Research Tools

AI-powered web research and competitive intelligence

Research Tools

TractionDesk's research tools use AI-powered web scraping and analysis to help you understand markets, competitors, trends, and audiences without manual searching and reading. The research system combines FireCrawl's intelligent web scraping with OpenAI's language models to search the internet, extract relevant information, and synthesize findings into structured reports. This transforms hours of manual research into a 30-60 second automated process that delivers comprehensive insights you can immediately act on.

Research is particularly valuable before creating campaigns or content because it grounds your marketing in current reality rather than assumptions. By understanding what competitors are messaging, what topics are trending in your industry, and what pain points your audience is discussing, you can create more relevant, timely, and effective content. The Voice AI Agent can perform research automatically when you ask questions like "What's trending in SaaS marketing?" or "Research my competitors' pricing strategies," making competitive intelligence as simple as asking a question.

Every research task costs 10 credits and produces a structured report that includes a summary of findings, key insights extracted from multiple sources, and links to all analyzed sources for deeper exploration. Research results are saved permanently in your account, so you can reference them when creating campaigns, generating content, or making strategic decisions. The research system is designed for both immediate ad-hoc investigation ("Research [topic] right now") and scheduled recurring research ("Research tech news every Monday at 9am") to keep you continuously informed.

Performing Research

To start a research task, navigate to the Research section in your dashboard and click "New Research." Enter your research topic or question in the query field. Be specific about what you want to learn: instead of "marketing trends," write "Current trends in AI-powered marketing automation for B2B SaaS companies." The more focused your query, the more relevant and actionable the results.

Click "Start Research" and the AI begins working. First, FireCrawl performs intelligent web searches using your query to find the most relevant and recent sources. It identifies high-quality articles, blog posts, industry reports, and authoritative sources related to your topic. Then FireCrawl scrapes the content from these sources, extracting the main text and removing navigation, ads, and irrelevant page elements. Finally, OpenAI's language model analyzes all the scraped content, identifies key themes and insights, and synthesizes everything into a coherent research report.

The entire process typically takes 30-60 seconds for most queries. Broader topics may take longer because they involve scraping more sources, while narrow, specific queries complete faster. You can monitor progress with the status indicator—it will show "Searching," "Scraping," or "Analyzing" depending on the current stage. Once complete, the full research report appears with sections for summary, key findings, and source links.

Research Report Structure

Every research report follows a consistent structure designed for quick scanning and deep exploration. The Executive Summary provides a 2-3 paragraph overview of findings, perfect for getting the gist without reading everything. This is what the Voice Agent reads aloud if you asked for research via voice.

The Key Insights section breaks down important findings into bullet points or numbered lists. These are the actionable takeaways you can immediately apply to your campaigns or content. For example, research on "SaaS pricing strategies" might yield insights like "Usage-based pricing is growing 35% YoY," "Most successful SaaS companies offer 3 pricing tiers," or "Free trials convert 15-20% higher than freemium models."

The Sources section lists all websites and articles analyzed during research, with links for deep dives. Each source includes its title, URL, and a brief note about what information it contributed. This transparency allows you to verify findings and explore topics that particularly interest you.

Finally, research reports include Metadata showing when the research was performed, how many sources were analyzed, and the credit cost. This helps you track research history and understand the scope of each investigation.

Using Research in Campaigns

Research is one of the most valuable campaign deliverables because it ensures your campaign is grounded in current market reality rather than guesses or outdated assumptions. When research is included in a campaign, the Campaign Orchestrator performs the research first, before generating any content. The research findings are then used to inform copywriting, image descriptions, and overall messaging throughout the campaign.

For example, imagine a campaign about "AI productivity tools for remote teams." If research is included, the orchestrator might discover that remote teams are particularly interested in async communication, time zone management, and reducing meeting fatigue. These insights then shape the blog post (which emphasizes async features), social posts (which mention time zones), and images (which show distributed teams collaborating). The campaign's content becomes more relevant and resonant because it's addressing real pain points discovered through research.

You can also use standalone research (outside of campaigns) to inform your strategy and decision-making. Perform research on competitors before launching a new feature to understand how to differentiate. Research industry trends quarterly to identify emerging opportunities. Investigate customer pain points before creating content to ensure you're addressing real problems. Research acts as your always-on market intelligence team.

Scheduled Research

Scheduled research keeps you continuously informed about topics that matter to your business without manual effort. Navigate to Research → Schedules and click "New Schedule" to set up automated research tasks. Enter your research query, select the frequency (daily, weekly, monthly, or custom cron expression), and choose the time of day to run.

For example, you might schedule daily research on "latest developments in [your industry]" to run every morning at 8am, giving you a fresh industry briefing with your coffee. Or weekly research on "competitor blog posts" every Monday to see what your rivals are publishing. Or monthly research on "SaaS pricing trends" on the 1st of each month to track long-term market shifts.

Scheduled research runs in the background and saves results to your account. You'll see a notification when new research completes, and you can review findings whenever convenient. Some users set up multiple research schedules covering different topics, creating a comprehensive automated market intelligence system that would otherwise require hiring a research analyst.

Research with the Voice Agent

The Voice AI Agent makes research incredibly natural and conversational. Instead of navigating to the Research page and filling out forms, just ask: "Research the latest AI marketing trends" or "What's happening with cryptocurrency regulation this week?" The agent will execute the research and summarize findings verbally, or you can ask it to show you the full report.

The Voice Agent also supports scheduling research through conversation: "Schedule research on tech news every morning at 9am" or "Set up weekly competitor analysis every Friday." It can list your active research schedules and even help you refine research queries based on what you're trying to learn.

Research Best Practices

Be Specific: Narrow queries yield more actionable insights. "Current pricing models for B2B SaaS companies with 50-200 employees" is better than "SaaS pricing."

Include Timeframes: If recency matters, specify: "Latest trends in..." or "Current developments in..." or "Since 2024..." This helps FireCrawl prioritize recent sources.

Focus on Questions: Frame research as questions you want answered: "What pricing strategies work best for..." or "How are companies solving..." This guides the AI's analysis toward actionable answers.

Combine with Content Creation: After completing research, use the findings to inform your next piece of content. The research report often contains perfect hooks, statistics, and talking points for blog posts or social content.

Schedule Competitive Intelligence: Set up recurring research on competitor names or industry topics to stay informed about your competitive landscape automatically.

Review and Act: Research is only valuable if you use it. Set aside time weekly to review completed research and identify action items for your marketing or product strategy.