Competition
is tough…
get BRANDWISE!

When a company decides to start marketing, they first need to ask themselves a few questions. The key is to understand where they are right now. One of the ways to do this is to do a SWOT Analysis. For those of you unfamiliar with the SWOT Analysis process here are a few tips.

First, SWOT sands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. So what you need to do is start really looking closely at your company, but try it from an outsiders point of view. This may be something you need to do outside of the office to get away from daily distractions. It is very important to be very focused on this.

Once you are in the zone start making notes on each area. Write as many items as you can think of.

• Define what are your company's Strengths. What makes your company better than all the competitors.
  
  
• Define what are your Weaknesses. Where are areas were you drop the ball, do not have enough people or skilled people or other items that are holding your company back.
  
  
• Define your Opportunities.What items can you take action on right away to tap into these opportunities?
  
  
• Define your Threats. These are trouble area with your company and could be due to your competitors strength's or just area that need improved quickly before your competitors take advantage of these threats.
  

Now go back through you lists in each category and highlight the top 3 items in each area. This will be the areas to take action on to fix, find away around them or use these items as top items to work into copy for your marketing.

Doing a SWOT Analysis will really help you set the tone for your marketing and get you started on the right foot.

Good luck, and remember Competition is tough… get Brandwise!