What Is Market Intelligence?
Market intelligence is like military intelligence. It means current, accurate, relevant data collected from a range of sources. It determines who wins the war. Here are the four basic processes involved:
- Collection: Collection is the acquisition of meaningful data relating to a specific market sector, drawn from a variety of sources that include experts as well as consumers and competitors. Some data is immediate while other information is tracked over time.
- Validation: Validation is the analysis of the data to verify its accuracy and relevance. The process also includes data cleansing to eliminate “fake news,” obsolete information, unreliable sources, statistics based on faulty logic, and anything else that erodes your credibility.
- Processing: Processing refers to organizing the data in clear, presentable formats. In the same manner that an author tells a story from more than one point of view, how you present your data emphasizes different aspects of it. Done skillfully, it can reveal secrets, as well. The data has to be meaningful, readable, and broken down into subsets to align with your marketing strategy.
- Communication: Communication is the transmission of the data to the individual departments who will apply it to their requirements. They may utilize it in policy development, reassessment of campaign efficiency, and the prediction of future trends and their implications.
Since the work is ongoing, so is the need for flexibility, meaning a policy for evaluating and modifying the process to ensure its current value.
Why You Need Professionals to Back You
The comparison of market intelligence to military intelligence is a good one. The best-trained and most technologically advanced military units on the air, on land, and sea are helpless without experienced intelligence experts behind the scenes. Such market researchers track not only the battlefield but the whole war strategy to provide a comprehensive picture. By studying your position in relation to enemy movement, they can recommend informed action decisions every step of the way.
Choosing the Right Market Intelligence Firm
The right company will guide you to success by providing tools to get ahead of the competition and stay ahead. Here are some things to look for:
- Its credentials will include proof of best practices and ethical adherence to the law; if the firm you hire becomes entangled in dirty data, they’ll pull you down with them. An efficient company will show proof of value more than data alone by offering references, testimonials, and case study reports.
- They can describe details of recent relevant experience related to your consumer audience and industry, including recent research methodology experience. They should be willing and able to explain the rationale for their choices to you.
- Their adaptability to your individual needs is paramount, taking into account your budget as well as questions about their onboarding process. You should be assigned a single key point of contact rather than a group of nameless handlers, and they should demonstrate an interest in meeting your point of contact.
How NetBase Quid Can Help You Reach Your Business Goals
NetBase Quid does even more. They reshape your business to be customer-centric with ongoing thorough market intelligence using analytics to find how you can give your customers exactly what they want. They evaluate your brand health with suggestions to fulfill its potential by staying current with evolving trends. With AI-powered tech scouting capabilities, they stay abreast of what your competitors are up to, enabling you to counter
challenges as well as utilize new opportunities you might not have seen. And NetBase Quid has ongoing crisis management protocols in place to nip problems before they have a chance to grow.
Having market intelligence tools at the ready is key to maintaining a strategic market plan for a competitive advantage. You know what to do.