The capabilities of artificial intelligence have long been not limited to generating images and text. The ability of algorithms to quickly find and process data is widely used in business analytics. We will tell you how to use neural networks to analyze competitors. What to pay attention to and why algorithms cannot yet replace humans.
Is it possible
Yes, neural networks make it easier for marketers to find direct and indirect competitors (selling a similar or replaceable product). They help speed up the collection and processing of data. For example, a neural network can be given a task:
- make a summary table for given parameters of a product, service - by price, delivery conditions;
- track trends in social networks - type of content for promotion;
- analyze keywords in queries - optimize SEO, for example;
- evaluate market “gaps” - empty niches that can be occupied by adapting the product offer to the needs of the target audience;
- compare your website and the website of your competitors’ brands - to identify and correct weak points.
And the neural network will do all this faster than a human marketer.
Methods for collecting data on competitors
If the prompt is set correctly, artificial intelligence can find and cluster according to specified characteristics. With its help, you can collect information about:
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goods, services - to identify demand, strengths, weaknesses, optimize the product line;
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the level of online presence - to assess the position, recognition of your brand in the market, identify free niches, improve the digital promotion strategy;
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the effectiveness of marketing strategies - current, past by key metrics (user activity, cost of acquisition, customer retention);
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financial indicators - to assess the state of the company and compare with competing brands.
Analytics helps businesses better understand customers (requests, expectations), simplifies strategic planning, the search for new promotion channels, and making important management decisions.
Strengths and weaknesses analysis
Or the SWOT method, developed back in the 1960s by the Stanford Institute team, the name of which consists of the initial letters of the words - key evaluation indicators:
- Strengths - strengths (from the team, service level, to the product);
- Weaknesses - weaknesses (quality, packaging, financial instability);
- Opportunities - opportunities (events in the economy, world, country, which in theory can directly or indirectly affect the development of the company);
- Threats - external threats that increase risks for business (political situation, for example).
Here, AI technology can be used to search for and quickly process information. For example, financial status, media mentions, customer reviews. After collecting the data, the neural network can be given the task of identifying the main SWOT factors, ranking them according to the degree of importance of their impact on the development of the company. And also convert the numbers into visual graphs, tables.
Forecasting market trends
Since the algorithm can quickly collect, process data, identify patterns, regularities, the neural network can be used to study the current market situation and future trends for:
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developing marketing strategies;
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adapting the product to the needs of the target audience;
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personalizing advertising offers;
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improving communication with customers;
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identifying effective promotion channels;
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optimizing costs.
Research for 2024 showed that the introduction of AI-based technologies allowed companies to increase the accuracy of market trend forecasts by a third. While reducing the time for competitive research and increasing the effectiveness of marketing strategies through targeted targeting.
Examples of use
Parsers, built-in browser tools or custom AI-based bots can find websites of competing companies. Based on the results, you can obtain data on product positioning, USP, pricing.
These same parsers are capable of analyzing advertising (text, video) by the following indicators:
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emotional, rational attributes;
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slogans, keywords;
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sound, music, objects in the frame (for video).
This approach is applicable to any industry, market segment - from sales to production. Suitable for a seller on a marketplace and an auto concern. Analytics provides an understanding of what works best for the target audience. A business can borrow successful tools, or launch a radically different advertising campaign, attracting the attention of customers with a non-standard approach to positioning a product or service.
Recommendations
In order for the neural network to cope with the task well, you need to assign it a role - an expert marketer, financier and write a detailed, detailed prompt. If you need an analysis, say, of a marketing campaign of a competing brand, in addition to the name, you need to give the machine parameters for evaluation.
The algorithm needs to be double-checked, since the accuracy of analytics depends on the correctness of the processed data. In addition, AI does not “understand” the strategic actions of competing brands, and often does not take into account the specifics of the business. Therefore, the results issued by the machine often require manual adjustment.
You can evaluate the capabilities of tools with artificial intelligence technology on our website. Free and without the need to register a foreign phone number, bank card, or install applications. Access is open on the website, in the browser extension, TG and VK.
