Data is a hot topic across industries, and businesses continue to collect more and more data every day. With more and more people using digital channels, and companies creating algorithms and software to track them, the amount of data we create and collect continues to grow exponentially. The amount of data we collect can be nearly incomprehensible – it’s almost definitely too vast for humans to decipher manually. It would take hours upon hours to wade through it all to extract valuable insights and identify subtle patterns in the massive amounts of data stored in various formats. So, what do you do with all of this data? And how do you use it to create value and technological advantages for your organization?
There are a variety of ways you can extract the most value from your data, but here are a few that we find especially useful:
The Right Tools and Talent
We know data is important – but what do we do with it now? It’s easy to collect data, but it’s much more complex to disseminate it into actionable insight. The key is the right tools and talent. Setting aside some of your operational budget specifically for analytics can have a huge impact. Some companies have entire analytics departments, but that’s not always necessary for success. A tailored analytics solution and trained personnel can go far when it comes to creating value from data. Employees familiar and comfortable with data and analytics can unleash the potential of your data, especially when paired with a cohesive, holistic analytics solution.
Don’t Forget Historical Data
Its easy to fixate on predictive and prescriptive analytics since they can optimize your future. But descriptive analytics can be equally as useful and add even more value when combined with predictive or prescriptive analytics. Even if data from years ago may not seem relevant, there are still patterns and insights that may prove valuable even today. In addition, predictive and optimization models are trained and tested on historical data, and the more data you have, the better your models will be.
Make Data and Insights Accessible
The most obvious use for analytical insights is often sales – customer data can provide valuable insight on customer behavior that can improve sales techniques and processes. However, sharing this data can enhance your business across the board. The same data can be used to target and personalize marketing, as well as cut out messaging and techniques that are less fruitful. It can also inform which channels you should be focusing on – and which channels could handle lower budgets. Not only can data improve revenue, it can also drive down operating costs.
A lot of the data being produced and collected today isn’t being used to its full potential. With the right solutions and people, you can extract value from existing data structures and sources. This will enable you and your organization to enhance processes and improve revenue.
