Market intelligence (MI) is the process of collecting, analyzing, and using information about the market and the industry that a company operates in or wants to enter. MI helps a company understand the current trends, opportunities, challenges, and competitors in its target market, and use this knowledge to make better business decisions and strategies.
MI is different from business intelligence (BI), which focuses on internal data such as sales, costs, operations, and performance. MI gathers data from external sources such as customers, competitors, suppliers, partners, regulators, and media. MI complements BI by providing a broader and deeper perspective of the market and the industry.
MI can be used for various purposes, such as:
- Identifying and segmenting potential customers based on their needs, preferences, behaviors, and demographics.
- Evaluating and forecasting the market size, growth, demand, and supply of products or services.
- Assessing and benchmarking the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of the company and its competitors.
- Developing and launching new products or services that meet the market needs and expectations.
- Optimizing and innovating the marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion) to reach and retain customers.
- Enhancing customer satisfaction, loyalty, retention, and advocacy.
- Expanding into new markets or regions that offer potential growth or profitability.
- Monitoring and complying with the regulatory and legal environment that affects the business.
To conduct effective MI, a company needs to follow these steps:
- Define the MI objectives and scope. What are the specific questions or problems that need to be answered or solved by MI? What are the key metrics or indicators that measure the success of MI? What are the sources and types of data that are relevant and reliable for MI?
- Collect the MI data. This can be done through various methods such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, experiments, web analytics, social media listening, online reviews, news articles, reports, publications, etc. The data can be qualitative (descriptive) or quantitative (numerical).
- Analyze the MI data. This involves applying various techniques such as statistical analysis, data mining, text mining, sentiment analysis, content analysis, etc. to extract meaningful insights from the data. The analysis can be descriptive (what is happening), diagnostic (why it is happening), predictive (what will happen), or prescriptive (what should happen).
- Communicate the MI insights. This involves presenting and reporting the findings and recommendations from the analysis in a clear, concise, and compelling way. The communication can be done through various formats such as dashboards, charts, graphs, tables, infographics, reports, presentations, etc.
- Act on the MI insights. This involves implementing and evaluating the actions or strategies that are derived from the insights. The actions can be short-term (tactical) or long-term (strategic). The evaluation can be done by measuring the outcomes or impacts of the actions against the objectives or metrics.
MI is not a one-time activity but a continuous process that requires regular monitoring and updating. A company needs to establish a MI system or framework that defines the roles and responsibilities of the MI team members; the processes and tools for collecting, analyzing, communicating, and acting on MI; and the feedback mechanisms for improving MI quality and effectiveness.
MI is a valuable asset for any company that wants to gain a competitive edge in its market and industry. By using MI effectively, a company can enhance its understanding of its customers’ needs; improve its products’ quality; optimize its marketing strategies; increase its sales’ revenue; reduce its costs’ expenses; mitigate its risks’ exposure; and achieve its goals’ objectives.
If you are looking for a reliable and professional market intelligence provider in Cambodia, you might want to consider MRTS Consulting Ltd. MRTS Consulting is a market research and strategy consulting company headquartered in Cambodia since 2006. MRTS offers various market intelligence services, such as competitor profiling, mystery shopping, social media monitoring, customer experience, customer satisfaction and loyalty, brand equity studies, and ongoing monitoring. MRTS also have the capability to provide both offline and online data collection services using experienced field teams and their proprietary online panel. The company has worked with clients from various sectors, such as banking, telecom, education, health care, tourism, and retail.
You can learn more about our services and portfolio on our website: https://mrtsconsulting.com/.