5 Tools to Help Small Businesses Keep Up with Their Competition

NEW YORK, April 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Keeping a pulse on market trends is an important growth strategy for owners that are looking to grow their small business. Understanding the competitive landscape is equally important if you are competing in a market that is heavily saturated with alternatives for consumers.

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Luckily, it can be easy to track your competition without spending a lot of time and money. In an effort to help small businesses understand how simple competitive analysis can be, PR Newswire's Small Business PR Toolkit contributing author Penny Sansevieri provides the following five tools:

1. Google. Sansevieri suggests you start with the basics and run a Google search of your market. Identify who the key players are and compile a running list. Once you have the list of your competitors, visit their sites to sign up for their newsletters and follow them on social media. This will help you to measure their strengths and weaknesses and gain insight into your very own.
2. Industry events. Attending industry events is not only a great way to better understand your industry, but you might even have the opportunity to meet your competitors that you've been following online. Keep an ear out for the questions that crop up during the Q&A since they might generate ideas for new blog topics and marketing messages.

For discussion on the three remaining competitive analysis tools, read Sansevieri's post, "Stay One Step Ahead of your Competition" here.

PR Newswire's Small Business PR Toolkit is a comprehensive resource that provides small businesses and entrepreneurs the tools to develop an affordable public relations and marketing plan that helps generate interest from potential customers, engage with key audiences and grow their businesses. The toolkit features relevant content such as informative white papers, interactive webinars and how-to articles and premium access to educational resources, as well as the opportunity to take advantage of special offers designed specifically for small businesses. To request information on how PR Newswire can help your small business, click here. You can receive updates on new Small Business PR Toolkit content by following @prnsmallbiz on Twitter.

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