Competitive intelligence, or CI, is information collected on competitors or potential competitors that can be used as a basis for business strategy. In its simplest form, competitive intelligence can involve collecting publicly available information on competitors from sources such as the Internet and social media. The primary means of presenting competitive information is analyzing external data to identify patterns and trends. This can be used to identify and understand competitors’ strengths and weaknesses and determine how competitors are performing in their respective market segments. Here are the best competitive intelligence tools to use for Marketing.
1. SEMRush Traffic Analytics
It is a free web-based marketing tool that allows users to search and display market research. The tool can conduct multiple search terms simultaneously, giving an accurate picture of total traffic over time for each keyword. SEMRush Traffic Analytics allows users to determine which keywords drive the most traffic by tracking total searches with mobile and desktop devices via a daily or weekly metric or by comparing up to five segments and identifying the top-performing keywords among them.
2. Crunchbase
It is a free tool for doing competitor research. It allows you to analyze millions of companies and people, investment data, events, deals, news, and trends. Crunchbase Pro is a paid tool that allows you to monitor your competitors’ financial data and business developments in real-time. LinkedIn uses the tool to power news and insights on over 150,000 companies.
3. SimilarWeb
This tool lets you see detailed stats on any website, app, or web browser. It shows you real-time traffic information for the past 30 days, including top keywords, visitors, content, and more. SimilarWeb Pro also allows you to monitor competitor data in real-time. The tool provides insight into what age groups are visiting competitors’ websites and how many people visit during weekdays and weekends.
4. Konnecto
It is a free traffic and conversion marketing app. It allows users to get an in-depth analysis of their competitors instantly without the need for coding skills. You can see the number of visitors on your competitor’s websites, the conversion rate by device, country, currency, and even the landing page. With Konnecto, you can see how your competitors attract their audience and what channels they use to convert leads into customers.
5. Wappalyzer
This tool is a free and effective competitive intelligence tool for marketers. Through Wappalyzer, you can see the websites and apps of your competitors, as well as get detailed information on the social media channels they use. You can also see where your competitors rank in search results. Wappalyzer helps compare search volume against Google, Bing, and Yahoo to identify new keywords that are being searched and used by competitors’ websites.
6. Moat
This tool is a free and easy way to track your competitors’ keyword changes and link activity on major social networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+. The tool shows you which of your competitors are tracking your keywords and the most popular posts from each social network. You can also see the number of links shared per day, keywords tracked, top content published, and more.
7. How NetbaseQuid Could Help Reach Business Goals With Competitive Intelligence
NetbaseQuid analyzes all of your online public personas and identifies the best-performing ones. It searches for relevant information that could help you to generate new ideas and discover new opportunities. Then it will show you a set of possible scenarios as to how business goals could be reached, depending on your industry and region. These results are derived from a set of data selected by Netbase based on specific criteria such as industry peers, the most important business partners, the primary customers or clients, values, and language.
Competitive intelligence helps your organization gain an advantage over your competitors. It is an essential component of any marketing strategy because it helps you learn how your competitors are marketing, how they connect with customers, and how you can maximize your exposure in the market.
