Business a cutthroat world, isn’t it? Like the great nations in history battling fiercely for resources and greatness, in business, we struggle to engage the consumer-minded populace while at the same time, striving relentlessly to outshine competition. What we wouldn’t give for smart software that could intelligently gather information and intelligence on what competitors are up to, where they stand in markets, and have instant updates on all this so we could respond like lightning. Competitive intelligence software like this has been attempted since the advent of the world wide web mentality in the 1990s, but it’s seldom worked out all that well.
Largely, niche software like this was costly, required massive computing resources, and a hefty connection over a less refined and indexed global network than we have today. All of these things made creating intuitive competitive intelligence software just not feasible at the time.
Times change.
Now, with SaaS, a highly indexed and parseable internet, and unparalleled computing power, we can have our cake and eat it too. So, knowing this software is now practical, possible and really mandatory for success in business … has anyone hearkened to the call, and written solutions that hold up? You bet your behind they have. Let’s see a few of them.
#1 – HootSuite
While this one’s not really intended to spy on competition, it can give you the insight into your own presence that other systems in the past just couldn’t. Offering multiple network updating in a single step, multiple contributor management, delivery optimization, intelligence by mention tracking and all kinds of diverse analytics reports from every possible angle you can imagine, HootSuite is a great way to do a check up from the neck up on your own situation.
It may seem a bit limited when you look at it from a detached point of view, but brass tack business people know how valuable seeing yourself through the cold mathematical eyes of pure analytics can be for having that competitive edge you need!
#2 – Falcon Social
The social revolution is no longer theoretical, it’s a hard fact, and any business worth their salt is embracing this and using it to its fullest. Sure, the social movement has had its annoying sides in the public sector, and it has some ramifications for peace and quiet to be worked out yet, but there’s no denying it’s a powerhouse of a channel for business, marketing and a lot more.
Falcon Social is a business and competitive intelligence suite that not only acknowledges this, it takes it by the reins and calls out “charge!”
So, what does Falcon Social do? Heck, what doesn’t it do? It has the power to manage darn near every social network known to man (and maybe other species too) from one platform, realtime content performance analysis, multiple channel publishing from a single click, live feed and collaboration, tracking mentions and topic trends, competitor benchmarking, and all kinds of click interfacing for app building and design.
#3 – Bime
While the name is slightly odd, the power behind this suite isn’t odd but inspiring. Bime packs the power of large connectivity with the Google framework, analysis, visualizations, sharing and collaboration, and multi-channel analytics for any organization, be it your own or the competitors.
Competitive intelligence software can do some impressive darn stuff, so if you miss this power, you truly miss out all around.
