4 Ways to Improve Your Market Intelligence
Is your company looking for a way to improve your brand awareness? Then you will need to arm yourself with as much market intelligence as you can gather. Businesses in all industries are bound to experience tight competition. Small and medium sized businesses have a hard time establishing their own enterprise, especially in an industry dominated by giant corporations.
So, how can you outdo your competitor companies? By knowing more about your target market, of course. To keep your business on top, you have to be willing to invest time, effort, and resources in researching about the needs and wants of your customers.
Listed below are some of the best ways to improve your market intelligence.
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Make use of social media
Perhaps one of the easiest and most affordable way to gather information about the current market trends is through the proper use of social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, etc. First off, you need to start an official profile for your business if you still don’t have one. This makes contacting you and your company a lot easier for your customers.
By searching for your company’s name on Twitter and Facebook, you can see what people say about your business. Monitoring the people’s comments and messages is also essential.
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Talk to your sales force
Your sales force, also known as your sales team, is a great way to gain insight about your market. They are the ones directly interacting with your customers, which gives them the necessary knowledge about ways to develop new marketing strategies, necessary product improvements, as well as other customer related issues that you may not be aware of.
By communicating with your sales team, you’ll be able to develop better ways to serve your customers. You can even ask your team to conduct customer surveys.
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Attend trade shows
Trade shows and conventions are filled with industry experts willing to share their knowledge. By attending these events, not only can you advertise your brand to the locals, you’ll also have the chance to talk to your co-exhibitors.
On the first day of the trade show, people are generally more excited and energized. You’ll see a lot of entrepreneurs chatting with one another, exchanging ideas about their respective markets. Try looking for someone with lots of experience in your field and listen to the things they say. By opening your ears, you’ll pick up plenty of vital information about the current trends in the market.
By the last day of the trade show, fewer people will be around. Take this opportunity to have a casual conversation with an experienced business owner and don’t hesitate to ask some questions.
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Try outsourcing your services
As an entrepreneur, your schedule will most likely be full. By asking the help of a reliable outsourcing company with years of experience, you will get in touch with industry experts that served businesses similar to yours. They will know what customers want and they’ll be updated with the current trends. Moreover, you won’t have to do the research yourself, as the external company will be the ones to conduct the research and analysis.
By using the 4 techniques above, you will gain adequate market intelligence that will help you beat your competitors. We hope you found this article helpful!