The process of uncovering the target audience is the key to selecting the right marketing channels and employing tools for shaping promotional messages.  Content marketing has transformed the digital landscape and enabled enterprises to better adhere to abundant needs and wants of the audience. Alas, generating a steady stream of content is not a cakewalk. For this reason, cloak and dagger tactics are used, although naturally nobody boasts about it. Well, there is no need to beat around the bush:  Looking at how your competition is doing on social media and what tactics they deploy can be of great help to your efforts.

Through the Spyglass

People do not possess an inexhaustible source of killer ideas, and even if they did, setting up the plan and strategy for all of them might take forever.  Furthermore, companies that keep the fingers on the pulse of the competitor’s customers can win some of them over without building trust from scratch.

However unethical this may seem, marketing arena is a highly competitive place where many tend to play hardball. It makes sense to try and capture the attention of consumers who are already familiar with services and products similar to the ones you offer.

Focus on how a certain company crafts the content, what channels of delivery it uses, and to whom it markets.  See what the competition is offering and how their customers react to their products and services.

Ask yourself whether you could make up for drawbacks or solve their client’s problems faster. If the answer is yes, then it is time to consider setting up the strategy for the usurpation of the competitor’s methods and findings. This endeavor goes hand in hand with the quest of business self-discovery and getting to know what is special about your company.

Thievery Corporation

Now, one should be careful not to display predatory behavior right from the start. Reverse-engineering of the content creation begins by inspecting the content that is popular in your niche. Keep your eyes open for topics, headlines and keywords that spark people’s attention.

Discover the best content format for your marketing activates: it can be anything from an e-book to the viral video. Hence, the early stages of stealing require you to be vigilant and sneaky. Blatant self-promotion and marketing clashes with other companies will do you no good, unless you are Coca-Cola or Pepsico.

Instead, go for something like insightful commenting on the tweets of your competitor. Some users will take the bait and click to see who you are. What is more, maybe the other company will consider broadcasting your content, unaware of your true intentions. This situation resembles cross-promotion, where two or more agents work together in promoting each other’s content. Through it all, you can position yourself as an influencer, guest blogger, or administrator of a popular social media account. From there, the stairways to the digital heaven are visible and the sky’s the limit.

To maximize the chances of ascending there, use the insights to reveal the most common complaints, questions and FAQs about products and services of the competition. That way, you may fill your pages with answers and solutions in advance, and get the party started the moment new visitors are directed to your website.  Only once you have made steps in this direction, it is time to provide customers with something valuable and lure them into your marketing funnel.

Tools of the Trade

A free item may attract visitors to your landing page, where the appealing design, quality content and seamless navigation should work their magic. There are many psychological tricks you can exploit, and some of them include use of colors and functional clarity.

Note that ultimately, it is the content that determines whether you will deliver the promise you had? made earlier. Do not settle for short-term benefits and define long-term marketing strategies. There is no need to be overly promotional and bombard people 24/7. In fact, content marketing allows you to resist this temptation and be smart about your activities.

Finally, bear in mind that marketers invest a good amount of time in finding the best possible tools for monitoring digital avenues. For example, Fanpage Karma allows you to do a side-by-side comparison of account on social media, and figure out where the room for improvement is.

LikeAlyzer, on the other hand, conducts a quick health check of any Facebook page. It does this without the need to access Facebook Insights, and is most often used for competitive research.

At last, a link building tool like Dibz is excellent for identifying quality link prospects and filtering out those who are not worth your while. With these weapons in the arsenal, the path ahead is cleared and free of obstacles.

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

So, do not steal outright, lurk in the shadows and observe like any master thief would. Use gathered knowledge to your advantage when forging content and marketing messages.  This enables you to grow the customer base, steer clear of unnecessary costs, and step up the game. Curate niche-related, high-quality content that spreads across the social media landscape like wildfire. Better not to learn from your own mistakes and avoid the long path of trial and error. A cunning wolf who observes the others from the back is one day able to attain the role of an alpha male and stay ahead of a pack.

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