Market research was once a labor-intensive process of surveys, focus groups, and manually tracking information from competitors’ websites and marketing materials. With the evolution of technology, it’s become possible for companies to gather a wealth of market research data using automated technology tools that work around the clock to gather this information. The automation of market research data collection has transformed how companies monitor markets, their competitors, and even their business decisions.
Market research traditionally requires significant human effort. Marketing departments would spend considerable time gathering information from competitor websites for a few months. For example, they could have spent weeks gathering data on competitor prices, product launches, or even advertising campaigns. Much of this work was tedious and repetitive, with limited time allocated to analyzing the data collected.
Market Research Isn’t An Isolated Function Any Longer
Market research is no longer isolated activities that companies perform on the ad hoc basis. Companies have automated market research systems that continually collect market data. Automated price monitoring tools continually monitor competitor websites, and they can monitor thousands of products at a time instead of one employee checking the pricing of a few dozen goods a week. Not only is this an efficient practice, but companies in highly competitive markets require it to gain any form of competitive edge against rivals.
Companies use web scraping technology to gather data from their competitors’ websites automatically. Automated systems do this on social media, online marketplaces, and, of course, popular competitors’ marketplaces. Rather than human market researchers, automated systems collect this data to prepare it for analysis. Employees still analyze the data, but only have to focus on reviewing the automated system’s raw results.
Another automated market research focus area is Google search engine results pages (SERPs). Companies use various tools, like the SERP Scraping API, to monitor competitor SERPs for Google. Automated market research tools can monitor SERPs, changes in results, and even increases or decreases in visibility over time. Companies may then adjust their marketing efforts to improve their market positioning.
Examples of Automation in Market Research
Retail companies were the first to embrace the automated market research trend. However, they are far from the only sectors currently using these systems and tools. Retail firms use automated systems to monitor thousands of products and competitors in real-time. The only market research the company must still do is adjusting the algorithms that calculate the prices their competitors have identified for their products.
Companies that focus on technology products also use similar tools to monitor feature releases, software updates, and reviews of competing products. Automated monitoring systems scan social media platforms, news sites, and technology publications for mentions of competitors’ products. Companies can then monitor their reviews and use them to inform their product development.
Companies that specialize in financial services also use automated systems to collect market data. Financial services firms tend to monitor changes in legislation that could impact their sector. Automated systems can also scan media mentions of regulatory concerns regarding the company or its industry. However, new opportunities in the market are also developments a financial services firm may require monitoring.
Human Efforts Still Required
Despite the very effective capabilities of automated market research systems, people still play an important role in informing companies about the most valuable insights in the raw data collected by these systems. Technology can do a great job gathering this data on behalf of the research teams. However, it takes human analysis to find patterns that reveal useful insights.
The best approach is a hybrid method combining the best of both worlds. Expert analysts can still help businesses avoid overlooking potential threats and important market changes.
Companies need to ensure their tools are gathering relevant data instead of useless noise. An automated system can gather more data than a person can monitor. It can also inundate entire departments with irrelevant information if the configuration is incorrect. Correctly filtering and searching for relevant information is essential.
Issues to Overcome with Automation
There are challenges companies will have to overcome if they want to implement automated market research campaigns. Companies need to be sure they are gathering data from sites that can provide insights into their operation. Some websites may have rules that could lead to legal action if firms scrape them for information.
Automation permits companies to scale their research activities. Companies can monitor multiple competitors with considerably less effort than market researchers usually undertake. However, there are also issues with scaling. Automated systems can result in a huge volume of data that teams must sort through.
Companies need to ensure automated systems do not create silos for the information that needs analysis. The insights gathered by research teams must be made available to decision-makers as soon as possible. Delayed insights can lose relevance very quickly. Companies should strive to integrate their automated research systems into their marketing planning processes as quickly as possible.
Keeping Up with Competitors in an Emerging Market
The field of automation for market research is evolving. As companies improve their tool’s analysis, pattern recognition, and reporting capabilities, more companies will move into this field.
Businesses are now in a position to collect real-time market data through automated machines rather than a whole team of researchers. This helps businesses respond to threats in markets more quickly than they have ever had the chance.
Companies that know how to deploy automated market research systems correctly will gain an incredible advantage over other companies that do not understand how to adapt to advancements in this field. Automated systems will become dominant in this sector and across various industry segments.
