Understand your ideal customer with artificial intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence (AI) can help businesses quickly assess new markets and identify growth opportunities. By analysing customer sentiment, search trends, and competitor activity, AI can provide insights to support informed decision-making and maintain a competitive edge.

AI can support your market research efforts by helping you:

• identify emerging opportunities – by analysing search trends and social media conversations
• develop go-to-market strategies – including key messages, timelines, and channel selection
• use your own data more effectively – through custom AI models trained on your brand and business goals

AI tools can analyse online discussions and behavioural patterns to reveal what matters most to your audience. Custom AI models can also assess search engine optimisation (SEO) performance, highlight keyword gaps, and suggest areas for improvement - see search engine optimisation: adapting to AI search.

Use prompt engineering to improve outcomes

Prompt engineering involves writing clear and specific instructions to guide an AI tool in producing useful and relevant results. 

For example:

• Basic prompt: “Tell me about marketing.”
• Engineered prompt: “Summarise key digital marketing strategies for small businesses in the UK, including examples of successful campaigns in the hospitality sector.”

The second prompt example provides the tool with more context and direction, resulting in a more tailored and actionable response. 

AI tools can also apply strategic frameworks, such as Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) analysis, to support business decision-making. 

For example, a well-structured prompt like: “Conduct a SWOT analysis for a local coffee shop planning to expand into online sales” might generate insights such as:

• Strengths: established local brand, loyal customer base, high-quality coffee.
• Weaknesses: limited online presence, lack of digital marketing experience.
• Opportunities: rising demand for speciality coffee subscriptions, potential for social media engagement.
• Threats: competition from large e-commerce platforms, delivery logistics challenges.