Last month, I ran a poll asking what everyone thought about befriending competitors on social networking sites.  Despite the fact that many businesses fear competitors or malicious copy-cats who watch their every move online, 66% said “Yes,” 26% said “It Depends,” and only 8% said “No” to befriending competitors on social networks.

If you are not engaging with competitors online you are missing the real point of social media and its many benefits.  You should be embracing the opportunity to converse and establish relationships with competitors who could help leverage your success online.

Below are three major reasons you shouldn’t ignore competitors on social networking sites:

Market Research

Monitoring what your competitors are doing online will help you figure out their strengths and weaknesses as well as identify any opportunities and threats.  What better way to discover what they excel at and what holes they have in their strategy than befriending them on social networks.

Market research also includes observing what people say about your competition. This will help you figure out where, why and how the audience engages with competition, determine who the influencers are, and if there is an untapped market segment or idea you can go after.

Monitoring what happens online also allows you to benchmark or determine who is the best or who sets the industry standard.  If you’re not looking at who sets the standard in your industry and where your competitors stand, how are you going to compare yourself against them?

Collaboration

If you take the take the time to get to know your competition online, you may figure out that they are not competitors at all.  They may actually complement your business and help you grow to whole new levels.  There is clout in collaborating and sharing resources with competition – a definite WIN-WIN for all, which gives you more power and can help you reduce costs and gain friends.

Collaboration may include mentoring, joint ventures, affiliate opportunities, referrals, sharing teams, exchanging ideas, and identifying issues or challenges together.

Reciprocation

If you allow competition to join you on social networking sites and you keep an open mind to sharing your knowledge with them, they will reciprocate back in many more ways than you can imagine.

By looking for ways to support your competitors, you will open many doors of opportunity.  I have social media colleagues reach out to me on social networks with questions or to get my opinion on an idea.  Instead of turning them away, I try to help them as much as I possibly can, including referring business to them if I feel I am not the right fit for a prospect.  Although I don’t expect it, the majority of colleagues have returned the favor in many great ways.  I have also gained many amazing social media buddies in the process, which always a plus.

So, regardless of how many competitors you have, don’t look at them as a threat to your business.  Every single business offers unique services and systems that no one else can replicate 100 percent. If you are confident in the value you offer and know what sets you apart, competition should not even be a concern.

Huge Tip: If you mention competitors’ names, brands, and product/service names on your website or blog posts, there is a chance your site will rank high in the search engines for those names.  Of course, there are other factors for ranking high in the search results, but this is an excellent tactic if you do it right.  You must be very strategic!

Do you take advantage of opportunities to connect and collaborate with your competition? How so?