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25 Dec, 2011

Five Tips for Competitive Intelligence Managers

(PRWEB) December 22, 2011 — The New Year is the perfect time to reflect on milestones, refresh your CI strategy and resolve to find new and better ways to manage your intelligence process. The competitive landscape is in constant flux and to keep pace we need to adapt how we anticipate and respond to developments by constantly re-evaluating our techniques. Digimind recommends five simple and effective resolutions that will give you and your business a competitive edge in 2012.

1. Social Media Monitoring

Adopting a social media engagement strategy should be a key cornerstone of your intelligence activities in 2012. Conversations which impact your corporate reputation and influential chatter about your brand or products are taking place on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. If you’re not paying attention you are missing a huge chunk of intelligence.

2. Make better use of visual data

Static information presented in the same boring format often loses its value. Bring your data to life through interactive visualizations, tag clouds and graphs for maximum effect. Varying how you present data analysis in clear and colorful formats will make the process of interpreting data less like an arduous task and more of an enjoyable activity.

3. Establish early warning systems

Improve your reactivity by developing early warning systems which help you to detect potential threats at the earliest stage. To identify the slightest weak signal, implement ‘360° monitoring’ by tracking all types of sources (from social media, newsletters and specialized search engines). An issue may flare up on a blog, a forum or on Twitter and then spread to news sites with large readerships before being picked up by radio or television. It is vital to be able to anticipate the development of rumors before they spread like wildfire.

4. Managing Reports

One of the most important aspects of your role as a competitive intelligence manager is in the compilation and sharing of reports in your organization. Making sure information filters through to the right people, at the right time is critical. For this reason, report generation consumes a lot of time and energy. Resolve to spend more of your time on strategic analysis and less on tedious report building by investing in an automated tool.

5. Focus on Collaboration

When it comes to competitive intelligence, the importance of collaboration cannot be overestimated. The quality of intelligence is dependent on close co-operation and ‘buy-in’ from multiple departments (Sales, Marketing, Finance, R&D, Market Research etc). Kick-start 2012 with a plan to nurture and develop your collaboration network to guide you through the challenges and opportunities of the year ahead.