Even if you are a small business, keeping tabs on what your competition is doing is an important part of your overall marketing strategy. We suggest that you schedule a time each year to do a survey of your competition.

Here are some of the items you want to look for:

1. Are there new competitors in your space who are bringing in creative ideas and innovation?
2. Are your known competitors taking new approaches or adjusting their offerings or pricing?
3. Are there trends in your industry that you can identify?
4. Are the past approaches that set you apart from your competition still holding up?
5. How are you stacking up in organic search listings, and which competitors are utilizing paid search?

Ultimately, marketing is a creative (and competitive) endeavor. In order to be on your game, you need to understand the evolving game you are in and what the other players are doing.

Marketing Bites are short actionable tips to help you market your business. Each Bite contains a marketing idea and an easy to complete action. The Marketing Bite is emailed weekly to subscribers.