How would like someone to do all the research for you for a very low fee? Yes, you can do that simply by using some spy tools to extract market intelligence from your competitors.

When it comes to search engine marketing (SEM), everything is very transparent, there is no where to hide, especially with powerful search engines like Google, Yahoo & MSN.

Spy Tools

There are quite a number of good spy tools easily available in the market, software or services such as, KeywordSpy, SpyFu, KeyCompete, PPC Bully, Affiliate Elite & much more.

These tools are even better than most keyword research tools because you just need to type in your competitors domain names & you can see all the keywords which they are advertising on & all the ads that they are writing.

Track Your Competitors

In fact some tools even allow you to track which keywords were added or deleted by your competitor. Whenever you spot keywords & ads which have been running for a long time, at least more than 14 days straight, you know these keywords are worth testing.

Chances are, people are usually not so stupid to allow a losing keyword or ad to continue running for a long time.

The Catch

Of course there is a catch, you must always test the keywords even if they are proven to convert very well for your competitors because your sales process may be different. Internet marketing is dynamic, what works for others might not work for you & vice versa.

Also, if they have been advertising for a longer time, their quality score will be better than yours & they will pay less than you. When you are starting to test campaigns with those keywords, you may have to bid higher than them, at least until you start converting well.

Ad Writing Style

Bear in mind that you want to learn the ad writing style & marketing angle from your competitors, NOT that you want to copy every single word of their ad, that is a terrible practice & will not result in more profits. So learn from them & do it better than them, that is how you can stay ahead of them.