How to Leverage Data for Your Business

Individuals and businesses worldwide produce more than 2.5 quintillion bytes of data per day. Some of this data comes from social networks. Text messages, emails, and digital photos generate data, too.

Organizations can leverage data to predict consumer behavior and fine-tune their marketing efforts. The right data can also make it easier to measure work performance and productivity. By looking at past data, you’ll be better able to forecast sales and plan your next move.

Collecting information isn’t difficult. The challenge lies in sorting out your data and breaking it into smaller, more manageable units. You also need to put those pieces together and know how to use them as part of your business strategy.

Not sure where to start? Here are some practical ways to use data for business!

Conduct Market Research

Google, Facebook, and other leading companies leverage data for market research. As a small or medium-sized business, you can combine behavioral data, consumer data, and analytics to gain insights into your audience.

Customer surveys, for example, can help you learn more about buyers’ needs and wants. You may use this research method to collect feedback on existing products or test new products. It can also be a good way to determine how customers feel about your brand.

Focus groups, product trials, and website analytics can be used for market research, too. This kind of information allows businesses to make smarter decisions and meet their customers’ needs.

Fine-Tune Your Marketing Strategy

Look for ways to organize and manage your data and then use this information to improve your marketing strategy. In this digital era, data-driven marketing is the key to remaining competitive.

The information provided by your website, business app, and advertising campaigns can help you track the customer journey. Next, you can use these insights to laser-target your audience and reduce marketing costs.

Website analytics tools, for example, enable users to track the success rate of particular CTAs, blog posts, and landing pages. You can see exactly how many people read your posts on a daily basis and how many convert into customers.

Leverage Data to Monitor Your Competitors

Web analytics and social media monitoring tools can reveal insights into your competition.

Inc. recommends using Google Alerts, Google Trends, SpyFu, and other tools to find out what your competitors are up to. These apps can show you what keywords they use, how their content is performing in search results, and how your business compares to others.

Organizations can also collect competitor data from social media. Online tools like Twitter Analytics and Facebook Audience Insights show you which brands your audience follows on social networks.

Take one step further and conduct a SWOT analysis to see where you stand compared to other businesses in your niche.

Data Is the New Oil

While there are legitimate concerns about consumer data and privacy, this doesn’t mean you should stop collecting data. On the contrary, quality data can help you better serve your audience.

From competitive analysis to market research, businesses can leverage data in a multitude of ways. In the long run, these insights can drive innovation and revenue growth.

Interested to find out more? Browse our Business section for other tips! We’ll show you how to make a business plan, set marketing goals, and increase sales.