The focus of every marketing campaign is providing the market with what it needs. And you can only do this if you have a deep understanding of the industry through intelligent market research.
Intelligent market research involves keeping track of trends in your industry, understanding the behavior of consumers, and keeping an eye on the competition. The information gathered is then analyzed and used in making key decisions such as marketing strategies and product creation.
Let’s go over some methods that you can use to carry out market intelligence.
Web Scraping
Collecting the information from websites manually is time-consuming, and the possibility of making errors or skipping vital details is high. That’s why many successful businesses use a more accurate and exhaustive method - web scraping.
Web scraping is a technique of extracting enormous amounts of data from specific websites using software and storing it in a database or file on the computer. A web scraping software will collect data in a fraction of the time it would take human effort.
It involves the use of proxies for market research to avoid detection by website owners. The proxy hides the IP address of the computer harvesting the data. It also makes it possible to access geoblocked websites.
You can use web scraping to monitor the prices of your competitors on their web pages or e-commerce sites.
Online Surveys
Surveys are also an excellent tool for gathering data for market intelligence. It involves putting a number of questions together to obtain information from respondents, such as target consumers. Through the questions, you can learn about their preferences and relationship with competitors.
An advantage of using online surveys to gather market intelligence is that you get your data fast and in real-time. Processing of the responses is immediate, reducing the need for storage. The method involves obtaining data directly from the source, making it authentic.
Online surveys are also cheap. And the fact that you get to choose who receives the survey questions makes it easy to work with a more selective audience based on specific characteristics such as age.
Social Media Listening
A lot goes around in social media, and if you are not attentive, you could miss out on honest reviews about your brand and those of your competitors. Conversations that predict the trend in your industry or provide insight into unmet customer needs could pass you by.
Social media listening is a method of market intelligence that involves the use of a social listening tool to monitor social media content. The tool tracks any mentions of your brand, discussions regarding specific keywords, competitors, or the industry.
Analyzing the data provides market insight. The best thing about using social media listening tools for market intelligence is the magnitude of honest and unfiltered data available for analysis.
5 Things You Need to Know About Intelligent Market Research
1) Goals are Important
Before carrying out market research, you need to have a plan. Know what you are after and do not fall victim to data hoarding. If your goal is to collect market prices, carry out price scraping and any other data relevant to prices. Collecting all you can eats up your storage space, wastes resources, and clutters your system.
2) The Real Deal is in putting the Data into Use
You cannot choose to use the insight from intelligent market research only when it matches the company’s current direction of travel. Intelligent market research is an investment, and you can only achieve ROI (return on investment) if you put this data into use. It will guide the company towards profitable growth.
3. Choosing the Right Proxies for Market Research
You need the right proxy to extract data from websites without attracting the attention of website owners. It will also help in opening numerous social media accounts for social listening without raising suspicion. The best proxies for market research are dedicated proxies; you do not share with other users, reducing the risk of exposure. They are also less prone to slow connections. You can learn more about using proxies for market research in Oxylabs blog post.
4) Quality of Data Collected Matters over Quantity
Intelligent market research involves analyzing large amounts of data and making major business decisions based on the insight derived. But this data needs to be accurate and of high quality. Processing an enormous amount of inaccurate data will harm your company’s growth efforts. Test your intelligent market research tools regularly to check for accuracy.
5) Intelligent Market Research is a Continuous Process
The data you collect only applies to the present moment. The market is always evolving, and you need to keep up with it to remain relevant. Continuously carrying out intelligent market research ensures that you are at par with changes in consumer needs and are aware of your competitors’ movements.
Conclusion
Intelligent market research is an important aspect of every brand. The insights obtained will assist in making profitable decisions and maintaining healthy competition with rival brands.
Before beginning your intelligent market research campaign, have an objective in mind. Invest in the right tools that are sure to make the process smooth while collecting accurate data. Remember that the data you collect will only benefit your company when put into use.
Author: Goldie Sullon - https://www.linkedin.com/in/goldie-sullon
Goldie Sullon is a Content Manager at Oxylabs, with a broad interest in cyber security and technology for brand protection. Always willing to answer all of your questions about proxies so feel free to contact - she’ll be more than happy to answer you.
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