Why Do Companies Gather Market Intelligence and Conduct Marketing Research?
Marketing Research can help businesses understanding will it gonna fail or not, to know their targeting market. If no one wants to buy it, then build it will be a bad choice for a profit-seeking company. Besides, companies should not limit their choices by lower prices. If someone is willing to buy your product, we must do our research to know what will they want to pay? For instance, if a person is willing to pay $10 for your cake, then you should try to sell it for $10.
In addition, marketing research helps companies with many tasks, such as ideas, designs, demands, what to produce and how much or how many, and better pricing decisions as we discussed earlier. Better marketing research also means better satisfaction of your customers since you know exactly what they want and meet their needs.
To summarize, marketing research is the process of collecting and analyzing the marketing information we need, to improve our business.
When we talk about market intelligence, it often means competitive intelligence such as solving issues and gathering related information. For instance, if you own a cafe, you should go around to see what competing cafes are doing, what types of coffee drinks they are offering, or how much do they charge for a cup of coffee. It is an ongoing update for decision makers to stay in touch with what’s happening in the marketplace.
The Market Intelligence Gathering Activities
Most of the time, companies are gathering marketing information related to their daily operations such as which product is the top hot sale or reviews. However, do we really need to know everything? I mean, do we really need to know the person is single or not, in order to sell him or her a cup of coffee? It can be costly to collect everything and every piece of information in detail? Therefore, our target is to get what we need, not everything we want. Remember, we do this to help us make great decisions, not for private seeking purpose. We have to do it legally and properly.
Nowadays, an excellent customer relationship management (CRM) system has become more and more important. Recording key information to unlock a better success. Salespeople or brokers can provide and record those kinds of information and using the CRM to help them sell products.
Before we consider buying something, we are likely to search it online and ask Google first. So, if you are frequently been asked about electric cars, what would you do? It's billion-dollar information for the 2020s if you catch up with the trend and start building your own electric car business.
We are not almighty god, but we can learn from nature and anyone better than ourselves. By purchasing some subscription plans or keep eyes on the information provided by professional authorities like WSJ, The Economist, or Bloomberg, companies can keep their strategies update and fit.
During the pandemic of COVID19, e-commerce has become an unexpected trend for traditional retailers. Before the weak sale report comes out, companies should all get prepared. Quickly catch up on what customers are moving and what suppliers are now providing.
Finally, truly understanding customers is not only collecting quantitative data but also have to know what they think.
How Do Marketing Professionals Know If They Have Crossed The Line in Terms of Gathering Marketing Intelligence?
A locked door can keep honest people honest. But what to lock and how? Companies have to manage their internal culture to avoid gathering corporate information illegally or unethically or become a victim of industrial espionage.
Most of the time, when companies know they have crossed the line is during filing lawsuits or been charged with illegally gathering information. To avoid that situation, companies must have a strategy or plan for that. From interview a new intern to fire a senior CEO, companies must accurately disclose all relevant information and regulate them with contracts. Although not everyone is a spy or criminal, these codes are just like a locked door. Company policies, objectives, and guidelines are also the detectors for earlier known when someone has crossed the line.
Reference
Tanner, J. & Raymond, M.A. (2015). Principles of Marketing. University of Minnesota Open Textbook Library. Licensed under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa.
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