There is a lot of competition in the market today (offline/online). We see more and more businesses, companies, or brands trying to enter the offline and online world. This is why using benchmarking as a resource to know and study your competition allows you to look beyond what you do and avoid mistakes that others have already made. 

Market growth has diversified them. And that people no longer just buy in one place. Because it's the only option, but they have the power to choose where and why they want to do it. This means it's about to be the most delusional time of the year, as well as the most confusing time for all users. 

We also know that thanks to the Internet, geographical or time constraints are more or less the same. That's why you can buy European products from anywhere in the world. 

This, although it brings obvious advantages, complicates the situation for local, regional, and national companies. Because depending on the product, many people prefer to invest in shopping abroad rather than in their own country. 

This is where the various strategies, tools, and strategies come in handy that will help your company stay relevant to your audience and they will like you more than other brands. 

For example, with good content marketing, you will be able to guarantee that users will fall in love and persuade them to choose you. 

Attractive aspects that you may find useful to highlight are proximity, speed of delivery, a guarantee that they will be able to see and review a product before purchase, or the risk of taking it out of the box. 

On the other hand, one resource that can help you capture your audience is NPS. This will let you know the level of satisfaction of your customers. And you will be able to work to improve and optimize the quality of your services. 

This is a major determining factor for a user to be loyal to a brand and to be better at promoting it. 

Following this introduction, we would like to give you the tools you need to perform effective benchmarking by following the tips below.

 

Take advantage of benchmarking with these tips

 

1.     Be objective

There are those who believe that benchmarking is copying competition or stealing their strategies. The truth is that it is far from reality. Being able to evaluate a goal of what other brands like you do that will really nurture you allows you to tailor your own strategies to your goals and then develop them effectively. 

Let's take an example of two brands that offer very similar and identical products: McDonald's and Burger King. Each one has its differences and offers different experiences. 

In addition, it is a fact that there are people who love Burger King, and for McDonald's, it will never change. They usually preserve the most natural taste of the meat, for example. 

On the other hand, in addition to hamburgers, McDonald's fans usually highlight fries and ice cream. So it is well known that each of these companies has focused on highlighting something different about their brand and has maintained it as a distinctive feature. 

If one of the copies the other, they must lose the "special value" that users see in them and as a result, they may lose their fans.

 

2.     Know what is trending

Another very important aspect is the current trend and being a part of what everyone is talking about, not just relating to it and losing your essence to care. 

Your brand may not be able to participate in all the emerging trends, but make sure you see the ones that match your brand. 

It can be anything more simple than using a song that is currently in vogue for your video, or something more complicated than running a campaign around a trend event like the Super Bowl. 

Being aware of what is happening in the world will help you to take advantage of these opportunities and get on the wave, at the best of times, everyone will see you. 

After that, it's up to you to catch the users who offer the best quality products or services and the best customer service.

 

3.     Focus on the good habits of others

A common mistake is to look only at how bad or where the competition has failed to avoid repeating their stumbling block. And it's true that it can help you not read there. But, it is more important to focus on the work they have done well and the results obtained through that work. 

It can serve as an inspiration, a reference, or an example so that from your place you can create strategies that will lead you to meet your own goals. And you can even challenge yourself to overcome what others have achieved. 

Always remember that each brand has specific goals and the steps they take must be aimed at meeting them. It will not let you get lost in the sea of ​​competition around you.

 

4.     Create a comparison chart

A comparison chart will allow you to see more clearly the advantages and disadvantages, the ups and downs of developing truly effective strategies. 

This will enable you to purposefully view the activities and implement what is best for you. We put a lot of emphasis on this because if you read on the internet you will see many examples which can be a copy or a direct attack and it is not really benchmarking. 

Be sure to include in the comparison chart not only how similar they are but also how they differ. This way you will get a clear picture of the situation in general and then you will be able to move in the most specific direction.

 

5.     Apply what you have learned

After completing all the previous steps, it is time to work. Write down all the information collected and implement actions that will lead you to meet your goals. 

Define your goals, get to know your audience, develop strategies that focus on your goals, and always stay within your brand values. 

Finally, start focusing 100% and performing personalized actions that can ensure that you are waiting for truly positive results.

 

6.     Evaluate your results

Finally, always evaluate the results of each of your actions, and even evaluate their performance when performing each action. Don’t be afraid to change in the middle if you see that they are better. 

Be flexible, tactful, and listen to what your audience is saying. If an idea sounds like talent to you but the public isn't connected to it, don't hold on to it or waste time waiting for it to improve. Dare to improve your game on the go. 

In such a changing world, we should not marry forever with an idea or strategy, especially when the outcome depends on a third party or company. Also, do what really works for you, keep it up, and inject more energy into it. 

For example, if you run a campaign to promote a particular product or service and you see that it exceeds your expectations, invest in it, add paid advertising, or expand it for maximum profit. 

Take the numbers, because you will see what works and you will know if there will be a guaranteed return on investment. Therefore, the more you invest in it, the better it will be for you. There are many brands that have a single star product and although it is not advisable to keep all your eggs in one basket, it is not bad to highlight what your audience likes. 

Another thing you can do is cross-sell, maybe your star product or service with someone else who doesn't have that much hook, but you know it's very good. You can think of all these actions according to the feedback you get from your customers, it will always be important so that you can improve day by day. 

Finally, we invite you to share this valuable information with your team, and together they can learn not only about benchmarking, which is a great method, but also about the best practices they can learn. 

Always focus on your goals and the values ​​of your company. Leave your mark and let the audience fall in love with your proposal and not just the image you are projecting.