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Marketers don't need to be told how difficult it is to stand out in their industries. Cutting through the noise to ensure your company is leading the conversation is an uphill battle for a lot of us. And part of "standing out" is recognizing the companies that surround you that you're trying to stand out from.

That's your competitive landscape. And, these days, marketers need to keep tabs on it more than ever before.

You don't have to take my word for it, though: My company, Crayon, recently conducted the latest iteration of State of Competitive Intelligence Report to explore how businesses are using competitive intelligence (CI) to rise to the top of their categories. Here are four things we learned.

1. Competition is intensifying

Competition is fiercer than ever, which means companies are forced to be more reliant on CI than they ever have been. Nearly 60% of CI practitioners surveyed say their markets have gotten much more competitive—a 16% increase from 2020 levels.

It's no surprise, then, that 98% of stakeholders say competitive intelligence is important to their success, according to the survey. Many leaders are committed to investing in CI solutions: 42% of respondents say they plan to integrate CI into their strategies, and more than half indicate they plan to increase their use of CI technology at some point in 2022.

In short, for many companies more competition means more CI.

2. Every business―big or small―can benefit from dedicated CI teams and technology

It used to be that only large organizations were creating purpose-built CI teams and taking advantage of CI technology. Now, decision-makers at organizations of all sizes—and in all industries—are prioritizing competitive intelligence, and they're reaping the benefits.

According to the survey, teams with dedicated CI platforms are 2.5 times more likely to activate intelligence daily and share that intel across their companies, empowering them to drive twice as much revenue impact compared with teams without such platforms. A dedicated CI practice in place allows marketing teams to rely on that intelligence to build out messaging, campaigns, and strategies that will set their company apart.

When we published the first version of the report, only 22% of CI teams consisted of three or more practitioners. Today, 33% do.

3. Automation is supercharging competitive intelligence efforts

The data collection apparatus needed to facilitate a large-scale CI strategy can be complicated, and interpreting that data to glean actionable insights is even more complex. In a similar way to how automation changed lead generation for marketers, automation is easing some of the heavier lifts associated with CI.

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The State of Competitive Intelligence: Four Trends

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of Erik Mansur

Erik Mansur is the VP of product marketing at Crayon, a competitive intelligence software company. He is a storyteller with experience in print, radio, and that #startuplife.

LinkedIn: Erik Mansur

Twitter: @ErikMansur