Snoop On Your Competitors Workbook

SNOOP

ON YOUR COMPETITORS WORKBOOK

SNOOP ON YOUR C O M P E T I TO R S W O R K B O O K

We ARE Unthink solutions

I N S I D E

Isn’t it time to unthink how you approach marketing? Do you have a plan to attract, get, and keep more clients at break even or better? If not, we have good news. There is a better way to approach marketing. One that ultimately pays for itself.

We created this guide with the purpose of saving you countless hours of frustration, not to mention thou-

sands of dollars, trying to figure out marketing on your own.

This workbook shares with you all the hard learned lessons we’ve personally encountered ourselves, and the solutions we’ve found. The marketing landscape has changed dramatically in the last two years.. You won’t regret the investment of time. A complete paradigm shift awaits.

WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 2

I N S I D E

the art of SNOOPING A HEARTY HELLO | CO-FOUNDERS OF UNTHINK SOLUTIONS

We all have snooped at one time or another into other people’s lives. It’s human nature. But what about snooping on your competitors? Inside this workbook we share the eight secrets to finding out what your competitor is doing and why you should know what they’re up to. We walk you through the same process we use step by step. You won’t believe what you find. The results are powerful!

4

10

14

18

FINDING YOUR COMPETITOR

CUSTOMER/CLIENT REVIEW INVENTORY

SOCIAL MEDIA INVENTORY

ORGANIC SEARCH KEYWORDS

22

26

30

34

THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ADS

OTHER TRAFFIC SOURCES

TRUST BUILDING

CLIENT RETENTION TOOLS

SNOOP ON YOUR COMPETITOR WORKBOOK 3

I N S I D E

WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 4

I N S I D E

Q: Is snooping on your competitor even ethical?

Absolutely. None of the techniques we recommend are in the least shady. In fact, these are industry standard techniques those in the know use all the time. You will be surprised how much information is available to the public when you know where to look.

Q: What tools do I need to snoop?

There are several tools we mention throughout the course of this workbook. The main three are: http://www.semrush.com http://www.spyfu.com http://www.similarsites.com You will also want Adobe Acrobat to make notes directly in this workbook. MS excel or Google Sheets will also be useful.

Q: Are the tools needed expensive?

SEMrush.com and Spyfu.com both have free versions that provide more than enough information for the purposes of this workbook. Similarsites.com is completely free.

Q: Once I am done snooping what should I do with the information?

We suggest using the information you find as the basis of your own marketing strategy. There are several important elements you will need for your strategy that we will be offering workbooks for shortly.

Q: How much time will it take to complete the workbook? Is it really worth my time?

How much time to spend really depends on you and how in-depth you choose to go and how many competitors you choose to research. If you just want something quick and dirty you should be able to complete the workbook in under two hours.

It is undoubtedly worth your time. Successful marketing has changed so dramatically in the last two years that even well seasoned marketing professionals are scrambling to get up to speed. The best way to accelerate the learning process is to learn from those who are already competing with the new way of marketing profitably.

Q: Why are you giving this guide away for free?

There are so many misconceptions among small business owners about how marketing actually works these days. We primarily see business owners convinced single tactics will work such as focusing on social media posting. Most believe that if they give enough time and money to a particular tactic it will work. The only way to convince them otherwise is to show them how their competitors are actually marketing successfully.

We trust that if we give you enough value up front and help you make an educated decision for yourself you’ll contact us for your marketing when you are ready.

Q: How technically savvy do I need to be to complete the workbook?

Q: How is this different from all the other things I’ve tried?

You certainly don’t need to be a technical genius although it is likely there will be unfamiliar terminology you’ll come across. If you find yourself getting too intimidated you can always use our “Done-For-You Competitor Analysis” here. It is only $18 and well worth the investment.

Successful marketing requires a well planned, coordinated, implemented, and tested strategy.

This workbook is one portion of how we build the complete marketing strategy. This workbook is not about a tactic where you can expect to get quick results. It’s for the business owner who is serious about growth and recognizes that the singular tactics they’ve tried previously are not working.

SNOOP ON YOUR COMPETITOR WORKBOOK 5

FINDING YOUR COMPETITOR

F I N D I N G

Y O U R

C O M P E T I T O R

“A horse never runs so fast as when he has other horses to catch up and outpace.” – Ovid

THOUGHTS / TO KEEP IN MIND

Traditionally, “Direct competition is a situation in which two or more businesses offer products or services that are essentially the same; as such, the businesses are competing for the same potential market.” However when it comes to researching in the digital marketing world a competitor might be clear across the country.

What is important is to find a business similar to your own, which is marketing successfully so you can learn from them. Both their successes and failures.

WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 6

F I N D I N G

Y O U R

C O M P E T I T O R

SNOOP ON YOUR COMPETITOR WORKBOOK 7

F I N D I N G

Y O U R

C O M P E T I T O R

1. Start by creating a short list of keywords your audience might search for online.

2. Do a search in Google for the top 3 keywords you listed. Just see what comes up. Are there any companies listed that sound like they do something similar to your company? Record the top two or three urls.

3. Search on the same keywords using Spyfu.com or SEMrush.com. Look at the companies listed under “competition�. List the top two to three urls.

WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 8

F I N D I N G

Y O U R

C O M P E T I T O R

4. List the top two to three competitor urls you already know about.

5. Search each of the url’s you’ve collected on www.similarsites.com.

There are five ways available to search. Record any relevant competitors urls you find for each section.

Similar Sites Section:

Similar Sites Traffic Section:

SNOOP ON YOUR COMPETITOR WORKBOOK 9

F I N D I N G

Y O U R

C O M P E T I T O R

Similar by Visits Section:

Similar by Searches Section:

Similar by Topic Section:

WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 10

F I N D I N G

Y O U R

C O M P E T I T O R

By now you should have a nice list of possible competitors.

TIP: We recommend creating a spreadsheet of them all for future use. Be sure to include the url and any other relevant information.

Prioritize the list starting with the most relevant at the top.

Now with the top three competitors you find complete the following steps for each.

SNOOP ON YOUR COMPETITOR WORKBOOK 11

CUSTOMER/CLIENT REVIEW INVENTORY

R E V I E W

I N V E N T O R Y

“In business, the idea of measuring what you are doing, picking the measurements that count like customer satisfaction and performance… you thrive on that.”– Bill Gates THOUGHTS / TO KEEP IN MIND

In this section you will be looking up any reviews online – Facebook, Yelp, Google, etc., that you can find for your competitor. Reviews are an absolute gold mine when it comes to understanding what matters the most to your audience, and what common complaints you should intentionally address.

WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 12

R E V I E W

I N V E N T O R Y

SNOOP ON YOUR COMPETITOR WORKBOOK 13

R E V I E W

I N V E N T O R Y

6. What do people value most? (Copy paste any relevant reviews.)

WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 14

R E V I E W

I N V E N T O R Y

7. What do people dislike the most? (Copy paste any relevant reviews.)

SNOOP ON YOUR COMPETITOR WORKBOOK 15

SOCIAL MEDIA INVENTORY

S O C I A L

M E D I A

I N V E N T O R Y

“It’s because of this fundamental shift towards user-generated information that people will listen more to other people than to traditional resources.” – Eric Schmidt, ex-CEO Google THOUGHTS / TO KEEP IN MIND

Taking a careful look at your competitor’s social media pages will provide invaluable tools about what works and what does not for your audience. This step is a powerful shortcut to finding out how your audience likes to engage online. Keep in mind only 1-2% of campaigns are actually successful. If your competitor is leveraging social media successfully then it likely means they had lots of failures first. Those are failures you can avoid yourself by examining your competitor’s social media closely.

WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 16

S O C I A L

M E D I A

I N V E N T O R Y

SNOOP ON YOUR COMPETITOR WORKBOOK 17

S O C I A L

M E D I A

I N V E N T O R Y

8. Facebook likes:

9. Pinterest followers:

10. Instagram followers:

11. Twitter followers:

WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 18

S O C I A L

M E D I A

I N V E N T O R Y

12. LinkedIn followers:

13. Are people liking and sharing their content from their social media?

14. If yes, what content was shared most? On what platform? (Go to Spyfu.com – “matching pages” section.)

SNOOP ON YOUR COMPETITOR WORKBOOK 19

SEARCH KEYWORDS

O R G A N I C

K E Y W O R D S

“Most of us carry at least one device, all the time, every day. In fact many of us would feel naked without our smartphone. It’s hardly surprising mobile search queries - and mobile commerce - are growing dramatically across the world.” – Larry Page THOUGHTS / TO KEEP IN MIND

In this section you will start to learn more about what keywords your audience searches most.

Even if you don’t want to use paid advertising or SEO it’s still important to understand what keywords your audience uses to find your competitor. This will give you hints as to the kind of content your audience finds valuable and also show you opportunities where content they want is not available but you can provide as a means to attract interest.

WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 20

O R G A N I C

K E Y W O R D S

SNOOP ON YOUR COMPETITOR WORKBOOK 21

O R G A N I C

K E Y W O R D S

15. What are the top 3 organic keywords they are ranking for?

(Use SEMrush.com and Spyfu.com)

16. What are the top three paid search keywords?

(Use SEMrush.com and Spyfu.com)

17. Do they use Google Ads? If so, what is their budget?

(Use SEMrush.com and Spyfu.com)

WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 22

O R G A N I C

K E Y W O R D S

SNOOP ON YOUR COMPETITOR WORKBOOK 23

MOST SUCCESSFUL ADVERTISERS

M O S T

S U C C E S S F U L

A D V E R T I S E R S

“The more informative your advertising, the more persuasive it will be.” – David Ogilvy

THOUGHTS / TO KEEP IN MIND

The fastest route to successful paid advertising is to learn from those who have gone before you. While you will still have your own trial and error period when you try a new campaign, studying the best performing campaigns of your competitors will give you a huge advantage.

You will get a blueprint of exactly what tools and services they use and how they integrate them into a single campaign.

WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 24

M O S T

S U C C E S S F U L

A D V E R T I S E R S

SNOOP ON YOUR COMPETITOR WORKBOOK 25

M O S T

S U C C E S S F U L

A D V E R T I S E R S

18. What are the best performing ads? (Use SEMrush.com and Spyfu.com)

WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 26

M O S T

S U C C E S S F U L

A D V E R T I S E R S

19. When you find a campaign that is relevant, follow the entire process through opting in when prompted. Be sure to take screenshots of each step. Remember you’re pretending you’re an actual lead.

TIP: If you’re uncomfortable using your real contact information you can always create an email address exclusively for research purposes.

You may also want to record timing of entire sequence – how long in between emails, retargeting ads, etc.

SNOOP ON YOUR COMPETITOR WORKBOOK 27

OTHER TRAFFIC SOURCES

O T H E R

T R A F F I C

S O U R C E S

“If you have more money than brains, you should focus on outbound marketing. If you have more brains than money, you should focus on inbound marketing.” – Guy Kawasaki THOUGHTS / TO KEEP IN MIND

Building an online audience who recognize your company name is extremely expensive if you only use paid traffic options. Becoming a guest author on other reputable websites and relevant blogs is a great way to build your audience for free. It’s very likely this is a primary tactic your competitor is using. This section will help you find out what content from other sites is referring the most traffic for your competitor.

WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 28

O T H E R

T R A F F I C

S O U R C E S

SNOOP ON YOUR COMPETITOR WORKBOOK 29

O T H E R

T R A F F I C

S O U R C E S

20. Do they do any type of sponsorships?

21. What sites are referring the most traffic (check similarsites.com)?

22. Backlinks count:

WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 30

O T H E R

T R A F F I C

S O U R C E S

23. What backlinks are driving the most traffic?

SNOOP ON YOUR COMPETITOR WORKBOOK 31

TRUST BUILDING

T R U S T

B U I L D I N G

“When the trust account is high, communication is easy, instant, and effective.” – Stephen R. Covey

THOUGHTS / TO KEEP IN MIND

This is a great way to get ideas for establishing trust with your own audience. It’s easy to forget to showcase your accomplishments and establish authority just by showing the symbols of products and services you use and that your audience already recognizes and trusts.

WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 32

T R U S T

B U I L D I N G

SNOOP ON YOUR COMPETITOR WORKBOOK 33

T R U S T

B U I L D I N G

24. Now navigate to the main website. What additional components do you see being used? (Chat Tool, Checklist/ebook/case studies download, Online Appointment scheduling tool, Newsletter signup, Blog, Other)

25. Do they have any kind of trust icons on their website, such as awards, as seen on the news, celebrity endorsements, etc? If yes, specify them below.

WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 34

T R U S T

B U I L D I N G

SNOOP ON YOUR COMPETITOR WORKBOOK 35

CLIENT RETENTION TOOLS

C L I E N T

R E T E N T I O N

T O O L S

“Your website isn’t the center of your universe.

Your Facebook page isn’t the center of your universe. Your mobile app isn’t the center of your universe. The customer is the center of your universe.” – Bruce Ernst

THOUGHTS / TO KEEP IN MIND

It is said that 20% of your clients are responsible for 80% of your revenue. In order to maximize your marketing efforts, it’s important to examine what strategies your competitor employs to retain clients.

WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 36

C L I E N T

R E T E N T I O N

T O O L S

SNOOP ON YOUR COMPETITOR WORKBOOK 37

C L I E N T

R E T E N T I O N

T O O L S

26. How are they keeping their clients coming back?

TIP: Take screenshots and label them.

27. Email marketing

28. Sending coupons

29. Referral program

WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 38

C L I E N T

R E T E N T I O N

T O O L S

30. Other?

WANT AN EXPERT TO DO THE RESEARCH? For only $18 we’ll complete the workbook for you.

ORDER NOW

SNOOP ON YOUR COMPETITOR WORKBOOK 39

www.unthinksolutions.com 1550 Wewatta Street, Floor 2 Denver, CO 80202 WWW.UNTHINKSOLUTIONS.COM 40