How can you gather competitive intelligence from industry events?

1 Choose the right events

Not all industry events are created equal when it comes to competitive intelligence. You want to attend events that are relevant to your target market, your niche, and your goals. For example, if you are a B2B software company, you might want to go to events that focus on technology trends, customer pain points, and best practices. You also want to choose events that have a high level of engagement and interaction, such as workshops, roundtables, and panels. These formats allow you to ask questions, observe reactions, and participate in discussions.

3 Collect data from multiple sources

Gathering competitive intelligence at an event can be done from various sources. Speakers and presenters offer valuable insight through their presentations, slides, demos, case studies, and Q&A sessions. You can also approach them after their sessions to ask follow-up questions or exchange contact information. Exhibitors and sponsors can provide useful information through their booths, business cards, brochures, newsletters, and demos. Networking with other attendees and peers can lead to feedback and opinions about your competitors or their needs and preferences. Social media and online platforms can also be utilized to monitor the event hashtag, live tweets, blogs, podcasts, videos, and other online content related to the event. Joining online communities and forums is another way to gain insight into the event.

4 Analyze and apply your findings

After the event, you need to organize and analyze the data you collected. Utilizing tools such as spreadsheets, charts, graphs, mind maps, or SWOT matrices can help you visualize and compare your competitors' performance. Additionally, look for patterns, trends, gaps, and opportunities that can help you enhance your own B2B marketing strategy. For example, you can benchmark your strengths and weaknesses against competitors to identify areas for improvement or differentiation. Adapting your value proposition and messaging to highlight unique benefits and addressing customer pain points is also beneficial. Moreover, adjusting pricing and revenue models to match or undercut competitors or offering more value for money is a great strategy. Additionally, expanding or refining customer segments and personas based on the feedback and behavior of event attendees is important. Experimenting with new or different marketing channels and tactics that competitors are using or missing out on is also a great way to gain an edge in the market. Furthermore, innovating or enhancing product features and benefits to meet or exceed customers' expectations and needs is beneficial. Anticipating and preparing for potential challenges and threats that competitors are facing or posing is also important. Finally, setting or revising goals and plans based on industry trends and opportunities that you discovered can help you gain a competitive advantage in the market. Industry events are not only a way to showcase your B2B marketing strategy but also a way to learn from competitors and improve it. By following these tips, you can gather competitive intelligence from industry events and use it to gain an edge in your market.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?