Maintaining awareness of your competition and the current condition of your industry is essential to the operation of any business. Traditionally, this knowledge has been referred to as “market intelligence.”
Analytics that can help you improve your company model and projections are now included in the technique of obtaining market intelligence, which has grown in recent years. For a more profitable business, market intelligence can assist in gaining a deeper understanding of the market. Market intelligence is information about your industry or market sector that can inform strategy and provide a competitive advantage for your business. You can gain valuable insights into how to expand your business by accumulating and analysing data about the markets in which you operate. Sales figures, consumer information, survey results, focus groups, and competitor analysis are all parts of market intelligence.
In this article, my intention is to give you all the tools you need to harness all areas of market intelligence data and use it to get ahead of the competition.
Market intelligence vs. business intelligence
The terms market intelligence and business intelligence are frequently interchanged, but they are not identical. Market intelligence looks at broader trends, whereas business intelligence refers to information that is particular to a company.
Business intelligence is typically information about the internal performance of a company. This comprises the number of products shipped and total sales for the month. Market intelligence, in contrast, focuses on external data such as customer demographics, regional data, and what consumers buy. It also analyses the competition to determine where your company stands in comparison to the remainder of the market. This can all contribute to an analysis of business intelligence. Business intelligence completely ignores the actions of your company’s rivals, whereas market intelligence takes them into account.
How do businesses utilise market intelligence?
Successful market intelligence helps you determine your company’s internal goals and delivers responses in the form of facts about your present, and/or potential, customers and business rivals. The following are questions that market intelligence can answer:
- Where should my business allocate additional resources?
- Which markets should I next attempt to enter?
- What are the purchasing habits of our most loyal customers?
- Which products could be cross-marketed to current clients?
- Which demographic segments can my company market its existing and new products?
- How should I perform a market analysis?
Market intelligence assists businesses in analysing their operating environment as a whole. This assists your business in identifying potential hazards and new growth opportunities. The majority of businesses do this by considering these four criteria detailed below…
Competitor intelligence
Competitor intelligence is the process of collecting and analysing information about your rivals. By analysing the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, you can receive valuable insight into your own company and the reasons why customers do not always choose your product. A competitive analysis report, for instance, is a common marketing tool that evaluates the degree of service a product provides. A competitive analysis report could include everything from pricing and product features to critical demographics and target audiences. All of this information, once compiled, can be used to create a formidable product that caters to the consumer while avoiding problems encountered by other businesses.
Product information
Product intelligence is the analysis of your product or service’s quality. If you sell a physical product, you must consider the manufacturing process and whether or not the product is constructed as efficiently as feasible. The information you collect will help you increase the product’s value. Obtaining this type of information is relatively straightforward, as it necessitates analysing the strengths and weaknesses of competing products on the market. This evaluation encompasses the product and its packaging, the way it is exhibited in stores, and production processes and costs.
Market comprehension
Market comprehension is your awareness of the various markets in which you sell your product or service. This type of research helps you determine how well you’re performing in those markets and whether you could expand into additional markets. Obtaining market intelligence requires a combination of competitive analysis, product intelligence, and the identification of top performers in the space. Once you have an understanding of what is selling on the market, you can begin gathering intelligence on end-users to determine why consumers prefer those top performers.
Customer comprehension
Understanding the customer entails learning more about your current consumers and why they purchase from you. It can also help you comprehend any obstacles you face with these customers in order to increase customer satisfaction and retention. Additionally, the data you collect can help you succeed in future marketing campaigns. It is common for a marketing department to create customer personas that include details such as demographics, interests, problems they confront, and solutions that a business can offer. Frequently, these consumer insights can benefit the entire operation, from product developers to quality assurance engineers.
Obtaining market intelligence
Market intelligence provides a comprehensive overview of your company’s position on the market, comparing it to its competitors and analysing the behaviours of its target customers. Many businesses collect market intelligence through various forms of high-level analysis, although there is no standard method for doing so.
Your sales team is in a perfect position to assist with market intelligence. Since sales representatives frequently interact with prospects and customers, they can provide additional insight into industry trends. Using a CRM is frequently the best way for a company to communicate all of this customer information in one location. If you want to conduct your own market research, consider delivering online surveys or polls to your customers. This is a useful strategy, particularly if you maintain your consumer lists well.
Don’t neglect market intelligence!
Market intelligence can enhance your understanding of your industry and help you identify expansion opportunities. However, it is only beneficial if the information received is accurate. Unfortunately, keeping up-to-date with market intelligence can be time-consuming for small businesses. But there are numerous online tools and resources available to assist you in collecting, analysing, and storing market intelligence. As your business develops, you may need to devote more time to data analysis, despite the fact that a single person can handle the majority of market research for a small business, as the quantity of information grows, it may become necessary to employ a third-party, a specialist consultant or agency to comprehend your current market environment and maximise the opportunities available to your business.
