10 Places to Go for Business Intelligence

Business intelligence, sometimes called market intelligence, is information that your company can use to develop new customers, increase sales and sustain a competitive advantage. This information provides your company with a view of the market. It helps you understand what is happening in the market, what customers and competitors are doing, and the likely potential for new products or services.

In general, you can divide business intelligence into two areas, external and internal. You can get external data through surveys, social media and business reports. You can get internal data, such as customer behavior patterns, from your relationship database, prospect lists and website activities.

There are many places to go for business intelligence. Here are ten places that can help you learn more about your customers and industry:

Customer Sources of Intelligence

Your customers are the best sources of information. After all, they are from where you derive your income. There are five places that you can go for customer sources of business intelligence. These include your customer relationship management system, website behavior, social media, focus groups and surveys.

1. Customer Relationship Management

The most valuable asset your company has is bona fide loyal customers. That’s why the demand for customer relationship management is growing at a stellar pace, according to a report that Forbes published in June, 2013.

Your customer relationship management system is a database of information about those who buy your products and services. It contains the actual demographics of your customers. It shows you who your customers are and where they reside. With this information you can learn who your best targets are for future marketing.

2. Your Website Statistics

Looking at your website statistics can reveal your visitor behavior. This can show you where they go on your site, what information they value and how long they stay. Even more important, it reveals their shopping behavior, especially if you have an e-commerce site. You can learn what pages customers go to before going to your shopping cart. This can help you improve your message on your website to increase response rates.

3. Social Media

Social media is a hot and growing field. People are spending more time on social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. Businesses are spending more resources on developing a social media presence. By increasing your company presence on social media, you can learn about what your customers think of your products and services. You can learn more about what they say about your products and services to people in their network. Plus, you can find out how your customers go about investigating solutions to problems that your products or services can solve.

An example of how social media can provide business intelligence is reported by Knime in its white paper in 2012. The report reveals a case study of how a major European Telecommunication company (name not revealed) invested in social media to gain customer insight. After analyzing the data collected, they found insight into not only positive and negative sentiment, but also an indication of how well the community regards different users. This information helped them to identify leaders and followers and how to influence each group.

4. Focus Groups

Focus groups are a form of primary market research in which you can find out the psychographics of your target market. Psychographics involve people’s attitudes, opinions and values. During focus group discussions you can learn how people–some of whom may be your customers–feel about your products and services and those of your competitors. You can capture your customers’ perceptions and assess their future directions. Plus, you can identify the things your target market desires but the market does not yet provide. This can help you improve upon your current products and services and inspire you to develop new ones that cater to your market.

5. Surveys

Surveys are a form of secondary market research in which you collect information from customers, including consumers and C-level or middle-level management. Through surveys, you can learn more about the trends of different demographic groups, such as age or gender, with respect to the demand of your products and services. You can choose to do your own surveys with your customers or prospects.

You can also look at surveys that are published by market research companies, such as Nielsen, IMS Health, Synovate, Arbitron, comScore and Harris Interactive. These surveys can help you to identify trends in the marketplace–either about buyer behaviors or demand for certain types of product and services.

Industry Sources of Intelligence

Keeping up with industry information is vital for your company survival. The following five industry sources of business intelligence will help you learn about new opportunities for growth.

1. Trade Journals

Trade journals are rich with trusted sources of industry information. Trade journals target a specific industry or profession. They can contain information about the latest industry news, case studies, economic trends, educational surveys, opinions and discussions about new developments and practices, new technologies, new laws, competitor news and more.6 Trade journals can alert you to changes in management among your competitors. They can also announce meetings and events.

2. Trade Shows

A trade show gives you a birds-eye view to your industry. You can learn about the trends and new developments by attending meetings, conferences and workshops. Exhibitors show the latest products and hand out brochures and other information to which you otherwise would not have access. Trade shows are also great places to meet with people in your industry, including your competitors. All-in-all, trade shows are perhaps the best places to gain first-hand information about your competitors, and you can learn more about customer attitudes about your products versus your competitors.

3. Press Releases

Press releases are some of the best business intelligence sources. They contain valuable information about your competitors. They may announce new products, strategic alliances, company mergers, new hires or changes in management, and release of new research reports. The best way to access this information is to do a periodic or regular search on sites like PR Newswire or PRWeb.

4. Business Publications

Business publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Inc. and The Economist can provide you with information about your industry and competitors. Plus, these publications can help you keep up with the larger economic environment, financial markets, banking and other financial issues that can affect your company. In fact, this information can help you identify new opportunities that you can capitalize on or risks you need to avoid or minimize.

Factiva is a new business intelligence publication by Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal. It gives you immediate access to many of the world's top media outlets, Web media, trade and consumer publications and more. This includes sources in 28 languages from nearly 200 countries, such as The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Sydney Morning Herald, Oil and Gas Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. Plus, it provides analyst reports and tweets.

Factiva also provides you with a customized homepage so you can monitor your industry and preferred publications. It also shows you trends and analytics. In addition, it gives you the option to receive custom alerts and news pages on your phone, so you can stay ahead of the latest news and business intelligence.

5. Search Engines

Search engines are also great sources of business intelligence. Google, Yahoo and Bing give you access to the world of intelligence at your fingertips. You can not only search for new information, but you can also use the search engines to analyze the strength of your competitor’s websites by keywords.

Things to Keep In Mind

When gathering information, you may not realize its value until after you analyze it. Keep in mind that competitor information can include products, technologies, prices, product packaging, patents, strategic alliances, finances, stock prices, customer perceptions and more.

Also keep in mind that business intelligence is an ongoing project, so don’t fall behind. Start today.