For this exercise. you have been assigned the task of reporting back to the manager what the competition is doing. Although a fictitious scenario, this does takes place in the real world and a great exercise to conduct since it can all be done online! Choose the industry you have a passion about (i.e. fashion, sports, hospitality, entertainment, food, beverage, etc.) and select a few of the competitors in that industry. If you are actually working in the industry you have an invested interest in, then you can use the perspective from the actual company or organization where you work.
To reiterate the concept of Cost Leadership, by Michael Porter, in this module, this strategy describes a way to establish the competitive advantage. Cost leadership, in basic terms, is the lowest cost of operation in the industry. Because of the lower costs, companies are able to charge a lower price for its products and still make an adequate profit. While this can be highly successful, cost leadership may be strenuous to employ.
Researching competitors in your industry may be easier than you think. For instance, you can read their online material, or even buy their products and services to compare them with your own. Overall, you should analyze what they may do better than you. Questions you can ask yourself about the competition:
a. What is the price range of their product or service?
b. Are their products of a high quality? Provide an example.
c. Should the company differentiate its products or services on something other than cost, such as service or quality?
d. How is their customer service (highly regarded or less than satisfactory? You can usually see this as well from feedback or posts online.
e. Is their marketing material more engaging?
f. Should the company focus on a niche with a less sought-after segment of the market that could be profitable, or compete with the major competitors for the biggest and most sought after market share?
Remember, what goes online stays online, and a response to posts on social media should positively reflect the mission and values of the company. See what you can find about your competitor's responses where applicable.
Instructions: Using the five points of Platform, Frequency, Following, Content, and Response time, investigate how the competition is conducting themselves online and report back to the team and manager of your company how the competition is doing. Please write a minimum of two pages double spaced with headings for each of the five categories as well as the answers to a. b. c. d. e. and f. above. I designed a template that students may download and type directly in a Word document, save and resubmit.
Template-The competitor's social media marketing strengths and weaknesses .docx
