Are you following your competition?
Do you know what special offer your #1 competitor is offering this week? Are they running Google Ads or Facebook Ads? Are they doing an EDDM campaign to the neighborhoods surrounding your business or a Direct Mailer to your target market? If so, what are they doing and how are you going to react?
The first thing you can do is set up
Google Alerts
with all of your competitor's names. Anytime Google's search engine sees the name going forward, you will get an email alert with a link to the article or webpage. For example, if they are mentioned in the news about future expansion, you will be notified.
Secondly, subscribe to local newspapers, magazines and search local TV and Radio websites to see if they are running any ads. Most media packages these days for TV and radio include some form of internet presence on the station's website or include them in events. Newspapers and other periodicals post their latest editions online for you to search.
If a competitor is offering a 25% Off Sale for the week and you cannot match their offer or carry that kind of inventory, what are you going to do? Maybe you can make a better offer for a shorter time. Offer a 1-Day 50% OFF Sale. With Social Media and PPC, you can get the word out fast! But you won't know when to do this if you are not following your competition!
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