to give the right prompts when asked, including the things you want to exclude, explains Hocoos. And ta-da! Your website will be ready in a matter of minutes.
#4 Subscribe To Investor Newsletters and Social Media Updates
This is old-school but still relevant.
Investor newsletters like Buyouts and TermSheets highlight key business decisions, financial goals, and long-term strategies. Even if you’re not in direct competition at that level, this information can help you spot trends or predict their next moves. Signing up for them will be wise.
Social media updates keep you informed about their day-to-day activities, promotions, and customer interactions.
Statista’s recent survey found that LinkedIn is the most used platform among B2B marketers—approximately 86%. In addition, data shows that 67M+ companies are listed on LinkedIn.
Hence, LinkedIn is a great source for keeping an eye on competitors. It can keep you posted on your competitors, especially for partnerships, product launches, and personnel changes.
The ultimate takeaway: monitoring your competition will allow you to understand the landscape, so you can carve out your unique place in it. And in the race to the top, data and creativity are your two best friends. So, research competitively while focusing on your customer, and you’ll not only keep up, but also lead the pack.
HedgeThink.com is the fund industry’s leading news, research and analysis source for individual and institutional accredited investors and professionals
