Market Intelligence

Market Intelligence is about providing a company with a view of a market using existing sources of information to understand what is happening in a market place, what the issues are and what the likely market potential is.

Market Intelligence can be divided into two spheres

Market Intelligence based on external data
Market Intelligence based on internal data

Market Intelligence from external data:

Market intelligence from external data is normally gathered through what is known as desk research. This means sourcing and analysing published information to build a picture of a market and to try and answer some specific commercial questions such as what is the market potential.
Central to successful desk research is the ability to track down sources of information and to provide the right level of analysis. For example identifying who your competitors are and analysing their market position against yours to find strengths and weaknesses and indications of new developments.

Market Intelligence from internal data:

Much marketing intelligence information can come from making better use of existing information. For instance by carrying out database analysis on orders taken it may be possible to understand where you have cross-sale and up-sale opportunities, or to understand what type of customers are your most profitable.
Database information is not the only source of market data. Your website may also include a high degree of valuable information about who is looking for your products and services.

Finally, don't overlook knowledge about customers, markets and competitors that comes from your staff. Often this is a poorly tapped source of information. Collecting and disseminating such information falls into the realms of customer knowledge management and making better use of this customer knowledge can help businesses focus far more on what the customer wants and says.