A Brief Outlook at Competitive Market Intelligence
The textbook definition of competitive market intelligence (CMI) is the process of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting information/insights about your competitors, market trends, or just the overall industry. And while that is what competitive market intelligence is, we look at it as a crystal ball for B2B marketers, showing them pretty much everything they want to look at. From their strength and weakness to predicting the next move of their rival, CMI can show you pretty much everything. If you make business decisions based on concrete insights and data, competitive market intelligence is the right strategy for you.
Competitive market intelligence (CMI) has come a long way from its early days of relying on market research and surveys. The modern approach to CMI is a sophisticated evolution, leveraging the power of social media, web scraping, and advanced data analytics to gather insights from customer data. This advanced approach goes beyond basic research, offering businesses a deeper understanding of their competitors and the market.
This blog will discuss some of the most advanced competitive market intelligence techniques businesses of all shapes and sizes can leverage to gain a competitive advantage. So, if you are a B2B marketeer, here’s something that can elevate your marketing efforts to the next level.
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Exploring The Competitive Market Intelligence Techniques for B2B Marketeers
From the primary paper-based surveys and questionnaires to advanced AI and ML-driven market research that today’s marketers use, we have come a long way in the world of market intelligence. However, as technology evolves, we will see even more advanced market intelligence techniques surface and empower marketers. For now, though, we will look at some of the most advanced competitive market intelligence techniques widely used by marketers, and if you are not using any of these, we suggest you start using them.
Predictive Analytics
An advanced data analytics technique, predictive analytics uses machine learning models to analyze historical customer/market data to predict customer behavior, emerging market trends, or even your competitor’s next potential move. If you have a colossal customer or data set, this is the perfect market intelligence technique for you.
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
NLP harnesses the power of text or voice data collected from social media posts, comments, and customer reviews to extract meaningful insights for your brand.
Web Scraping and Data Mining
The Internet is a goldmine of information if you have the right tools. Web scraping and data mining are two techniques widely used for extracting meaningful insights from online forums, competitor websites, or even online reviews. Tools such as Scrapy and Selenium are great resources for insightful web scraping. Data mining, on the other hand, uses advanced data mining techniques to discover patterns from huge datasets.
Advanced Market Segmentation
Behavioral, Psychographic, and Geographic market segmentation are great techniques for segmenting customers or markets and analyzing opportunities based on the data available from each segment.
Automated Competitive Monitoring
Automated competitive monitoring harnesses the power of automation to monitor and analyze market trends, changes, and competitive activities to extract meaningful information. Competitive intelligence platforms like Crayon, Klue, and Competitors App make the entire process seamless and allow you to extract actionable insights for your marketing campaigns.
Social Media Analytics
Social media analytics is an excellent source of sentiment and market trend analysis. It allows you to gather your customers’ sentiments through various social media platforms in real-time. By analyzing trending topics and hashtags, you can easily understand the market’s pulse and capitalize on it by tailoring your service/product accordingly.
IoT and Sensor Data
This technique is most useful for businesses needing real-time product and service information. Using IoT and sensor data, businesses can easily understand the user’s interaction with their product and what can be done to make the overall experience seamless. The same data can also be used for predicting usage patterns to streamline the maintenance cycle of the product and increase the overall life of the product.
Implementing Competitive Market Intelligence, The Right Way
While market intelligence seems like a straightforward business maneuver, much can go wrong if implemented incorrectly. Hence, here are a few tips to help you implement competitive market intelligence the right way –
Get the Right Tools
Market intelligence is as much about human intelligence as it is about having the right tools. Hence, ensure you invest in the right platforms and tools for your CMI needs and overall business goals.
Stay Ahead with Continuous Learning
In the rapidly evolving field of market intelligence, staying updated is key. Embrace new technologies and constantly adapt to enhance your CMI capabilities.
Uphold Ethical Standards
Market intelligence is about more than just gathering and analyzing information. It’s crucial to ensure that all activities are conducted ethically without compromising the integrity of any individual or entity. This not only enhances your brand reputation but also safeguards your business from potential legal issues.
Integration and Collaboration
When making competitive market intelligence a part of your growth strategy, ensure that you integrate it well across all the functions, encouraging maximum collaboration and utilizing every single insight you get to the max.
Competitive Market Intelligence is An Ongoing Process
We have discussed some of the most advanced competitive market intelligence techniques B2B marketers are using. You, too, can leverage these techniques to build a comprehensive picture of the modern competitive landscape and use it to build winning business strategies.
However, it is worth mentioning that CMI is an ongoing process. You must constantly learn and evolve in terms of your use of technology to gather and analyze data to stay informed and adapt your approach as and when needed. If you need assistance to get started in the competitive market intelligence landscape, you can write to us at [email protected], and we will help you carve a winning strategy and make the most of it.
