Competitive intelligence is sometimes called corporate intelligence. The collection, analysis, and application of information about a business’s competitors, customers, and markets is called competitive intelligence.
A company can stay ahead of its competitors by making proper use of competitive intelligence.
With the help of competitive intelligence, a company can understand the competitive factors in the market, while at the same time the risks and opportunities of the business become clear to it. The main purpose of using information is to develop an efficient and effective system of running a business.
Here’s what competitive intelligence means and how you can bring competitive intelligence into your business strategy. Here are some effective ways to use competitive intelligence to make your market analysis process more efficient.
What Does Competitive Intelligence Mean?
Competitive intelligence or competitor intelligence refers to the process by which companies collect and analyze information about their industry, business environment, competitors and products. Its purpose is to determine future business management strategy.
A lot of emphasis is placed on competitive intelligence to determine a successful business strategy. Because this is what will keep you ahead of the rest of the competitors in the business field. In today’s market where every company is under intense competition, efficient research and market intelligence can make the difference between success and failure.
Competitive intelligence is a necessity for all organizations, large and small. Businesses that see the full picture of their industry can keep their position stronger than the rest.
The data collection and analysis that goes into creating this intelligence allows a company to understand where it needs to improve.
What Are The Best Sources Of Information For Competitive Intelligence Based Research?
Many large companies have the advantage of being able to employ experts in competitive intelligence. However, small and medium companies often do not have this amount of budget. So many companies have to do such research themselves.
But hopefully, the tools available for market research can be used to gather the information needed for competitive intelligence. Other information gathering methods such as online searches and even talking to your own employees and customers are also good sources of information.
Here are some trusted places from where you can get good quality information.
Sources Of Information From Online And Other Searches
- Company website is a good place to know information about target audience, strategy changes, product price, product quality etc.
- Press releases of the company inform about the new product, its personnel or the scope of the company’s business.
- A lot of information is also available from social media postings. Companies often make advance posts on social media about upcoming products, especially those that will be released in the market.
- Knowing the sales process of a product or service can often help you understand how a company’s sales team works.
- Again, the company’s job notices online also indicate the future focus of the company or its interest in a new product or sector.
- Information on companies Information is available from the websites of the companies that work with them.
- Information is available from groups of users of the company’s products on social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Reddit.
- You can also get an idea about your competitors’ strategies using SEO and various analytics tools.
Again you can get information about a company by talking to people inside or outside the company. Suppose you start with, “Well tell me what you know about that product?” Or you can ask, without saying so directly, “Do you know anything about people who are working like us? Tell me what is going on in this sector?”
But you must follow the business ethics or values and rules during this entire process of data collection. Never mislead others or give false information during research. It is not only unethical, but you may also face severe legal penalties for this crime.
If your company has enough budget to hire a competitive intelligence professional, then that would be the best decision. Because it will save you both money and time in the long run.
From Whom You Can Get Job Information In Own Company
• Your own sales people. They can gather a lot of new information when they talk to customers or find new business.
• Among employees who attend various industry conferences. They may have a lot of unknown information about the dynamics of your sector.
• Supplier or Vendor. Especially those who have been working in your industry for a long time.
• Customers who intentionally or unintentionally share their information with others. But be careful if you are being cheated in this regard.
The real point of competitive intelligence is its second word—”intelligence.” None of the information you add, officially or on your own, will be of any use to you unless you think deeply about this information and put it to your use.
And when you can use the intelligence from this information to strategize your business and adapt to changing conditions, you will reap its full benefits.
You can create an analysis-based document with the data if you want. This document can be shared with marketing and sales teams. This will keep your marketing and sales team ahead of others in the market.
Just as a business is not built in a day, competitive intelligence is not something that is once needed.
It is a complex process and constantly changing. You also need to keep pace with these changes to stay competitive.
