It is the analysis of consumers in the marketplace (Slater & Narver, 1995). Business owners use it for accurate and confident decision-making. Their goals are to determine market trends and penetration. It involves developing product strategies (Morgan et al., 2009).

Where Can I Find Market Intelligence?

It involves conducting market research, running focus groups, or doing surveys. It includes measuring demand size, purchase goals, and the business’s external environment.

Market Intelligence Factors

Market intelligence is a massive amount of information. To further comprehend it, let’s break it down into several factors.

Problem Assessment

The Problem Assessment (Helms & Nixon, 2020) evaluates the company’s ability to generate revenue. Business owners do it through market analysis of customer understanding and feedback.

It takes into account the company’s ability to execute plans. This includes their sales process and sales team (Jaranillo et al., 2007), marketing plan (Leonidou et al., 2002), marketing campaigns, and overall operations (Chahal et al., 2020).

The Problem Assessment is an important part of Market Intelligence. It provides insight into the company’s selling of their product or service. It compels you to gather market intelligence.

Affected Actors

When it comes to business decisions, different actors can be influential. To make informed decisions, understand how actors may impact your company. This is true in market intelligence.

Who are the affected actors in market intelligence?

Actors are people or groups impacted by the company’s decisions. They can be directly or indirectly affected.

Employees are affected if a company impacts responsibility (Wang et al., 2020).

Customers are affected if a company raises the price of their products.

How do affected actors influence market intelligence?

There are ways that affected actors can influence market intelligence. They can provide information about their needs and wants. These can help inform decision-makers about what customers are looking for.

They can provide information about their experiences with a product (Evanschitzky et al., 2012; Sivasubramaniam, et al., 2012) or service (Curtis et al., 2011). It can improve the quality of their offerings. They can share their thoughts and feelings about a company. It can help shape public opinion.

Do affected actors provide the same level of influence?

Remember that not all actors have the same level of influence. Employees may have more direct knowledge about a company (Rastogi, 2000) than customers do. As such, their opinions may carry more weight.

Some actors may have more interest in a company’s success than others. Shareholders may be more concerned with a company’s profitability (Deloof, 2003) than employees are.

Affected actors can notably impact on market intelligence. It’s important to consider their views and opinions.

Problem

When looking at market intelligence, you must consider problems (Eisenbeis, 1977). This could lead to serious issues for your company.

If you’re planning to lay off many employees (Liu, 2006), this is a problem. You would not want this information to get out unprepared. It could lead to panic and unrest among your workforce.

Problems can be difficult. But they are important for market intelligence. They should be solved. Marketing research plays a role here.

Cybersecurity Threats

In today’s connected world, cybersecurity threats (Chen et al., 2012) are a major concern for businesses. If your intelligence includes information that could be used against your company, take steps to protect it.

There are many ways to do this. It includes encrypting sensitive data and using secure storage methods. Cybersecurity threats are evolving. So it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest threats. It is essential to understand how to protect your company.

Data Privacy Concerns

Another important debate is data privacy (Chen et al., 2012). If you collect data from customers or employees, you must keep it.

There are strict laws in place that govern how personal data (Anton et al., 2021) can be used. So it is important to make sure you are in compliance with these laws. If you are not sure whether your company’s practices are up to par, consult with a legal expert.

Market intelligence can be a valuable asset for any business. But it is important to consider the risks involved.

By taking the time to understand risks, you can ensure your program is compliant with laws.

Solution Providers

There are many factors that go into market intelligence. One of the most important is solution providers (Shepherd, 2006). Solution providers are companies that offer products or services. They address a problem or need.

They can be a vital source of information about a market. They have first-hand knowledge of the challenges and events within a market.

When looking for market intelligence, consider solution providers. They are key sources of information (Ahearna & Schillewaert, 2001). They can provide insights that you won’t get from other sources. You can guarantee that the information they provide is accurate and updated.

Emerging Technology and Industry Trends

When discussing intelligence, consider emerging technology (Ahearna & Schillewaert, 2001) and trends (Kluza et al., 2021). What roles do they play in this process? How can they help collect market intelligence?

For businesses to succeed, they need to understand the latest technology (Daneshjoovash et al., 2020) and trends. This will help them make informed decisions.

Here are the important emerging technology and trends you should be aware of:

The Internet

The internet (Park & Gretzel, 2014) is one of the most important emerging technologies today.

Internet refers to the network of physical devices, vehicles, and home appliances, connected to the internet. It can collect and exchange data. It has the potential to revolutionize the way businesses collect and use data.

Big Data

Big data is another emerging technology that businesses need to be aware of (Chen et al., 2012). Big data refers to the large and complex datasets that are difficult to process using traditional methods.

It has the potential to help businesses make better decisions. It provides them with insights.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is another important emerging technology (Verma et al., 2021). It refers to the computer’s ability to perform tasks that require human intelligence. Decision making and pattern recognition are examples.

It can help businesses automate tasks and establish competitive advantage.

Virtual Reality (VR)

Virtual reality (VR) refers to the use of computer technology. This technology creates a simulated environment.

It can help businesses train employees, provide customer service, and market products.

Blockchain

Blockchain is another important emerging technology that businesses need to be aware of. Blockchain refers to a distributed database that allows for secure and tamper-proof transactions.

It can revolutionize the way businesses conduct transactions and reduce fraudulent activities.

These are just a few of the most important emerging technologies and trends. Market intelligence is essential for businesses to stay ahead of the competition.

Strategic Planning Around Actionable Insights

In order for market intelligence to be useful, it needs to focus on data-driven actionable insights. This means that market intelligence should answer questions like:

Who are our target customers?

Where do they live?

What product intelligence do they need/want?

What market trends do they follow?

How much are they willing to pay?

When do they need/want it?

How can we reach them?

This is essential to make decisions about pricing, product development, and marketing. Collecting market intelligence will benefit your business in the long run.

Market Understanding: Intelligence or Strategy?

Marketing intelligence different from marketing strategy. Strategy is about outreach or content creation to get attention. Market Intelligence is about developing awareness about the market state. Where the people in this industry or niche are. The trends happening. The mindset and problems.

It’s answering questions around the 5Ws and 1H for a specific target market. It’s understanding the core problem people are solving. Or problems – and how each is slightly different.

Then knowing where these people are and what options available to them. Finding your niche among them.

In any ecosystem you might have multiple birds. Some eat seeds. Some eat bugs. Others eat fish. A few birds might eat other birds. Markets operate similarly. 

Before you decide to eat a bird, know how big, strong, fast and hungry your other bird eating competitors are. Or else you might be THEIR lunch!

Marketing Research: The Problem

Too often people get into a business without taking the time to research. They may assume they are their ideal client. They may assume they know what’s going on.

“Measure twice, cut once.” is a common expression in carpentry. Business owners, CEOs and Entrepreneurs would be wise to consider the same advice. 

Regardless of your business, remember to keep your pulse on the market.

The business graveyard is full of businesses who failed to see what was happening. Think newspaper, music and film companies at the dawn of the internet.

Sharpen Your Marketing Intelligence

Marketing and sales should always be aligned. There’s so much these two departments could learn from each other. They could help your business reach its goals and create profit. But doing so requires marketing intelligence.

IT INVOLVES THE FOLLOWING STEPS:

Collection 

Gathering Of Data And Information On A Particular Market Sector

Validation

Involves Maintaining Good Quality Data And Is Accomplished By: Identifying Data Errors Etc

Processing

Is About Translating The Clean Data To Produce Readable Information. It Involves Spreadsheets That Enable Access To Specific Knowledge

Communication

Involves Sharing, Delivering, And Transmitting Information. It Applies Accordingly To The Marketing Strategy