4 Ways Data Is Incorporated Into Your Business Every Day

Without a doubt, some businesses are more data-driven than others. Dedicated data teams exist in these companies, feeding employees a wealth of information for critical and everyday decisions. But even organizations that don’t have designated teams use data daily. Information is nearly impossible to avoid with today’s interconnected, computerized systems.

While you may not realize it, data is integral to your business. It’s something you rely on in many areas, such as customer management and sales. This information helps you control costs and get to know your customers’ behaviors better. Let’s examine four ways companies incorporate data every day.

1. Business Decisions

In order to fulfill your business goals, using data-driven insights is necessary. Whether you’re Whether business analysts are looking at customer usage data or an algorithm is using data to determine and present product recommendations, the business outcomes will be inaccurate if the data is inaccurate. The earlier you identify and correct any data anomalies or inaccuracies, the less likely these issues will affect business decisions. Data observability solutions identify not only issues with data, but can also identify issues and blockages in the data pipeline.

If your data team resources are scarce, data observability solutions can help there as well. Using machine learning and AI, they can automate many manual processes so that your data team can be more efficient and productive. Once the right processes are in place and the correct tools are utilized, you’ll find that making decisions on accurate, trusted data is much more achievable.

2. Digital Marketing and Advertising

An advantage digital marketing has over traditional media is that it’s more trackable. Your business can place a series of radio and newspaper ads to generate awareness. However, it’s difficult to determine how well those ads performed. While you could survey prospects and customers, they may not remember hearing or seeing your advertising. Plus, people may not disclose which ad influenced them or how much sway it had.  

Digital ads, on the other hand, are a different ballgame. It’s easy to track how many views and clicks a pay-per-click ad or online video gets. Collected data about online ad performance also reveals how potential buyers found your marketing. Your use of specific keywords might have effectively reached your target demographic. Those keywords could match your target audience’s interests or what’s trending.  

Social media ad tracking provides even more detail, revealing the characteristics of who saw, clicked, and shared. These characteristics include location, age range, and gender. Businesses use this data to monitor how separate audience segments respond and to A/B test different variations of the same ad. Online ad tracking also reveals opportunities to retarget messages to specific consumer segments and adjust campaigns for better performance.   

3. Service Augmentation Ideas

A company’s billing and accounting system might not seem like a source of a future helpful business idea. Yet the information these programs contain shows patterns in clients’ post-purchase behaviors that can signal opportunities. 

Say you notice more customers in a specific area are increasingly late with their payments. Even those with spotless track records are beginning to slip a little, missing their invoice deadlines by a few weeks.

Other market data from the area shows that the local economy is taking a hit. A few major employers have shut down, and more people are commuting longer distances to find work. You already know your demographic is middle class, and increased gas and car maintenance costs put a squeeze on household budgets.

With this data, you can introduce new extended payment plans to help out and reduce the chances accounts will go to collections. In the process, you boost the competitiveness of your services. Employees can reach out to clients to inform them of the new payment plans. Meanwhile, your marketing messages for that area shift toward communicating increased value and payment assistance.

4. Customer Surveys

Customer survey data is something businesses use to understand clients better and improve service. Email surveys are a popular way to get feedback, and social media polls and interactive online content are additional methods. Survey information can be invaluable, whether you’re developing buyer personas, measuring ad reach, or determining what’s driving purchases.

Many businesses ask for feedback after-sales transactions or presentations to get a clearer picture of service strengths and weaknesses. That’s important, as 86% of consumers say they’re willing to pay up to 25% more for better customer experiences. And 55% of consumers want to buy something back away because of subpar customer service.

Survey data from existing customers and prospects lets business owners know whether they’re delivering the experiences people want. If salespeople in one store appear uninterested and standoffish, it could signal a remedial training opportunity or an issue with local leadership. But if the problem seems to exist throughout the sales network, it could point to recruiting and internal resource issues. 

Business leaders might also use positive feedback trends to identify and call out strengths. These strengths could become part of the brand’s unique selling proposition and competitive identity.

Using Everyday Data

In business, information is all around you. Sales figures, advertising metrics, and consumer behaviors is data that already exist in your hands. How you use and analyze those details to drive decisions can help determine successful outcomes. Sometimes that means realizing the value of the information you deal with each day. Other times, it’s about extracting more significance by combining everyday data in innovative ways.