10 Crucial Competitive Intelligence Examples: What To Monitor Today

Whether you’re in marketing, sales, or product, there are usually times when someone from your team drops a Slack message with the news “Competitor X released a new feature” or “Competitor Y went out of business,” and perhaps the news is one week (month?) old.

Not ideal, right?

On the one hand, you wish you had known before; on the other, you know you don’t have time (don’t get me started on the allocate resources part of the equation) to set up yet another initiative to do corporate intelligence and monitor your competitors.

You’re not part of a competitive intelligence team, and perhaps, at this point, you have either asked your manager to set one up or started your own very fragmented CI program, where sometimes you check your competitors’ strategies on Ahrefs.

Fellow marketers (and sales teams and product folks), I’ve been there and done that. That’s why in this article, I’m discussing ten types of competitive intelligence you need to monitor and how to set up a quick and easy winning framework.

Let’s get started!

What is competitive intelligence?

And this really means what competitive intelligence means to you—that is, if you are not a competitive intelligence professional and do not have the time and resources to set up a competitive intelligence program, and yet you need to know what your competitors are doing.

And that’s really it: competitive intelligence is about knowing what your competitors are doing, ideally when they are doing it.

It’s all about signals and getting them in time. What it comes down to is getting timely alerts of changes so that you can act accordingly and speed up decision-making.

Ten types of competitive intelligence you need to track

So far, we’ve mentioned just a few types of competitive intelligence you need to get notifications about (possibly in real-time), but at least ten need your attention. Let’s see them–and how to track them in no time.

1. New products and features released

This is probably the most popular piece of market intelligence you want to put your hands on–and for good reason. New products or features can directly threaten your market share and turn potential competitors into direct competitors.

Analyzing information and competitor claims on their pages manually can be tough and can lead to incomplete data collection and frustration. Competitive intelligence tools help you here by automating the process of collecting data and giving you all the info you need.

Which pages to track

In this case, you should either track their changelog, What's New page, or the product page. These are where changes are announced and showcased. These pages are also useful for collecting data on their messaging and positioning and your competitor's value proposition and what pain points they're trying to solve.

2. Changes in pricing and pricing structure

Pricing is one of the most important parts of your competitive intelligence research. Your sales team will thank you if you are able to provide them with a strategic competitive intelligence analysis that includes a business strategy on pricing.

It’s also pretty straightforward. The only challenge is that pricing changes often, so it’s important to track and stay up-to-date (hello, automation). Look for any changes in their pricing structure, such as new tiers or discounts, as well as any updates on their overall pricing strategy.

Which pages to track

Your competitors' pricing pages—yes, plural. Sometimes, if they're marketing to different geographies, they may have a different pricing strategy. And this is definitely something you should keep tabs on.

3. Homepage and product page changes

The homepages of your competitors’ sites have tons of valuable insights. They help you understand their messaging and positioning if they have a new buyer persona, target market, or even a new customer segment.

Similarly, a product page is useful not only to check new features (the changelog is usually updated before or at the same time) but also to analyze industry trends, gather competitive intelligence on your main competitors’ business decisions, and help you with strategic decision-making.

Depending on your industry and market share, you may have additional pages you need to track for your competitive intelligence strategy. Use a tool that allows you to monitor all the pages you need in one easy-to-use platform.

Which pages to track

Well, of course, you'll track the homepage and product page here. Sometimes, under product or use cases, you'll find pages targeted toward a specific buyer persona or new customer segments. These are also useful for gathering competitive intelligence about their messaging and product positioning.

4. Website Experiments

Considering that, on average, most industries conduct about 24 tests per account each year, getting your hands on your competitors’ A/B test results would be a game-changer. By tracking their website experiments and conducting a UX competitor analysis, you can gain insights into their changes to improve their conversion rates and user experience.

To date, there’s no definite way to do that, but some tactics you can use include finding out whether they have a conversion rate optimization stack, using competitive intelligence tools to monitor changes on their website, and tracking their social media activity for any updates or announcements related to website improvements.

Which pages to track

This can vary greatly. Usually, the most popular A/B tests are on CTA buttons, form fields, and page copy for high-value pages, so you can check to see if your competitors are conducting experiments there.

5. Customer reviews

There is possibly little information more valuable than actually listening (or reading) to what customers are saying about a product or service.

That’s exactly why you should track customer reviews in your competitive intelligence report. Feedback can provide valuable insights into what aspects of your competitor’s products are working well and which ones need improvement. Look for patterns in the reviews and see if any common themes or issues come up frequently.

What to track

G2 is certainly the leader of this space. However, checking thousands of reviews and making sense of the general sentiment of target customers is a huge endeavor, so your best option is using a competitive intelligence tool that supports this feature.

6. Job postings and employee reviews

I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite parts of a website is its job posting page. This is not only because you can check if the company is interview-worthy material but also because it will give you a sense of what direction the company is going. Are they focusing on product (aka hiring developers with experience using codeless automation testing tools, for example) or changing the marketing team?

Sometimes, the job posting itself is revealing; check this example below: Fortune is hiring to support the company’s YouTube expansion.

Similarly, employee reviews (i.e., on Glassdoor) can help you understand where the company is focusing or whether they’re doing a strategic shift (i.e., less focus on specific departments.)

Which pages to track

Most companies have their own Careers page so that I would start there. Additionally, you can check sites like We Work Remotely if you know your competitors hire for remote roles or LinkedIn if you want to see which companies are actively hiring in your industry.

7. Social media posts

If you manage social media accounts, you know it’s all about staying ahead and having a competitive advantage over your competitors. Following companies on social media, especially LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter), can give you insight into their strategies, which is so valuable for any marketing team.

What to track

The answer here is social listening. Using social media management tools, you can set up streams to monitor what your competitors post on social media, which channels they're active on, how engaged their audience is, and their overall strategy. This can also help you with new products and feature releases.

8. Content strategy

Speaking of competitive advantage, having a strong content strategy can also give you an edge in the market. By analyzing what type of content your competitors are creating and which topics they’re covering, you can identify areas where you can differentiate yourself and provide unique value to your target audience.

Keeping an eye on your competitors’ blog posts, newsletters, and even live videos streamed through video transcoding can give you a glimpse into their marketing strategies and any changes they may be making to their websites as a result. In your competitive analysis, pay attention to the topics they cover, the language they use, and the overall design of their content.

Which pages to track

Definitely their blog loop page, but that's not all. Your competitors' strategies probably include lead magnets (from white papers to free tools), glossaries, guides, webinars, and even wikis. You can also use a competitive intelligence tool that can track all content published automatically and give you an actionable overview of their strategy.

9. Email flows

Another useful competitive intelligence technique is to sign up for your competitors’ email lists. This way, you can receive updates about any new features or changes on their website directly from them. You can also analyze their email campaigns to see how they’re targeting and engaging with their audience and use that information to improve your email marketing strategies.

Unless you want to do it manually (that is, subscribe to their list with your valid email address and sort out all the emails you receive), using a tool like Unkover can save you several hours a week and give you an actionable overview of your competitor’s email marketing strategy.

What to track

Unless you're interested in subscribing to every competitor's email list, your best option is to gather data using competitive intelligence platforms that track and analyze email flows. This way, you can see their campaigns, frequency, subject lines, and even open and click-through rates.

10. Market moves and leadership changes

Another important aspect to consider when analyzing your competitors’ strategies is monitoring any market moves or strategic intelligence they make, such as changes in executive leadership, partnerships, and acquisitions.

These corporate intelligence tactics can give you insights and tactical intelligence into their future plans and direction, allowing you to adjust your own strategy accordingly.

What to track

I'm not suggesting you engage in corporate espionage, but you can use LinkedIn to monitor the executive team (they're likely to post any change there), analyst reports, monthly reports, and industry news sources for any market moves or acquisitions.

Use these examples of competitive intelligence today and stay ahead of your competitors’ strategies

How can you gather competitive intelligence when you have little time and many (many) tasks on your to-do list?

First, get clear on what you need to track. Of course, ideally, your competitive intelligence research should include everything, but some high-impact intel will give you a competitive edge that will impact your bottom line.

In this article, we saw ten impactful types of competitive intelligence you can start tracking today and a tool that can help you streamline your competitive intelligence report.

The best part? You can get started in 5 minutes for free. Grab your free trial of Unkover today.

FAQs

What are competitive intelligence activities?

Competitive intelligence activities are systematic and ethical strategies used by businesses to gather, analyze, and manage information about their competitive environment. These tactical competitive intelligence activities help companies make informed decisions by understanding market trends, competitor strategies, customer preferences, and broader industry changes. Key competitive intelligence activities include:

1. Market Research: Conducting email surveys, focus groups, and analysis to understand market needs, trends, and dynamics.
2. Competitor Analysis: Analyzing current competitors’ product offerings, marketing strategies, sales tactics, and performance metrics.
3. Benchmarking: Comparing the company’s products, services, processes, and practices against those of key competitors to identify areas for improvement or differentiation.
4. Monitoring Digital Channels: Tracking competitors’ digital footprints, including websites, social media profiles, content publication, and online customer interactions.
5. Regulatory Environment Scanning: Keeping abreast of changes in regulations that could impact the competitive landscape.
6. Customer Feedback Analysis: Gathering and analyzing customer opinions, reviews, and feedback on your and your competitors’ products or services.
7. Financial Analysis: Reviewing publicly available financial documents of competitors to understand their profitability, investment in R&D, and market growth strategies.
8. Attending Trade Shows and Industry Conferences: Collecting insights on industry trends, new technologies, and competitor announcements directly from key industry events.

What is the difference between competitive intelligence examples and competitive intelligence sources?

CI examples show competitor intelligence and how companies use it to gain an edge, like creating new products or adjusting prices based on rivals. Competitive intelligence sources include public filings, competitor websites, customer feedback, industry journals, and more. Examples show how it’s used; sources are where data comes from.

How can I get started with competitive intelligence using Unkover?

Great question 😉

You can start using Unkover for free today and see value immediately. You just need to:

1. Connect with your Slack so all the information gathered is available to you (and your team) directly where you can see them.
2. Pick the websites of all your competitors and the specific pages you want to track (if you’re not sure, we’ll give you some suggestions).
3. Read your competitors’ email marketing flows.
4. Get competitive insights instantly.

Start your free trial of Unkover today.