Crush Your Competition with Powerful Marketing Intelligence

marketing intelligence, insights, 

Marketing intelligence keeps you updated on your customers, competitors, product performance, and overall market conditions. It empowers you to gain a competitive advantage and achieve sustainable growth.

But what exactly is marketing intelligence? How can you benefit from it?

Most importantly, how do you gather marketing intelligence data for your business?

Don’t worry. We’ll walk you through the complexities of marketing intelligence and unveil the ultimate tool to help you make smarter business decisions.

Further reading:

• Discover four types of AI-powered marketing applications and how they help you make informed decisions.
• Explore conversational intelligence and its benefits for your customer support or sales and marketing team.

This Article Contains:

• What Is Marketing Intelligence? (Types, Benefits, and Use Cases)
• Marketing Intelligence Vs. Business Intelligence Vs. Sales Intelligence: What’s the Difference?
• 8 Proven Methods for Gathering Marketing Intelligence Data
• How to Develop an Effective Marketing Intelligence Data Collection Strategy
• Supercharge Your Marketing Intelligence & Boost Sales with iovox

What Is Marketing Intelligence? (Types, Benefits, and Use Cases)

Marketing intelligence (or market intelligence) involves gathering and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data about your customers, competitors, products, and market.

Here’s an in-depth look at the different types of marketing intelligence data:

1. Market Trends

   Market trend analysis or market understanding involves looking at historical data and current market insight to spot patterns and forecast trends.

   Some of these factors include:

   • Regulatory and environmental factors
   • Technological advancements
   • GDP growth
   • Inflation rates
   • Employment levels
   • Consumer spending

   This data can be used to make informed decisions about product development, marketing strategies, investment opportunities, and overall business strategy.

   For example, French auto industry leaders Ouest-France and ZoomCar collaborated with iovox to gain valuable insight into car buying trends on their platforms. Using iovox features like Dedicated Numbers, WebConnect, Call Whispers, and Analytics, they uncovered insights like:

   • The average purchase price
   • Most sought-after brands
   • And specific models or years of the most popular vehicles sold

   Auto marketers on Ouest-France and ZoomCar used these data sets to tailor their marketing efforts, focusing on high-demand brands and models.

2. Customer Understanding

   This aspect of marketing intelligence is about getting to know your target market or market segment, including their behaviors, preferences, challenges, and pain points.

   You can achieve this by gathering consumer information like:

   • Demographics: Age, gender, income, and education
   • Psychographics: Lifestyles, interests, and values
   • Consumer behavior: Spending habits, brand loyalty, product usage, reviews, and ratings

   It also involves mapping the entire customer journey, from the moment they discover your product to the point of purchase and even beyond. This consumer information can help you identify bottlenecks and improve the overall experience.

   Take Honda, for instance. They recognized that most car shoppers conduct online research before visiting a dealership. Therefore, when someone filled out a form or requested information online, Honda aimed to respond promptly to capitalize on their initial interest. That’s where iovox’ Call Tracking came in handy.

   It helped Honda reduce lead response time by over 40% and increase lead conversion to sales by nearly 60%. Plus, it streamlined follow-ups for their sales team.

   Smart move, right?

3. Competitor Intelligence

   Competitive marketing intelligence data can help you identify market opportunities, avoid potential risks, and maintain a competitive edge, when launching a new product or entering a new market.

   Some of these data points include:

   • Market share
   • Product offering
   • Pricing structure
   • Distribution channels
   • Marketing strategy
   • Customer feedback

   For example, Zoopla, a leading property website in the UK with millions of monthly visitors, recognized the importance of establishing itself as the top choice in a fiercely competitive market. They partnered with iovox to address gaps in crucial analytics and use innovative solutions like Call Whispers. 

   This advanced iovox feature helped Zoopla add a pre-recorded brand message, ensuring the agents knew when calls were coming from Zoopla. This made Zoopla the go-to platform for agents and customers alike. With these smart moves, Zoopla rose to fame, earning itself a spot as one of the top UK Tech Companies and one of the Most Innovative UK Companies.

4. Product Intelligence

   This data can help you evaluate performance and usage metrics such as reliability, frequency, duration of use, and most popular features. Additionally, product intelligence data considers customer feedback to gauge satisfaction levels, identify pain points, and pinpoint areas for improvement.

   For example, Pizza Express, with over 450 restaurant outlets across the UK and Ireland, encountered the challenge of ensuring their booking system remained accessible to customers at all times, even when staff were unavailable to answer the phone.

   Teaming up with liveRES and iovox, they seamlessly integrated an automated phone booking system into their existing platform. This allowed customers to make reservations 24/7 online or by phone, ensuring no bookings slips through the cracks. The new system optimized staff productivity and streamlined operations by automatically managing missed calls.

   The outcome?

   Pizza Express boosted bookings by 42% and enhanced staff efficiency by getting actionable insight into their customer journey.

   Bottom line: With market intelligence data, you no longer have to shoot in the dark. Instead, you can make data-driven decisions to steer your business toward success.

However, marketing, business, and sales intelligence are often mistaken for one another. So, before we dive deeper, let’s untangle the differences.

Marketing Intelligence Vs. Business Intelligence Vs. Sales Intelligence: What’s the Difference?

Here’s a breakdown of the key differences between each type of intelligence data:

Now that we’ve got a handle on the different intelligence domains, let’s explore the most effective data collection tools and methods.

8 Proven Methods for Gathering Marketing Intelligence Data

When gathering market intelligence, you can collect data directly from your target audience (primary sources), via external research, or use other existing data (secondary sources).

Here’s a breakdown of the most effective primary and secondary data collection techniques:

1. Polls, Surveys, and Questionnaires

   Want to know what your customers think about your products or services? Use tools like Google Forms or SurveyMonkey to gather information about customer preferences, behaviors, and satisfaction levels. You can also engage with them or get their opinions through social media polls.

2. Personal Interviews, Focus Groups, and Field Trials

   Sometimes, you must go beyond numbers and stats to understand what your customers like and dislike. That’s where interviews, focus groups, and field trials are useful. They allow you to dive deep into your customers’ motivations, opinions, and experiences through one-on-one chats or group discussions in person or via Zoom.

3. Observational Research and Point-of-Sale Data

   Use tools like RetailNext to monitor customer behavior in your store, what catches their eye, and how they interact with your brand. Analyze point-of-sale data to see which products are selling rapidly and which are gathering dust.

   If you only sell online, use tools such as Google Analytics or HotJar to track lead activity, including clicks and scrolls, and identify bottlenecks in the conversion process.

4. Social Media Monitoring and Competitor Analysis Tools

   Social media is where conversations happen in real time. Tools like Hootsuite or Brandwatch allow you to tap into these conversations and pick up on trends, sentiments, and hot topics as they unfold.

   What if you want to see what people are searching for or assess seasonal trends?

   To do this, you can use tools like SEMrush or SimilarWeb. These tools can also help you with competitive intelligence data like pay-per-click (PPC) marketing campaigns, top traffic sources, etc.

5. Market Research Reports, Government, and News Publications

   Get valuable insight from reports on Statista or data from the US Census Bureau. Monitor reputed news media and outlets.

   These reports and publications help you stay informed about your industry, giving you a competitive advantage and helping you adapt to changing circumstances.

6. Online Communities and Forums

   Find relevant online communities and forums on Quora, Reddit, and LinkedIn Groups. Once you’re in, pay attention to the topics being discussed, the questions being asked, and the problems people are trying to solve.

7. Trade Shows and Conferences

   There’s no better way to gather competitive intelligence data than attending trade shows and conferences. You can discover and register for industry-specific trade shows and conferences on Eventbrite and LinkedIn events. You can also sign up for the Trade Show News Network, which provides a directory of trade shows and exhibitions worldwide.

8. Conversational AI

   Phone calls provide a human touch that automated systems and emails cannot replicate. Plus, they allow sales representatives to tailor their pitch to specific needs and preferences, increasing the likelihood of conversions. That’s why it’s essential to track and analyze these conversations.

   Sophisticated conversational AI-powered tools like iovox can help you automatically transcribe and analyze the content of thousands of conversations. The AI (Artificial Intelligence) can detect the emotional tone of conversations, identify frequently mentioned keywords, and evaluate customer service quality and sales performance.

   The result?

   You deliver superior customer experiences, comply with regulations, and capitalize on emerging trends to drive long-term success.

While there are several data collection methods, it’s vital to have a clear strategy in place. Without it, you may be overwhelmed with a mountain of information with little practical value.

But don’t worry. We’ll show you how you can streamline your data collection efforts. 

How to Develop an Effective Marketing Intelligence Data Collection Strategy

Follow these tips to effectively gather insights into your market, customers, and competitors:

1. Identify Your Objectives and Associated Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

   When you have clear goals and KPIs in mind, you’ll better understand what information you need to collect and how to interpret it. Common goals and their associated KPIs that businesses often aim to achieve through market intelligence data include:

   Common Business Goals	Associated KPIs
   Boosting Sales	Sales Growth Rate: Percentage increase in sales compared to the previous period. Average Order Value (AOV): Average amount customers spend in each transaction.
   Increasing Brand Awareness	Brand Impressions: Total number of times individuals view or encounter your brand. Brand Recall and Recognition: The ability of consumers to recall or recognize your brand when prompted with a specific category or product.
   Enhancing Customer Loyalty or Satisfaction	Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): Measurement of customer satisfaction based on surveys or feedback. Net Promoter Score (NPS): Measurement of customer loyalty and likelihood to recommend your brand to others. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Total revenue generated from a customer over their entire relationship with your brand.

2. Determine the Research Area and Method

   Think about the best methods to achieve your defined goals. Surveys or focus groups are fantastic for gathering feedback on certain products or features.

   On the other hand, if you want to analyze your competitors’ activities, using social media monitoring tools might be your best option.

3. Collect and Organize Market Intelligence Data

   Establish a clear data collection process, including protocols and templates. Train your marketing team members on the best practices to ensure data accuracy. Once data is collected, aggregate it into a central repository and organize it by type and data source to make it easy to retrieve and analyze the information.

4. Analyze and Interpret Data

   Run statistical tests or models to help uncover any hidden relationships or correlations. You can also use data visualization tools to highlight your findings.

   Wait, there’s more. You’ll need to dive into what the findings mean for your goals, identify actionable insights, and communicate your findings clearly to stakeholders and decision-makers.

   Sounds complex?

   Don’t worry.  iovox’ Conversational AI can do the heavy lifting by automatically analyzing keywords, phrases, and customer sentiment to extract actionable insights from thousands of conversations.

5. Work With External Experts or Consultants

   Sometimes, it’s good to bring in fresh eyes. They can introduce an element of impartiality and objectivity to your marketing intelligence strategy.

   Moreover, these professionals often have a wealth of experience and knowledge in specific areas, such as market research, data analysis, or industry trends, that can complement your internal team’s skills.

6. Set up a Customer Advisory Board

   Set up a group of loyal customers who can give honest opinions on your products, services, and marketing efforts. These customers are usually the best source of feedback, plus it shows them you care about what they think.

7. Deploy a Marketing Analytics Platform to Analyze Data and Gather Insights

   Invest in good marketing analytics or marketing intelligence tools to crunch all your collected data. These tools can give marketers an insight that might not have been spotted otherwise.

Looking for the ultimate marketing intelligence system to gather and analyze data?

Meet iovox — the one-stop solution for all your marketing needs.

Supercharge Your Marketing Intelligence & Boost Sales with iovox

Powered by conversational AI, iovox offers a game-changing solution for automatically collecting and analyzing marketing intelligence data.

Various industries, including real estate, insurance, and automotive sectors, use iovox to:

• Identify the most effective marketing channels
• Spot emerging trends
• And improve the overall customer experience

Let’s dive in and see how you can take advantage of iovox’ most sophisticated features:

1. Unmatched Attribution Insight

   With iovox Dedicated and Dynamic Numbers, you don’t need to guess which ad or marketing campaign works best. You get 100% lead attribution that allows you to fine-tune your strategies in real time and optimize your spending for maximum results. Here’s how it works:

   • Dedicated Numbers: They allow you to assign unique phone numbers to a Google ad, a billboard, or an email marketing campaign. When potential customers see your ad and call the number, the call gets routed through the iovox platform to your regular business phone number or call center.

     This setup helps capture significant marketing intelligence data, including the caller’s phone number, the time and date of the call, call duration, and the source of the call (which campaign or channel the number was associated with).

   • Dynamic Numbers: To use dynamic numbers, you must embed a JavaScript tag on your website. Once that’s done, a pool of dedicated numbers is added to your account, which changes based on the source of your website traffic, including keywords, landing pages, digital marketing campaigns, and referrals.

     For example, a visitor from a Google ad sees a different number than someone from a Facebook post. When the visitor calls the number, iovox logs the call data and attributes it to the specific traffic source.

   As a result, you can see which campaigns are driving the most calls and which are converting into sales.

2. Effortless Trend Analysis and Increased Sales

   Phone conversations often reveal hidden insights that can boost your sales game. iovox Speech Analytics and Conversational AI can streamline this process by:

   • Automatically transcribing calls into text
   • Identifying important keywords and phrases
   • Analyzing the emotional tone of conversations

   This lets you quickly determine each call’s nature, understand customer interests, and identify their pain points.

   Imagine you’re a real estate marketing agent who gets a lot of calls about a newly listed property. However, some callers express concerns about the neighborhood’s schools or amenities. With iovox, you can quickly pick up on these concerns and address them in your property listings or during client interactions.

   That’s not all. With iovox Call Rules, you can set up alerts for missed calls from potential clients. This ensures you never miss out on potential deals, even if you can’t answer the phone immediately.

3. Enhanced Customer Satisfaction

   Want to provide exceptional customer service with every call?

   iovox has your back. Our Call Recording and Transcription feature automatically reviews calls for any quality issues or deviations from standard procedures. Plus, you can set up alerts for instances where important information is missed, or scripts aren’t followed.

   Suppose a customer contacts a car insurance company about accident coverage. The representative assists with the claim process but overlooks a key aspect of the policy related to reimbursement.

   The supervisor quickly detects this oversight and provides additional training to the representative, emphasizing the importance of clearly communicating all policy details. This proactive approach ensures smoother customer interactions in the future, boosting satisfaction and retention rates.

Wrapping Up

Marketing intelligence is vital in mitigating risks, enhancing customer satisfaction and retention, refining product features, and maintaining a competitive edge.

But here’s the thing: To make it work, you’ve got to know how to gather and analyze data effectively. Our detailed guide can help you harness the full potential of marketing intelligence.

And if you want to improve the overall effectiveness of your marketing efforts or customer experience, then choose iovox. With iovox’ robust data collection and analysis capabilities, you can unlock unprecedented levels of success and achieve sustainable growth.

Want to know more?

Get in touch by clicking the WebConnect call button on this page. You can also reach us at hello@iovox.com or give us a call toll-free at +1 888 369 9519 if you’re in the United States.

If you’re outside the US, you can reach us by calling any of the following numbers:

London, UK +44 (0)20 7099 1070
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