If you didn't see it already, ExactTarget and Email Data Source announced a partnership in November. Check out the press release.
Since then, I have been getting questions about how to use competitive intelligence to improve your email program. Here are just a few of the ways we use competitive intelligence.
- In strategic planning, use competitive intelligence to monitor what appears to be working for your competitors. Email Analyst allows us to look at the email messages that competitors are sending and it provides insight on the traffic that those emails may be driving through an overlay of site traffic data from Alexa. This provides incredible insight into what appears to be working for competitors. Thus, it provides good insight into messaging components that the client may want to consider.
- Look for positive trends in subject lines. Wondering if terms like "Free shipping" are overused? Are they really taboo? Competitive intelligence can help you assess different terms and phrases you are considering using in your subject lines. With Email Analyst's view into site traffic data, you can also get a feel for whether or not these "taboo" phrases really are taboo! (Hint: they probably aren't if your sender reputation is good)
- Track the frequency and cadence of competitors email programs.
- Evaluate the in-house vs. 3rd party email mix of your competitors. Many companies drive traffic to their site through links in 3rd party emails. A competitive intelligence tool allows you to see which emails are driving traffic to your competitors sites... and it allows you to look at the links (content links, text ads, banner ads, etc) that are driving the traffic. Moreover, it allows you to figure out who your competitors are partnering with early on, and allows you to develop a counter-strategy.
- Track where your brand is showing up. This is especially important when working with affiliates. Bill McClosky, founder of EDS, told me about meeting a prospect who asserted that their affiliates were not, absolutely not, sending email on their behalf. A quick search in Email Analyst proved that wrong... something like 30 emails had been sent in the prior month that drove traffic to the prospects website... all affiliates.
- Identify new partners. By searching for key phrases and terms that are used in emails, you can identify like minded companies that are leveraging similar phrases and, thus, may be targeting similar audiences. Sure, some of these will be direct competitors... but some may be future partners!
