The business mantra “the customer is king” is manifesting in almost every industry. With the massive entry of new businesses in the e-commerce industry, you must give your customers a reason to stay with you. Ensuring that you meet their needs while providing personalized services is one such way.
Sales intelligence refers to the methods used to gather and analyze information about the competition, prospects, and existing customers. Sales intelligence tools can help your business capture new markets while maintaining existing ones.
There are tons of data on the web that you can use to gain a competitive advantage over your competitors. Although you can easily collect this data using the copy and paste method, it is tiresome, time-consuming, and there is a high likelihood of omitting essential details.
There is a better method of data acquisition known as web scraping.
What is Web Scraping?
It is the automated process of collecting data from the web with the use of a scraper. It involves extracting specific information from target websites. This data is then stored in a spreadsheet or database for further analysis.
Most websites block scrapers from their sites. For this reason, web scraping is more successful when used with a proxy server, especially rotating proxies.
A proxy is a third party server that you can use to route your web requests. It prevents direct communication between your device and the website that you are scraping.
The proxy makes web requests and receives responses on behalf of your device. It comes with a separate IP address attached to a different location that the web server reads instead of your device’s real details.
Rotating private proxies involve the use of a proxy pool. It allows you to make each web request with a new IP address. This gives the impression of real users and prevents the flagging of your scraper.
Type of Data Can You Extract for Sales Intelligence
1. Customer Reviews
The reviews of your customers on reputable review sites can open your eyes to the needs that your products or services do not meet. You also get to understand your target customers better through data collected from discussion forums such as Reddit.
Analyzing this data provides insights about both current customers and prospects. You can put your customers’ needs first, create more responsive products, and develop better marketing strategies. It also lets you know if you have enough positive reviews to attract customers and strategize on how to acquire them.
2. Price Comparison
There are various tools available in the market that price-sensitive customers use to find the best deals. Setting prices that are lower than the market baseline attracts this market segment to your business.
The only way to achieve this is by collecting price-related data from your competitors’ websites or e-commerce sites. You can use it to set competitive prices. Using sales intelligence tools ensures that you are using real-time data so that your pricing strategy is always up to date. VPN is one of the solutions to secure your data from competitors.
3. Competition Monitoring
You need to use sales intelligence tools to oversee your competitors, the moves they are making, and their strategies. It prevents you from losing your market share unexpectedly.
Gathering data on your competitors reveals details about their weaknesses. You can capitalize on these weaknesses to attract their market share. You can also learn about their strengths and use these insights to improve your brand.
4. Improved SEO
SEO plays an integral part of any business’s marketing strategy. It determines your website’s ranking on SERPs and your visibility to web users looking for products or services in your industry.
There are numerous guidelines regarding the ranking of search results for specific keywords. But some are more effective than others. Through web scraping, you can analyze content from the best performing websites in terms of SEO strength and know what works. You can then apply these insights to your content.
5. Improved Lead Generation
Web scraping enables you to collect quality leads at a low cost. You can gather contact information about potential customers from social media and various other websites. All you need is to specify the attributes relevant to your search, such as occupation, age, location, among others. It will cost less compared to getting outbound leads.
The scraper will save these contact details on your computer. You can then send personalized emails, direct invitations to your company’s events, or newsletters. And this is bound to see more of your leads convert.
Winding Up
There are numerous sales intelligence tools in the market today that you can use to improve your marketing strategy. A web scraper improves your data acquisition process by automating the process. The data collected will provide insights into:
- You customers’ needs and wants
- Your competitors’ strategies
- The best keywords to improve your SEO strength
- The most competitive prices
It will also enable quality and affordable lead generation. But you need to invest in quality web scraping services. Source your proxies from the same service provider for a smooth process.
Salman is a prolific environmental writer, and has authored more than 500 articles in reputed journals, magazines and websites. He is proactively engaged in creating mass awareness on renewable energy, waste management, sustainability and conservation all over the world.
Salman can be reached on salman@cleantechloops.com
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