What Is Competitive Intelligence? Definition and Guide

As the competitive landscape of virtually every industry continues to increase, companies are investing heavily in market intelligence research to help give them an an edge. This ongoing process is often referred to as competitive intelligence.

In this guide, we’ll cover what competitive intelligence is, as well exactly how to incorporate effective competitive intelligence research as part of your overall business strategy. We’ll also share a competitive intelligence best practices to help you optimize your research process.

What is Competitive Intelligence?

The definition of competitive intelligence (CI) or competitor intelligence is the process in which a company gathers and analyzes information about its industry, business environment, competitors, and products with the goal of directing their future strategy.

Competitive Intelligence is largely believed to be a critical component of building a succesful competitive strategy and ultimately lead to creating a clear competitive advantage in business. With many businesses facing an increasingly competitive environment, quality research and market intelligence can often be the difference between a thriving business and one that struggles to keep up with their competition.

Competitive intelligence programs are used by both businesses large and small, to help give them an edge. Organizations with a clear read on the competitive landscape of their industry put themselves at a significant advantage compared to those who are not keeping up with market intelligence.

The information-gathering and analysis process can help a company develop its strategy or identify competitive gaps as well as develop a complete competitive analysis picture.

Competitive Intelligence Research: The Best Sources For Gathering Competitive Intelligence 

While larger companies have may have luxury of investing in competitive intelligence professionals, small and mid-sized businesses may not have room in their budget. Many organizations will need to gather competitive intelligence in house.

Fortunately, competitive intelligence information can be gathered using market research tools, as well as online searches, other data-gathering methods, and even talking to customers or employees.

Here are a few high quality places to help you find your competitive edge.

Information sources for online and other searches include

• Company websites for insights into target audiences or shifts in strategy, product pricing, product benefits, and so on.
• Company press releases for new product, staff, or expansion news.
• Social media postings, particularly if the company begins sharing information related to a product or service that hasn’t yet been introduced. 
• Going through the sales process of a product or service to better understand how a sales team works.
• Online job postings, since the types and number of open positions could indicate efforts to staff up for a new product or category development.
• Company information aggregators such as Dun & Bradstreet or Hoover’s Online.  
• User’s groups on social networks that include LinkedIn, Facebook, Reddit, and even a company review site such as Glassdoor.
• Using a SEO or analytics tool to better understand your competitions marketing strategy.

It’s also possible to gather relevant competitive information by talking to people inside and outside a company. The conversations might be overt – “Tell me what you know about product X” – or they might be subtle, “Hey, what are you hearing from people with products like ours about what’s likely to happen in our field?”

Throughout the process of competitive research it’s important to always remain ethical and play within the rules. Never mislead or outright lie while conducting research, not only is this unethical, there can be some severe legal repercussions as well in same cases. If you have the ability to afford investing in competitive intelligence professionals to help you with the process, it can help save you signifiant time and money down the road.

People who might have helpful information include

• Your own salespeople, who might learn information about competitors when calling on customers or prospects.
• Employees who attend particular industry conferences who might be able to share unique insights into the state of the industry.
• Vendors, especially those specializing in serving your industry.
• Customers who might inadvertently or intentionally share information they’ve acquired about competitive products or services. Again, never mislead or misrepresent yourself during this process.

The key to competitor intelligence is that second word – intelligence. Information gathered however formally or informally won’t help a company unless it is analyzed thoughtfully or carefully. You can use the insights gained through competitive intelligence to improve your current marketing strategy and respond appropriately to the current competitive landscape.

You can also use your findings to create clear competitive analysis documentation you can share with your marketing and sales teams to help give them a competitive edge.

As with most things in business, competitive intelligence is not something you can do once and call it a day. It’s a complex, always evolving process that helps your business stay competitive.