If you’re familiar with Sun Tzu’s "The Art of War" you have already heard the advice, "Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster."

Bear with me, I’m not endorsing you take up sword against your competitor down the street. And a bit of sharp edged advertising, though, might just do the trick. So, before you line up your next round of newsletter printing, flyer printing or brochure printing, give a moment to analyze yourself and your "enemy."

Knowing Yourself - By now you’re probably pretty familiar with what your business is all about. You likely know where your strengths are, but have you paid attention to the gaps in your proverbial armor? If not, its time to take inventory of what you do well and what you don’t so you can play to your strengths while minimizing the effects of your shortcomings with your print ads. For example, maybe you have top notch in store customer service, but have unreliable shipping. In that case you’re going to want to shy away from free shipping offers in your ads and instead focus on your award winning staff to entice your potential customers to make "in person" purchases. You’ll find that when you focus on your strengths you’re customers will to. This is much better than creating expectations you can’t follow through with.

Knowing Your Enemy - Maybe you’re vaguely aware of the competition your facing in your market, but have you taken the time to really examine what they are offering their customers? You don’t have to send spies down to their local office to find out what their business strategy is. Just take a look at their marketing and see what buttons they are pushing with customers. Are they targeting a demographic that you have neglected? What products are they focusing on in their ads? Are they offering services you aren’t? All of these are questions worth asking when trying to analyze your competitor’s marketing strengths.

Apply Knowledge - Once you know where you stand relative to your competition you can begin working on strategies to gain the upper hand in the market. Try to find groups of potential customers that may have been neglected by both you and your competitors. Take advantage of marketing your competitors aren’t utilizing or utilizing effectively. For example, if your competitor sticks to newspaper ads, consider going with a flyer campaign. If they aren’t taking advantage of promotional offers and coupons, direct mailing coupon booklets or postcards with limited time offers.

Once you’ve taken stock of your business and your competitor’s business you’ll be able to better formulate a plan of attack. The process can not only highlight an effective marketing plan of attack, it can also illuminate the cracks in your own defenses, so you can shore them up and improve your company’s standing in the long term.