Most, if not all industries, are influenced by constant changes and developments. The upcome of new technologies, competitors’ product launches, mergers & acquisitions transactions, regulatory changes disrupt established processes and patterns all the time. That makes it all the more important for companies to constantly track industry developments and keep an eye on the evolution in customers’ behaviour to gain a competitive edge in the market and be ready to instantly tackle potential threats.
Our latest how-to guide uses the example of Google’s recently launched Project Fi to see how established companies like Vodafone, Orange or Verizon can manage industry disruption through social listening. Monitoring social media enables companies to evaluate the competitive landscape in their industry, but also to find most impactful partners locally and globally. They can also identify what it is that their customers are looking for in a product or service to refine their product strategy accordingly. Moreover, by keeping an eye on regulators and other major influencers companies can react to new rules or regulations immediately.
1. Know your competitors
Knowing the own industry is key to successfully managing industry disruption. A sentiment analysis for your own brand as well as your competitors gives quick insight into how customers perceive a company. Digging deeper into the reasons for positive and negative sentiment perception then allows companies to address potential issues, or to find the reasons behind positive discussions and highlight them to improve their online reputation.
2. Find customer pain points and address issues
Monitoring industry-related conversations gives companies insight into which topics are most relevant for their sector, what are the customers’ needs and concerns, and which issues they might face. For a full overview of those topics, it is important to keep track of the broader discussion about the market while also keeping track of your own brand’s performance.
3. Track M&A’s to counter market threats
Any change in the competitive landscape in your market, can have important repercussions to your company’s position on the market. Company mergers is one of the examples of this kind of crucial changes to be tracked, since they affect all players in an industry. It is important for any company to be prepared for such changes early on.
Early indicators about industry changes like mergers can be easily found by monitoring online conversations about different brands and the market as a whole. By knowing about such rumours and possible mergers as early as possible, companies gain valuable time to reshape their business strategy and brand positioning.
Successfully managing industry disruption to differentiate and carve a niche in what is a fast paced, crowded marketplace can be challenging. But keeping track of industry developments through social listening makes the task much easier by providing relevant insights early on, giving companies time to draft strategies and make informed decisions to handle those challenges.
For full insights on how social intelligence can help companies to successfully face challenges in their industry, download the full how-to guide here on the Talkwalker Academy.
