IntelligentEye Blog

We live in a very competitive society where we are constantly trying to both offer and receive the best deals going. If we are not looking to offer the best deals, we are at least looking to stay competitive within a given market.

 

As a business this is often key to continuing success, but can be a difficult aspect to keep track of. In previous years there have been teams of staff devoted to following, not only market trends, but also the movements of direct competitors to ensure that nothing is being missed. 

 

With the development of social media and the democratisation of the internet to such a point that anybody can log on and say anything that they like on the most public of all forums, it has gotten a lot easier to follow what competitors are doing. 

 

Competitor monitoring can let you know what moves your competitors are making, what they are offering, when their prices change and even what is going on internally if someone has posted that information in a public place where the content is open for anyone to read. 

 

Competitor monitoring can be a great tool in any businesses arsenal when looking to develop the business and keep it competitive within its specific market.

It was recently reported on Wired.com's DangerRoom blog, that US intelligence officers are looking to monitor social media in order to make better use of readily available, open source intelligence.

 

By monitoring blog posts, tweets and other forms of social media where people can post their thoughts and ideas, intelligence officers hope to be able to read people's reactions to global incidents and to be better prepared to tackle large-scale, planned events. 

 

The scope and usefulness of online intelligence monitoring is fast becoming a key talking point, with various communities finding new and varied uses for the technology. Online monitoring is a powerful tool that can be used to meet the needs of any company, agency or business, so you don't need to be the CIA to take advantage of it. Monitoring can address a variety of needs, from monitoring global terrorist activity, right down to finding out which discussion forums a given brand or persons name appears in. 

 

 

Monitoring the ebb and flow of news and information on the internet isn't always about finding out information related to how your business is doing or how it is viewed in the public eye. Of course this information is very useful, but there is something else that monitoring can do for your business.

 

By consistently watching and listening to what is going on, especially in your market or sector, you should be able to identify market gaps, new opportunities and therefore generate leads for your business. 

 

No matter what you deal in, the internet is an unlimited resource of opportunity, you just have to be looking hard enough and often enough to find it. Luckily there are now monitoring tactics available that do most of the hard work for you, combing the web seeking out relevant information and 'noise'. 

 

What's more actively monitoring can make all the difference between you finding out about something before your competitors do, therefore helping you secure that first-to-market boost.