The term โmarket intelligenceโ is often used in the marketing world, but it can seem like a broad statement to those just learning the topic. Weโll help define what market intelligence truly entails and how you can grab it by the reins to help steer your business.
What is Market Intelligence?ย
Market intelligence, at its core, is having a bird’s eye view of not only your business but your competitors, your industry, and how your target audience ebbs and flows. To get this bird’s eye view, the company gathers data that includes information on:ย
- Customer purchasing habits
- Competitorโs performance
- Industry advancements and changes
- Existing products in the industryย
- Supplier capabilitiesย
- Supply chain management
- Legal and regulatory changes in the industry
Companies collect this information by sending questionnaires and surveys to customers, conducting focus groups and interviews, and keeping an eye on social media trends. Companies also get this data from online databases, competitors’ websites, and customer reviews.
We also canโt forget one of the most important aspects of market intelligence: Internal data. Without internal data, companies canโt see how they stack up against their competitors in their market!ย
Who Uses Market Intelligence?
No matter how big a business is or what they are selling, they all need a grasp on the market around them; thatโs what market intelligence provides.ย
Marketing teams use market intelligence so that they know their target market, and so they can make campaigns that improve sales. Product developers use this data to understand gaps in the market better and meet customers’ pain points. Even financial teams use market intelligence to understand how they are performing against competitors and what growth they can expect.ย
Market Intelligence is Not Market Researchย
Market research can often be accidentally dwindled down to the market research. Market research is the act of gathering current customer and competitor information. While this is an important step in market intelligence, market intelligence takes this information a step further with analysis and action steps that will benefit the company as a whole. Market intelligence is also often conducted company-wide rather than contained to the marketing department.ย
Market Intelligence is Not Business Intelligence
Marketing intelligence is also sometimes confused with Business intelligence (BI). However, BI is something quite different from market intelligence. While they both include gathering data to improve decision-making, they have very different and important goals.ย
Market intelligence looks at how a business performs externally. Business intelligence analyzes how a company performs internally. Business intelligence solely looks at data from within the business. The main goal of business intelligence is to find blindspots in business operations to improve efficiency and productivity, as well as implement technology to make these improvements.ย
How Can You Take Advantage of Market Intelligence?ย
So, now that we know what exactly market intelligence is, how can your company use it to the fullest?
When you gain information about your competitors’ products, you can find gaps in the market and find pain points other competitors arenโt solving for your customers. This gives you a competitive advantage and helps you know the best way to market your current products. It also gives you an idea of what products you can make in the future and get ahead of your competitors.ย
Market Intelligence also helps your company be proactive instead of reactive. When you can see how customers have acted in months and years prior, you can start to make educated guesses about how they will behave in the future. When you know whatโs coming around the bend, you can better prepare for it and stay afloat with the ebbs and flows rather than despite it.ย
Practical Applications of Market Intelligence
Yes, market intelligence gives a grand view of where you and your competitors stand. However, when we zoom in on the everyday practical applications of market intelligence, what does that look like? Let’s use an example to better understand Market Intelligenceโs everyday applications.
Product Development
Say a smartphone company finds that customers want phones with longer battery life, which other companies are not offering. This then changes how the company’s next phone is designed.
Product developers will then create a smartphone with hardware and software specifically designed to save battery life. The marketing team will also take note of this change and be sure to market the smartphone’s long battery life.ย
Market Segmentationย
Market segmentation divides your target audience into groups based on a group’s needs, priorities, and demographics. While a smartphone company finds that many groups prioritize battery life, a large group of their target audiences is prioritizing staying budget-friendly in the current market. In this case, the company can take this opportunity to create fast-charging cables or portable chargers to cast a wider net for new customers.ย
Campaign Optimizationย
When product developers and market researchers are basing the companies’ next move on market intelligence, this sets marketers up for success. When this smartphone company knows how its competitors are advertising, it can create a campaign that not only addresses its customers’ pain points but also feels fresh and new to its audience.
Wrapping Up
Market Intelligence runs through the veins of every part of a company, helping every department make decisions to improve its status in the marketplace.ย
From brand development to marketing campaigns, Matcha Design is ready to enhance how your company advertises within your industry. To learn more about us and our services, visit us online today!ย
