Competitive Audit: Silver Run Electric
An often overlooked yet important tool for improving your brand and staying one step ahead is a competitive audit. A competitive audit allows for a comprehensive analysis of what one’s competitors are doing, more specifically what they are doing right and wrong. The value of learning from others cannot be overstated.
To fully understand what a competitive audit calls for, let’s look at the research we completed for Silver Run Electric. Silver Run Electric, an electric transmission utility company, is not the most straightforward subject to run a competitive audit for.
I mean, can the average person name any other electric transmission companies? If anything, this makes the audit even more important, as there is little room for error in the field. We begin the audit by examining a company that those at SRE look to as a success. In this case, it was Rise Light & Power.
Through our audit, we examined all of RL&P’s social media platforms. By carefully noting the frequency of posts, types of posts, and engagement, we can determine which type of content and what platforms should be of importance to SRE. This allows us to take the success of RL&P and enhance it for ourselves by eliminating what’s not working.
Additionally, in a competitive audit, we must consider how the competitor is represented and perceived by third parties, for example, news organizations. The important things to look for in this aspect of the audit are which news organizations are mentioning the competitor, and if the competitor has narrative control. In our audit, we found that RL&P were featured in reputable and relevant news organizations.
Additionally, they had complete narrative control, as they themselves were quoted in many of these new articles. Through this step in the audit, we could determine that it’s not enough to just have news coverage, your own narrative needs to be the main focal point of the piece.
Finally, we cannot ignore the necessity of understanding how and why competitors failed. In our situation, we noted two SRE competitors that are in less than favorable conditions. Through their social media platforms and news coverage, we can determine what decisions and events led them to where they are now, and use that information to ensure that we do not follow suit.
Overall, when it comes to staying ahead of the curve, a competitive audit is a crucial step to success. You can never have too much knowledge about what is currently working and not working within your field. Keeping tabs on what those around you are doing is key to possessing an edge, and a competitive audit is the best way to do so.
