Client events- this is a very important communication component for any business. Because relationships with partners, suppliers, and customers are always more effective when they are built not only on a formal basis, but there is something informal in them.

This informal refers to events that companies arrange for their business partners. Most often this is a joint celebration of holidays, common business achievements, etc.

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For the company, by and large, this is advertising itself. Advertising events to attract customers are organized for business partners who are the target audience. During the event, there is, first of all, promotion and advertising of the brand of the company that organizes the event. Therefore, during such events it is necessary to convey the following information to partners:

1. About the company: recent achievements, market position, development prospects, plans to release new types of products, etc.
2. It is imperative to point out that for the company the most important goal of its entire business is to identify and satisfy the needs of its partners in the best possible way and of the highest quality.

Client events must be divided into two types:

1. Activities to attract new buyers and customers. They are aimed at expanding the customer base.
2. Events organized for existing partners, for regular buyers and customers. They are intended to strengthen relationships and expand existing cooperation.

The division into groups is more or less arbitrary: both potential clients and existing, regular clients can take part in both types of events.

Activities to attract clients

Activities to attract clients can be the following:

1. Competitions and quizzes. This is a kind of mass event to attract new customers, in which both existing and potential customers can take part. They can be carried out, for example, in the store itself, when customers and random visitors come there.

2. Flash mobs. They are relevant for places with large crowds of people - city squares, especially during holidays and festivities, public transport stops, streets with high pedestrian traffic.

3. Sampling. This is a marketing ploy aimed at stimulating purchases. It means free distribution of samples of products sold by the company. It could also be a free distribution not of the products themselves, but, for example, of consumables for the main products that the company sells (manufactures). You can also give away components for free.

Sampling is similar in essence to tasting, with some differences. For example, tasting is carried out in one place, for example, in a store, directly on the sales floor. And sampling can be done, including remotely, by sending trial copies by mail.

4. Exhibitions. Participation in them involves promoting the brand among a large number of visitors. The exhibition is being organized not for one company, but for many. However, for each individual company participating in the exhibition, this is a separate serious event.

Measures to improve the quality of customer service

Marketing activities to improve the quality of customer service are as follows:

1. Seminars. This applies to those companies that provide services - educational, consulting, etc. At the seminar, one or more topics that are relevant at the time of the seminar are raised and considered from different aspects.

Seminars are usually conducted by those involved in consulting services, for example, law firms, accounting firms, audit firms, etc. This is especially true for them when changes occur in the legislation. Then their main clients gather, with whom the company’s specialists work to study innovations and their practical application.

Seminars are usually attended by 10-15-30 people. In addition to specialists from the company that conducts it, representatives of other organizations can take part in it. For example, tax service specialists can take part in a seminar on innovations in the tax and accounting fields.

2. Trainings. They differ from seminars in that they involve fewer people. Therefore, the topics covered during the trainings can be explored in more depth. Also, during trainings you can establish closer and deeper contact with partners.

3. Conferences. Many more clients - potential and existing - can take part in them. The number of participants can reach several tens or even hundreds of people, it all depends on the issues being considered, the scale of the event, and the speakers.

There may be several speakers at conferences, and this is usually the case. These are the people who talk, report, and convey information on the topic to guests. Guests, accordingly, listen, take notes, and ask questions when they have them.

4. Round tables. This is an opportunity to consider current issues in a closer circle of participants and specialists and make new useful contacts.

Seminars, trainings, conferences can last 1 day, can be extended over several days, usually the duration does not exceed 3 days.

They can be attended by both current buyers of the organizing company, with whom it is necessary to establish closer ties, and potential ones, who will discover the company at such meetings. For new participants who are not yet clients of the company, participation can be paid.

In all cases, the main parameters of the event - the number of guests and participants, fees, location - depend on the specific conditions and tasks set by the company organizing the event.

5. Business lunches. Recently, this type of business meetings for clients has become more popular. They can be held in the format of business lunches, business breakfasts, press breakfasts (with the participation of media representatives), etc.

They are usually held in an above-average restaurant. During business lunches, current topics are discussed in an informal setting. It is important to be able to establish new and expand existing connections between partners and meet new people.

Such events are usually held by banks telling and promoting their new products, insurance companies, financial companies, firms providing consulting services.

6. Entertainment events- evenings, events or events (event - event in English). The company can organize a holiday for its clients. This is a kind of extended version of a corporate event. Such an event can be timed to coincide with general holidays - New Year, Maslenitsa, etc. It can also be some more narrow event: a show of clothes from fashion designers, a masquerade, a social event, a special closed film show, a pre-premiere screening of a film, etc. d.

Business issues are not formally resolved during entertainment events. However, the main goal of such events is to promote the brand of the organizing company, promote the brands of participants and guests, and establish closer business connections, which is facilitated by the informal nature of the event.

All of these activities for clients are aimed at improving the quality of their service.

How to organize an event correctly

You can do this yourself if something small is expected, and you can handle it yourself or with the help of your employees. If we are talking about a more serious approach, you will most likely have to contact a special company that organizes events - an event agency.

Typically the process includes the following steps:

1. Come up with a topic, make a plan
2. Prepare an event: find a place, agree on a venue, invite guests and speakers, arrange a venue, etc.
3. Conduct the necessary advertising campaign
4. Conduct a rehearsal

When ordering an event from a company specializing in this, it is necessary to draw up a detailed and understandable brief for everyone - a description of the order. It must clearly describe what you want to do and why: the plan, the purpose of it, the venue, the number of guests, where and how to seat them (if necessary), who besides the guests will take part (external speakers, artists, etc.). etc.), who is the sponsor of the evening, to whom, what gifts will be given and for what, etc.

If you do not create a detailed brief, it may happen that you planned one event, and the company organized a completely different one for you. This happens, and for the company’s clients it can have a negative impact on improving the quality of their service. To prevent this from happening, this issue must be treated with due responsibility.

Holding events for staff, clients or partners is always a responsible and time-consuming task. How to do it efficiently and avoid mistakes? We talked about this topic with Yulia Kolesnikova, a marketer Voronezh Window Plant Company LLC, which shared its experience of organizing a major conference for the company’s dealers.

Yulia Kolesnikova, marketing specialist at Voronezh Window Plant Company LLC

— How often do you hold events and what kind of events are they intended for?

We hold events constantly. We have a specialist who is engaged in training, development and education of dealers. Depending on the topic of study, groups can range from 3 to 30 people. And every Friday the plant hosts an open day for dealers. We can host up to 10 guests on this day. The most significant event is the annual regional conference of participants in the Black Earth window market, which takes place at the end of the year. There are 150-200 people at the conference.

— What are the main goals of your events?

Since Voronezh Window Plant works only with dealers, our events are aimed specifically at them. We provide training and talk about new developments. A tour of the plant allows you to get acquainted with the production process, see how product quality is controlled, and get to know the team. The annual conference is distinguished by its scale, open dialogue, and the opportunity for informal communication with suppliers. At the same time, we definitely want to convey the ideology of doing business, the mood of our company, and ignite hearts. After all, in many ways people remember precisely emotional moments, and we try to appeal not only to the mind, but also to feelings. And we succeed.

— What organizational challenges are you facing? (hall, catering, budget problems, unscrupulous contractors)?

Of course, quality cannot be for nothing, so you need to compare costs and expected results. In Voronezh it is really difficult to find a suitable site for 200 people. Some “buts” pop up everywhere: astronomical prices, strict rental conditions (for example, it is impossible to attract third-party catering), columns in the middle of the hall, lack of necessary technical equipment. You need to be careful when choosing, be sure to check technical aspects: microphones, speakers, light. In addition, we expect teamwork from contractors so that everything comes together into a single mechanism and works like a clock.

— How long before you start preparing, what are the main stages, how many people work on average to organize a dealer conference?

We start working on the conference two months in advance, but active preparations begin in the last month. It is necessary to decide on the plan of the event, its goals, and themes. Since the event is large-scale, 6 people are involved in the development and preparation stage. At the implementation stage, more people are already included who are responsible for performing specific tasks: meeting guests, registration, photo and video shooting, actors, catering.

— Tell us more about the concept of the conference, how did you come up with the idea to make the event themed?

Initially, the idea was a little different; we wanted to show in sketches the work of a retail window office 10.5 years ago, and in our reports tell how it should be done today. As a result, the idea was born to do everything in a theatrical theme. Holding the event in the cinema hall fit perfectly into our concept. In addition, it was at the conference that a video about our company premiered. In such an atmosphere it was a good move.

— Who worked on the script?

Our company is different in that we implement many ideas ourselves. The mechanics of the event were completely worked out by the organizing group, even the script for the theatrical performances was written by a company employee.

— On what points do you think you can save money when preparing an event, and where savings can turn into a disaster?

Saving should not be the goal. You need to choose your contractors wisely. And everything, in my opinion, should be, as they say, in moderation. If you organize a large banquet, then after it the guests will not be able to perceive information at the official part. You can have a coffee break so that the participants do not remain hungry and are ready to continue active participation. But this is all individual, depending on the timing and goals of the event. You can, for example, do away with waiters, then the serving tables will be buried under a pile of garbage at the 10th minute of the break. This is where you definitely shouldn’t save money; it’s on complex technical issues and photo and video reports. If you want to broadcast the results to the general public or even to your employees, be so kind as to invite a professional.

— Tell us about the contractors who worked with you this year, their pros and cons?

The outcome of the event greatly depends on the contractors. This year we have a strong team that I can’t even name the cons. It’s great when contractors are on the same page with customers, understand their tasks, are conscientious and punctual. It doesn't always work out this way, but we're lucky. The conference took place on the territory of the Star & Mlad cinema; technical equipment was fully provided by the cinema. I would like to note that we not only had presentations by speakers, but also theatrical scenes, and this included sound and play with light. We worked through everything with the cinema staff in advance, and in the end there was not a single hiccup. The catering from “Perffeto caffe” is simply first class. Before the meetings and with “Perffeto caffe”, I did not think that it was possible to treat guests to real coffee, and not coffee from bags, when the number of participants was close to 200. There was a fear that there would be queues waiting for a cup of coffee to be prepared, but two coffee machines were used and then everything went great. By the coffee break you can safely assess the level of the event: no disposable tableware or instant coffee, fast work of the baristas and waiters. This is not the first time we have worked with the VolemCinema team, there was not even any excitement. Probably everyone is familiar with their work and understands what I'm talking about. By the way, a video report about the conference can already be viewed on our YouTube channel. The photo zone was organized by the young team “Seize the moment”. They did the design themselves according to my pencil sketch, we saw the finished version on the day of the event itself, but the guys did everything great. Students from the Voronezh Academy of Arts were also involved in our work. We were satisfied with the work process and its outcome, but the best assessment, of course, was the positive feedback from our dealers.

— What do you think are the standard mistakes when preparing business events, and how can you avoid them?

You need to plan everything clearly and think through the moments where difficulties may arise, for example, the queue for registration of participants. Working through tasks, timely designating areas of responsibility and deadlines for completing each task is the key to success. Set up the printing of leaflets and the production of souvenirs in advance. Our event takes place on New Year's Eve, at which time the printing houses are very busy. You need a reserve of time to be able to correct some things, this always happens. The event itself should be easy, accessible, and understandable. This should not be a 3-hour lecture, you need to use interactivity that will distract or attract attention, and you shouldn’t limit yourself to just showing slides.

Modern business conditions have led a number of companies to the conclusion that was formulated many years ago by the famous marketer James Anderson: “The success of every company depends in part on the work of its partners.” The more business relationships you enter into, the higher your chances of becoming a more successful and recognizable company. A number of marketers believe that cross-marketing allows you to go beyond your usual circle, “leave your own box,” say American marketers, emphasizing the need to develop partnerships. Awareness of all the benefits of working in an alliance with other companies has led to the development of various forms of joint activities.

Considering the high competition in many areas and the constant rise in the cost of advertising services, the creation of co-marketing coalitions looks like the most promising way to maintain and increase the marketing activity of an enterprise.

The current economic picture represents a process of sustainable formation of mutually beneficial relationships between producers of goods and services, resource suppliers, retailers and consumers. In this regard, active work with other companies and combining existing opportunities for the purpose of joint promotion is becoming a common policy of many actively developing companies.

Reasons and benefits

According to the Russian Co-Marketing Association, recently there has been a noticeable increase in the interest of Russian businessmen in various forms of joint marketing. Thus, over the past 2016, 267 new companies joined the ranks of the association, over 50 co-marketing projects were implemented with representatives of a wide variety of fields of activity - from FMCG and retail to telecommunications and tourism.

In many ways, the interest of global and Russian entrepreneurship in forms of joint marketing is due to a number of advantages that can be identified when compared with other forms of promotion. First of all this:

1. An opportunity to save your marketing budget by sharing costs with other companies.
2. Increasing sales by increasing the size of the average check
3. Access to someone else's audience.
4. Creating an offer that is interesting to the client and represents a benefit for him.
5. Increasing brand awareness.
6. Additional PR occasion.
7. Uniting “marketing minds”, sharing experiences with colleagues.

The advantages that any co-marketing project has are the basis for many companies to pay attention to this promotion tool.

More than 70% of successful American companies regularly use co-marketing in their activities.

Having decided to use cross-marketing tools in your practice, it is worth remembering that each business area has its own characteristics, and the choice of one or another form of cooperation must be carefully analyzed.

Co-branding

Co-branding is the most commonly used term when it comes to co-marketing. This technology is based on close interaction between two or more brands. The synergistic effect of joint positioning depends on the right choice of partner, on the philosophy of brands that strengthen each other’s development vector, but at the same time have the risk of transferring the reputation and attitude of customers to other companies participating in the coalition.

Co-branding is considered the highest form of joint marketing activity. In the course of cooperation, not only a unique offer can be formed, but also a new product. At the same time, it will be offered and promoted on the market under a single brand. Full integration of the marketing mixes of interacting companies leads to the joint use of sales channels and communication programs.

There are many examples of successful co-branding. Coca-Cola has long been considered an integral part of McDonalds, and the smoothie menu developed by specialists from both companies is a clear confirmation of this. The TGI Fridays restaurant chain has gained worldwide popularity, including through co-branding with whiskey manufacturer Jack Daniels. Dishes prepared using this brand of alcohol have become the main section of the menu and the most frequently ordered in the restaurant chain. Another example of co-branding from the world of the restaurant business is the “black burger”, which was distributed in the Burger King restaurant chain. The promotion was held jointly with the developer of the famous online shooter World of tanks. For purchasing a combo meal that included a “black burger,” buyers received in-game currency, premium accounts, and other bonuses to “upgrade” their crew.

Many examples of co-branding can be found in the world of high technology. The creation of innovative products often occurs through the joint efforts of several companies, and even former competitors. The Japanese giant Sony and the Swedish company Ericsson created a joint venture in 2001. The new phone model embodies all the best in technical terms from Sony and the original design from Ericsson. The cooperation between Adobe Systems and Apple had a significant impact on the development of the software market. In particular, a program such as Photoshop appeared, and as part of the partnership, it was initially distributed only on Apple computers.

In Russia, there is a notable example of cooperation between a telecommunications company and a car dealer. With the support of the cellular operator Yota, the distributor of famous electric cars, Revolta Motors, has begun distributing a network of chargers for cars with an electric motor. In turn, Yota got the opportunity to occupy the market of the so-called automotive Internet.

Cross promotion

One of the most common forms of cooperation among many companies is cross-promotions. Cross-promotion is perfect for companies operating in the retail or FMCG sector, for restaurants, cinemas and other places where you can relax. Formats for implementing cross-promotions also open up wide opportunities for the creative imagination of marketers.

The most common and effective way to win the attention and favor of a new – partner – audience is to hold a “Gift with Purchase” promotion. The meaning of such interaction is simple and clear. When performing a targeted action in one company, the buyer receives a coupon for a free gift from another company.

Flyers entitling you to receive free pendants or charms are familiar to a huge number of consumers. SUNLIGHT constantly uses the cross-promotion tool to attract new customers who, upon receiving a free gift, often make additional purchases and thereby increase the company’s overall sales volume.

Naturally, the higher the significance and value of the gift for the buyer, the clearer his interest in another company will be and the greater the chances that he will visit the partner organization and make additional purchases there. It is worth remembering that the success of cross-promotions largely depends on the choice of partner. Tandems that offer related services work best. For example, a shoe store gives a coupon for a discount at a clothing store. A children's goods store offers a visit to a children's room or a children's hairdresser, etc.

If the company is of particular interest not only in a one-time visit by a consumer to a point of sale, but in the development of long-term relationships, then the content of the cross-promotion can be much deeper. For example, a travel agency wanting to increase customer loyalty conducted a cross-marketing campaign with a beauty salon. On the eve of traveling to a hot country, tourists were encouraged to visit a beauty salon and use the services of a cosmetologist or solarium to prepare their skin for the active sun. Another travel agency offers its clients coupons for a 30% discount in medical knitwear and footwear stores. Special underwear and shoes of the correct anatomical shape allow you to avoid the unpleasant symptoms of fatigue that accompany most tourists during long walks.

In addition to couponing and mutual advertising, cross-promotion can be implemented in the form of conscientious tasting. Thus, a soy sauce manufacturer turned to one of the Japanese restaurants. All visitors were offered a free taste of a particular brand of sauce. Each table also featured an advertisement from the manufacturer, highlighting all the benefits of their products.

The success of each stock is assessed according to a number of indicators. The main ones are an increase in customer traffic, an increase in the average amount per check, repeat sales, expansion of the customer base and many others. Many cross-marketers cite constant monitoring of marketing activity as the main factor for achieving success. Also, before starting a joint promotion event, it is necessary to determine a mechanism for collecting feedback from both your sellers and the managers of the partner company.

Copacking

The term “copacking” comes from the English phrase “complete packing”, which translates as “combined packaging”. Co-packing is the sale of goods or services in a single package or in one set.

Every supermarket visitor has seen examples of co-packing. Basically, these are products that complement each other. For example, a pack of dumplings may have a promotional sample of sauce attached to it or a gift set in which a bottle of expensive alcohol is adjacent to beautiful wine glasses. Products that are often difficult to sell individually can be successfully sold as a set. Many buyers like ready-made solutions, but not all marketers are ready to offer them to their target audience.

Co-packing, as well as other forms of joint marketing, can significantly save your budget. Savings are achieved by sharing the costs of producing promotional forms, stands, POS materials, etc. In addition, copacking has a positive effect on demand dynamics. Attracting the attention of the consumer with the help of special packaging that contains information about more favorable conditions or an additional bonus is much easier than hiring promoters. Using copacking, you can create a more favorable psychological situation for your clients. Promotional packaging eliminates unnecessary pressure on the buyer and gives the client the opportunity to make his own choice. No one will force the product on you, which has recently been much more effective in facilitating purchasing decisions.

This conclusion was taken into account by food manufacturers - the Belaya Dacha and Borges companies. A joint product was launched onto the market - lettuce leaves with ready-made dressing. For customers, such a promotional set is an excellent opportunity to get a quick, tasty and healthy dish. This combination of products promotes choice in favor of a specific set and increases sales of both brands.

Another example of successful co-packing is the action of the St. Petersburg Mill Plant, a manufacturer of natural cereals produced under the Yasno Solnyshko brand, and the ALEX FITNESS fitness club chain. What is noteworthy is that the products of the two companies only indirectly complement each other, but the main meaning of cross-promotion lies precisely in the packaging. As part of the cross-promotion, special coupons were placed on the packaging of oatmeal. By presenting a coupon at one of the clubs of the ALEX FITNESS network, you could visit the fitness room for free for a week.

Co-branding cards

Increasing competition and increasingly demanding consumer demands contribute to the development of programs to stimulate purchasing activity. Simply good service is no longer enough for clients; numerous loyalty programs are becoming increasingly common forms of building long-term relationships between clients, banks and other companies.

The issuance of co-branded cards is a successful set of measures to encourage customers to make more purchases and is great for attracting new audiences. It is no coincidence that banks actively cooperate with large retail chains and enterprises providing services to the population. Co-branded cards allow customers to receive additional privileges and therefore enjoy special love and popularity.

Experts believe that co-branding in the banking sector brings benefits to all participants in the project. The issuing bank gains access to a new customer base and additional distribution networks. Additional income comes from card servicing and cross-selling of related banking products. The partner company not only increases loyalty through bonuses and discounts, but also gets the opportunity to manage customer behavior. Both the bank and its partners receive additional income, while reducing costs, and also increase brand awareness and loyalty of their customers. The holder of a co-branded card, in addition to all the offers available to owners of classic credit or debit cards, receives benefits in the form of rewards or benefits (bonuses, miles, accumulated points, etc.). In addition, banks can offer owners of co-branded cards additional bonuses in the form of an extended credit line or a reduced loan rate.

Today, there is a clear trend of growth in the number of co-branded cards in all industries, but most of all in the retail segment. In December 2016, a co-branded card was issued by Rosbank and the O"KEY supermarket chain. For paying for goods in supermarkets, cashback in the form of bonus points is awarded in the amount of 2 to 7 points. Points are equivalent to real rubles and can be used to pay the full amount in the receipt OZON.ru and BINBANK offered their clients a co-branded card with the opportunity to receive up to 10% of the purchase amount.

The well-known bank Tinkoff is constantly introducing new co-branding products, and the bank, which positions itself as one of the leading Internet banks in the country, prioritizes cooperation with online platforms. In partnership with the Yulmart online store, co-branded credit and debit cards were issued with cashback from 1 to 3%. The new Tinkoff-Yulmart card fully meets the needs of the modern consumer - it is serviced remotely and supports contactless payments. The bank is also planning to issue a co-branded card together with the largest trading platform AliExpress. When making purchases with a Tinkoff AliExpress card during cyberweek, new customers have access to an unprecedented cashback amount - up to 50%.

In addition to traditional co-branding projects, cards created for a specific audience, such as sports fans, are becoming increasingly popular. Avangard has a card for fans of FC Ufa, and Otkritie has a Gladiator Card for Spartak players. In April 2017, Sberbank plans to issue the first sports co-branding card in its history - with the Salavat Yulaev hockey club.

According to Alfa-Bank, 15% more funds remain on the balances of co-branded cards than on regular bank cards. The amount of spending from co-branded cards is 20% higher compared to classic bank cards. A developed branch network allows banks to quickly and efficiently implement co-branding projects in all regions of the country. But how successful a particular partnership is can only be understood after time.

Coalition loyalty program

Increasing the number of customers who are completely satisfied with the company and are ready to actively recommend it to their friends and acquaintances is the cherished dream of any marketer. The loyalty program allows you to solve these problems and also facilitates the exchange of customer bases between partners.

Thanks to participation in coalitions, banks increase the intensity of card transactions and increase the number of loyal customers, thereby minimizing losses from the departure of regular customers. It is believed that the most successful loyalty programs are those in which the client fulfills the bulk of his daily needs. If the terms of the loyalty program are so favorable for the client that he becomes an active participant, then you can count on recommending the program to relatives and friends.

One of the most common ways to reward customers is to offer cross discounts. But today few people will be surprised by a discount. According to recent studies, psychological factors have a much more serious impact.

Thus, during the survey, 70% of respondents indicated that the respect they receive from the company is the most significant condition when choosing a supplier of goods or services. These tokens of appreciation may include invitations to private events (such as a private sale or film preview), exclusive information, compensation, or a gift. All of these ways to show respect to customers help build personalized relationships and are considered successful ways to encourage targeted customer action.

Properly planned loyalty programs can achieve impressive results. Just look at the “Thank you” program from Sberbank, whose participants are more than 24 million people, and its partners are more than 100 companies. In December 2016, the Mir payment system launched a pilot version of the loyalty program with several dozen retail enterprises. The new mechanism of cooperation between the issuing bank, acquiring bank, trade and service enterprise and consumer contributed to the creation of suitable conditions for offering customers higher cashback. The national payment card system and the loyalty program on the Mir card platform are predicted to become widely popular and occupy a significant share in the Russian payment market.

Whatever your business, co-marketing will multiply and expand your sales opportunities. Being one of the most low-budget methods of promotion, cross-marketing allows you to achieve impressive results in the shortest possible time. There is always a place for co-marketing in life, and whether it will be used to achieve high results and active sales depends only on you.

From the editor

No organization can afford to develop in an information vacuum. Such development is possible, but Ignoring market trends and competitors' actions leads to dire consequences.

How to effectively analyze competitors, what information and how to collect it, how to subsequently work with it and use it to obtain benefits in your marketing activities, for example, when developing a marketing strategy or when determining your competitive advantages? Our checklist prepared by Anna Larina, project manager of the Tekart group.

When should you conduct a competitive analysis?

1. When you're just planning your business. At this stage, knowledge of competitors will allow you to develop a product, determine its key product characteristics, develop a product policy, determine a price, predict a sales plan and develop a promotion strategy.
2. When conduct holistic marketing research. Competitive analysis is part of it. In the study, the information obtained is further used for SWOT analysis, for the subsequent selection of a competitive strategy and the marketing strategy of the company as a whole.
3. When competitor monitoring has become a regular event. It is important to treat competitor analysis not as a project, but as a process. In this case, you will always have at hand the answer to questions such as: “How do your competitors’ products differ from yours (product characteristics, price)?”, “From what sources does the competitor get new customers?”, “How do competitors ensure conversion and retention of existing customers? This knowledge and benchmarking (adopting best industry practices) will help optimize resources for marketing activities.

Periodicity The analysis depends on the specifics of the business; in dynamic, highly competitive markets, we usually recommend carrying out work once every three months, in calmer ones - once every six months or a year.

If you are doing work for the first time, then identify two or three main competitors and analyze them completely. Next time, update information about already known companies, add 1-3 new companies, review the list of criteria for comparison.

It is convenient to conduct the analysis in a spreadsheet. In this file, we put the names of competing companies on one axis, and the comparison criteria on the other. Using such a table, it is convenient to compare data and track dynamics and general industry trends.

Direct and indirect competitors

Competitors can be direct or indirect. You need to watch both of them.

Direct competitors- these are companies whose activity characteristics (product, geography) largely coincide with the characteristics of your business. Such companies are usually well-known, and their activity is monitored at an informal level.

First of all, you need to decide on the geography of the analysis. If you have a veterinary clinic, then the geography will be limited to your area of ​​the city or town with adjacent territories. If you work on a federal scale, then for each priority region you need to consider both your federal colleagues and regional players.

Indirect competitors- This:

1. Foreign companies, from which you can often adopt non-standard marketing moves, of course, at a discount for the national characteristics of your consumers.
2. Indirect competitors are companies operating in a different price segment or producing alternative goods and services. For example, for a beauty salon, professional cosmetics stores will be indirect competitors.
3. Potential competitors are companies that may become direct competitors if certain conditions occur. Such a condition could be optimization of unique selling proposition (USP), changes in the economic situation and any other events that make a competitor's product relevant to your customer.

How to find competitors?

1. Through search engines based on queries from your semantic core or using new queries specific to indirect competitors.
2. If we are talking about products - on product aggregators Yandex.Market, [email protected]; on marketplaces TIU, Wikimart, etc.
3. Among the organizers and participants of industry exhibitions, seminars, and events.
4. From open analytical sources of information that name market leaders, newcomers, and outsiders.
5. From business directories Yandex, Google, 2GIS, etc., especially when it comes to regional businesses like dentistry or food retail.
6. Through review sites: irecommend.ru, otzovik.com, otzovy.ru and others.
7. Through discount sites: Biglion, Groupon, etc.

At the same time, it is always advisable to monitor not only the names of competing companies, but also mentions of the brands they promote.

The following sections present groups of criteria for analyzing competitor marketing. It is advisable to display each of the criteria on a separate tab in the spreadsheet.

Comparison criteria

General marketing analysis

Once the list of companies and products has been compiled, we need to determine in what areas we will analyze them.

First you need to get general marketing data about your competitors. If a company monitors its image and reputation, this information can be easily obtained on its website.

I will note two points:

• prices are usually on the website, otherwise they can be requested during the project (although in the case of complex B2B products they are very difficult to obtain);
• The degree of popularity of a company and product can be assessed using the Yandex.Wordstat service. For example, by entering the phrase “toothpaste” into the service, you will quickly find out what is more popular - Splat or Lacalut.

Site analysis

To evaluate in terms of usability, you can use method of characters and scenarios- imagine ourselves as a consumer of the company’s product/service and evaluate how quickly and easily the target action can be completed on the website.

If the target audience often uses gadgets, the site should display well on mobile devices. It is advisable to evaluate what triggers are used to stimulate purchases.

Reviews play an important role in customers making purchasing decisions, so you need to look at whether they are posted on the site cases, recommendations, portfolio, photographs of completed projects.

For topics with a wide assortment, it is useful to look at how a competitor presents the catalog, which ones it uses filters and segments. For example, on the website of an online store of children's goods, there are filters by gender, age, height, by brand, by season of the year (winter, spring, summer, autumn).

The next criterion is the use feedback forms: online consultant, Skype, Viber, Whatsapp. Perhaps the site uses non-standard services, convenient calculators, and a personal account, which makes user interaction with the site more convenient.

SEO

It is advisable to start analyzing the marketing activities of competitors with SEO analysis. Of course, a complex technical usability audit is the domain of specialists, but you can quickly assess the degree of attention to SEO by two parameters - positions in search engines, which are checked manually or using automatic services, and traffic.

Of course, everyone's counters are now closed, but attendance can be estimated in the following ways:

• if Liveinternet, Mail.Ru or Rambler counters are installed, then you can use them to see the place in the ranking and daily traffic;
• if the site is relatively popular, traffic can be estimated with a certain error using the SimilarWeb service;
• You can estimate attendance by indirect signs:
• by the number of views of videos posted on the site;
• by the number of views of the material, which is displayed in some modes, mainly on news sites;
• by the difference in order identification numbers, which are automatically assigned when filling out feedback forms and are sent in written notification to the author of the application.

Events

Information that a company is organizing an event or participating in it can be found either in its news feed or on thematic resources.

Competitors may also hold unusual events, the experience of using which is sometimes advisable to adopt. For example, home Internet provider Dom.ru organized children's parties in courtyards last summer. There was music, animators worked, and upon completion, parents were asked to fill out forms to connect.

Industry Resources

When analyzing the work of competitors with industry resources, it is necessary to evaluate what resources the company uses, what content it publishes and with what frequency, whether it works with paid resources and discount services.

Email Marketing

To evaluate a company's email marketing, you need to subscribe to the newsletter. Criteria for analysis:

• Do emails actually arrive after subscribing to the newsletter?
• Is it possible to unsubscribe from the mailing list?
• Is there a segmentation of the target audience? This becomes clear at the time of subscription, when the author of the newsletter asks to clarify your interest in products or your socio-demographic characteristics.
• What algorithm does the competitor use in terms of email sequence logic? For example, is there a welcome email chain; trigger emails accompanying conversion, etc.
• What content does the newsletter contain and how interesting and useful is it for customers?
• Is the mailing addressed (in the body of the letter you are addressed by name)?
• Does the newsletter offer unique bonuses and discounts that cannot be found in other company information channels?
• What mailing service does your competitor use?
• How does the company collect customer addresses, how are the forms placed on the website, and what bonuses does the company promise if you subscribe?

Blogs and social networks

Questions for analyzing blogs and activity on a competitor’s social networks:

• What networks does the company use? Are they traditional networks like VKontakte and Facebook or specialized networks for special content - Slideshare for presentations, professional network Linkedin, Instagram for photo, Youtube- for video, etc.
• Is the target audience segmented on social networks?
• What is the focus of the content on each network?
• What is the quality of the content and how often is it posted?
• What are the quantitative performance indicators: number of subscribers, likes, how often do users share company posts?
• To what extent does the company strive to engage subscribers in communication? How does he respond to comments? Does it offer competitions and conduct surveys?
• How does it work with negativity and how is it neutralized?
• Does the company use non-standard social media features, such as creating customized menus in Facebook and product displays on VKontakte.

Advertising

It is advisable to evaluate contextual advertising using services that show queries for which a competitor is advertising; they will give, with a certain error, estimates of the budget and traffic volume: Serpstat, SEMrush, ADVSE.RU, SpyWords. Doing such a check manually is problematic, since the campaign may have targeting set up that excludes you as the target audience.

Media campaigns and special projects are likely to automatically come to your attention when reviewing thematic resources.

Non-standard activities

Other non-standard activities of competitors that are worth noting:

• viral videos;
• signs of guerrilla marketing;
• black PR;
• owning your own thematic portals and resources that are positioned as independent, but at the same time promote the products or services of a competitor;
• product placement.

Reputation analysis

You can understand the reputation of a competitor, its products and services based on online reviews. They can be found:

• simple search or using a pre-compiled semantic core;
• Product aggregators usually have the opportunity to leave a review about the company and brand;
• by subscribing to notifications about new mentions in the service Google Alerts; as a mention, in addition to the company name and brand, e-mail, phone number, names of managers (if not too common) can be used;
• if the competitor is a fairly well-known company, it makes sense to monitor news aggregators such as Yandex.News;
• on sites with reviews about employers.

If there are a lot of reviews and it is difficult to monitor them, you can use special services that will find them automatically and sort them into positive, negative and neutral. Examples of services are YouScan, IQBuzz.

In addition to the fact that after this work, a general impression of the competitor’s reputation will be created, you will be able to record its weaknesses, so that you can then use them to optimize the USP and create scenarios for sales managers to convince customers.

Sales department audit

A sales department audit is usually performed using the mystery shopper method. To do this, it is necessary to develop purchasing legends and run them through all forms of contact: call, request from the website, dialogue with a consultant, etc. Next, you need to record the speed of response to the request, whether the stated condition on the site corresponds to real conditions, how the manager communicated with you: was he polite, interested, was there a desire to sell, was he not too intrusive.

Other criteria:

• quality of design of commercial materials and their effectiveness; individual approach to registration of commercial proposals in case of complex procurement;
• discipline and compliance with the work schedule by managers: check by calling 5 minutes before the end of the working day and five minutes after the start.

Analysis and use of results

After information on competitors has been collected, you need to honestly evaluate your company and products using the same criteria.

What conclusions can and should be drawn based on the analysis performed?

Operational actions

Firstly, it is necessary to assess the feasibility of adopting certain marketing moves of competitors: add something to the functionality of the site, consider new channels and types of activities, review and refine the content. For example, if the warranty period for your product is 1 year, all competitors indicate it, but you do not have this indication on your website, then it is worth adding this information.

To eliminate such “blind spots”, you can develop a calendar plan of events.

Secondly, the information received makes it possible to competently create a script for working with objections for sales managers in order to respond to customer remarks like “I can buy similar products from a competitor for 10% cheaper.” Managers must be prepared for such situations, must be able to describe the advantages of their products and, conversely, competently neutralize the advantages of competitors' offers.

SWOT analysis

Information about competitors can be used to conduct a SWOT analysis, that is, a situational analysis that evaluates the current and current competitiveness of the company's products based on external and internal factors. Internal factors are the strengths and weaknesses of your company and product relative to competitors, external factors are the opportunities and threats that the market prepares.

Factors are entered into a table of four quadrants and arranged in descending order of importance, that is, the degree of influence on business KPIs. SWOT analysis allows you to:

• identify or develop the main competitive advantage of a product based on strengths;
• describe ways to develop a business by using strengths;
• find ways to transform weaknesses into strengths, threats into opportunities; if this is not possible, come up with ways to minimize weaknesses and threats;
• make the advantages obvious to the consumer and hide the weaknesses;
• realize opportunities and neutralize threats.

Competitive strategy and marketing strategy

SWOT analysis provides insight into the position relative to competitors in the market. After this, in classical marketing it is necessary to decide on a competitive strategy. You can use the classic approach of Michael Porter, who proposed three types of struggle:

• minimizing costs - all other things being equal, the company is more profitable due to the fact that it minimizes costs;
• differentiation - the company offers conditions that are non-standard for the market, differentiates itself from competitors, creating its own unique selling proposition, which should distinguish it favorably from its competitors;
• focusing - the company works with a narrow target audience, fully satisfying its needs.

A competitive strategy is an important part of the overall marketing strategy of a company or a separate area, that is, a long-term plan for achieving business goals through marketing tools.

Anna's presentation for a report at a seminar for Tekart clients.

Today we will talk about the burning topic of interaction with competitors. Competitors, like partners, are an integral part of business and the right strategy for relations with them is one of the pillars of a successful business. So let's get started.

Many people think that while minding their own business, they should not pay attention to anyone. You choose one market behavior strategy, and your competitor chooses another. For example, you like big discounts and sales, but your competitor focuses on quality and related services. In this case, a lot of disagreements will arise with your competitor. By choosing your “low prices” strategy, you will reduce its market share due to the price factor - a competitor in such conditions, at best, will remain dissatisfied and will prepare countermeasures. In such conditions, it will no longer be possible to ignore it.

What to do in this situation? Start a war, winning back a place, or negotiate peace?

The sages say: “The worst peace is better than the best war.” Many are not used to taking words on faith, so let’s confirm this axiom:

— War is the process of spending a huge amount of resources to achieve a certain result. In the case of a competitive war, this means the following: you and your competitor/competitors will use a large amount of money, labor and other resources to defend your position. At the same time, all costs will be aimed not at improving one’s position, but at deteriorating the competitor’s position (often, together with the deterioration of one’s own position in the market).

— The result of winning a war is dominance over your opponent (in the best possible case). At the same time, the level of quality of your offer, service and position in the market as a whole may not only not change, but may also drop significantly due to the fact that your opponent also subjects you to “tests of various kinds.”

So, we see that a competitive war involves high costs, does not guarantee the development of your business and increased profits, and also creates the risk of negative consequences (without which almost no competitive war can occur).

It is not difficult to assume that the amount of resources allocated for “military actions” could be used to develop one’s business, which in the end often brings greater returns than fighting competitors. In the case of war, not only will you not be able to use these resources for improvement, but you will also incur a lot of additional costs. An example of this is one of the most popular methods of competitive warfare: “price war.” This technique involves reducing prices to a level at which it is no longer profitable for a competitor to trade. The result of victory in such a war will be the “survival” of a competitor from the market, a significantly reduced amount of profit due to “falling price tags” and a possible conflict with the FAS.

Based on our data presented, we can draw a simple conclusion: “competitive war” is not the best method for business development and a bad strategy for relationships with competitors.

How to deal with competitors?

First, you need to understand how your competitors can be useful to you, and how you can be useful to them. Based on this, it will be possible to determine whether it is possible to cooperate, how to do it, and whether the game is worth the candle.

Let's take a closer look at the positive aspects of cooperation with competitors.

1. Prices.

By setting approximately equal prices, you can predict approximate profit volumes due to the absence of the need to constantly “play with price tags.” Also, what is much more important, prices will be at the same level and you will not be afraid of the tendency to reduce profits due to the constant reduction of prices for your goods/services.

1. Coating.

Despite the fact that a competitor is a potential enemy, the coverage areas of your business and your competitor's business may not overlap at all. Otherwise, you can distribute zones of influence. This will allow you to make a stable profit “on your territory” and save money on “defending the territory.”

1. Market retention.

Each niche in the market is filled over time, but this does not prevent the constant emergence of new competitors. Particularly dangerous are the “major market players” who come to your city as a result of expanding their sphere of influence.

Partnerships with competitors will allow you to prevent new competitors from entering your niche, as well as counter existing larger competitors.

1. Survival.

Oddly enough, sometimes situations arise where a market representative helps his competitor “survive” due to the fact that his absence will negatively affect the business or the market as a whole (for example, a competitor with lower quality services that serves as a “sharp contrast” and encourages buyers to choose more expensive services provided by other companies).

1. Expenses.

In the absence of an open “competitive war,” you save money on participating in it and direct it to more important aspects of doing business.

So, we got acquainted with the possible advantages of cooperation with competitors. Of course, with a more detailed examination, you can find many more positive aspects, and the advantages that we have outlined will not necessarily take place in your business, but certain benefits from cooperation are obvious.

Now, let's figure out how you can improve relationships with competitors.

From competitor to client

— One of the effective ways to gain the friendship of a competitor is to purchase some small items from him on an ongoing basis. When using this method, you leave the rank of competitors and enter the rank of regular customer. Of course, the use of this technique is individual for each situation, but it really works.

Union.

— If there are larger competitors that pose a threat to the entire business of the smaller level, it is possible to organize an alliance whose representatives will jointly fight the larger competitors instead of fighting among themselves and making it easier for them to push them out of the market.

Compromise.

— Sometimes just one management decision can “defuse” the situation between you and your competitor. Willingness to negotiate and resolve, rather than strictly refusing (or ignoring the problem) the situation will not only help in the current situation, but will also allow you to achieve a more loyal relationship with a competitor.

Conclusion:

We do not undertake to talk about whether you cannot use “competitive warfare” strategies in doing business, but we have revealed a number of points that prove the fact that properly structured cooperation with your competitors can bring much better results.

When running a business, it is worth remembering that the answer to your business strategy may be unpredictable. If you are unable to establish relationships with competitors, and your business is built on confrontation, there is a danger: competitors can “squeeze” you out of the market, either individually or jointly, applying the principles we have outlined.

That's all for today. "" were with you.