The Reciprocal Consulting Blog

Everywhere you look on the Internet these days there is a tool being touted to do something fabulous for your websites. Some of these tools are great. They can help you identify competitive keywords; they can help you research what your competitors are up to; and they can help you to measure the success of your online marketing campaigns.

The important words in that summary were ‘help you’. There is one thing that marketing tools won’t do, and that’s make your business successful. Yet if you listen to some of the sales hype, these tools on their own can take your business to new levels. Frankly, they won’t, they can’t, and they never will.

A simple example. I have a hammer but it won’t build my house for me. I have to use the hammer, and use it well together with a host of other tools and building materials – and that’s just for starters. I also need house plans and most likely the services of professional tradesmen like electricians and plumbers.

Your online business is no different. Tools are very handy and in the the right hands can deliver a lot of information that you can use to improve and build your business. There are times when online business owners, particularly those new to online marketing, try to use too many tools. The end result is a rather confusing array of suggestions and data, none of which makes much sense.

Internet marketing tools can be a real bonus to business owners, but only if you take the time to understand what they do, and what sort of information they are providing. What is more important is to understand what you can then do with that information. Many of the tools on offer today are expensive and, in reality, of not much use to a novice. You would be far better off seeking the services of a professional internet marketing consultant – over time, the cost would be the same but the results far different.

In any business you need the proper tools to succeed. That’s no less true for online marketing. And if you want to beat the competition then you need to rely on the proper tools for competitive intelligence. But what are those, exactly?

Competitive intelligence tools are tools that online marketers use to get a better handle on what their competition is up to and why. They range from the purely public – like Google Alerts – to the purely private. Espionage is one element that has been used to gain a competitive advantage, but at the risk of making it sound sexy and adventurous, it can be dangerous. The idea is to gain some inside knowledge on the competition’s processes, goals, and business workings that might help you be more competitive in the marketplace.

Spying on the competition, however, is not like living a James Bond movie. At its worst, it can employ illegal activities like bribery, blackmail, etc. At best, the tactics can be questionable.

With competitive intelligence, companies tend to stick with the more public information available about the competition. In most cases, you don’t have to resort to illegal means to gather information on your competition. Public documents and information tell a good story. But without the proper tools, even that can be a challenge.