Market intelligence is the collection of data used to help the business or the brand grow. The information collected influences the marketing strategy of the company through social media analytics. In other words, the data collected through surveys, social media analytics, and sales reports will help the business make an informed decision.
Though the definition is similar to that of business intelligence, you should keep in mind that marketing intelligence focuses more on marketing. Business intelligence is more diverse. It focuses on the overall growth of your business.
If you are dealing with market intelligence, you seek to understand the “what” of marketing. This involves all the internal and external information that includes your customers’ needs and the market gap. The intelligence is not only centered on your customers, but also your competitors. You can tell the information is worth it if you take appropriate action.
Gathering market intelligence is not easy; you need tools to help you out. These tools gather the information that is available publicly on various sources such as social media analytics. Some of these tools include ZoomInfo, InsideView, Adapt, SEMrush, among others.
How to Gather Market Intelligence?
As mentioned, you can gather market intelligence through both internal and external means. Here are the ways to help you out.
1. Sales Reports
One of the ways you can gather information about the customers is by talking to people who have direct contact with them; they are sales representatives. One on one interaction with customers gives you all the information about their needs.
Sales reports will show what areas need improvement, including the products or services the customers are looking for.
2. Make Use of Social Media analytics
About 3billion people are signed up on social media sites around the globe. According to Sherpa Marketing, a large number of those with social accounts are actively following brands and businesses. This shows that social media analytics is the best place to seek relevant information about a brand or a service.
All you have to do is seek the help of social media monitoring tools to gather information about your business or brand. An example is NetBase Quid.
NetBase Quid provides real-time insights on any issues with your competitors. The company systems follow social media keywords and conversations to come up with factual data. If you intend to learn more about a company or the industry, NetBase will analyze all their profiles, news articles, and job site reviews for information.
NetBase Quid is one of the best ways of staying ahead of your competitors through social media monitoring.
3. Networking
You’ve probably heard the phrase that for you to have a successful career, you need to know people. Networking is an important and powerful tool for any businessperson.
As the marketing leader, you need to be smart and know both the company’s product and the competition in the market. You should find ways on how you can interact with the competitors and other relevant businessmen. The relationship will put you at an advantage of gathering enough market intelligence.
Ask for External Help
You don’t have to do all the work yourself; you can actually seek external help to ensure that you gather sufficient information. You can hire a marketing consultant or agency. A marketing research agency is recommended where the customers are many.
You may also gather information from government resources or mass-market research data, which are released by various organizations. The information can be used to come up with a competition analysis that provides you with both the strength and the weaknesses of your competitors.
Market intelligence is about collecting useful data and acting upon that information for your business success. With the above ways, you can gather enough information about your customers and competitors and use it to increase sales.
