Eight Ways Data Analytics Can Revolutionize Your Business Here's why your business needs to be putting more focus on data collection

When businesses try to decide where they should focus for a new year or even just analyze past projects or campaigns, it is easy to just "look," rather than really scrutinize. "What should we do?", "Did it work?", and "What can we do differently?" are often questions that come up first. There was a time when it was very rare to have access to full data analytics that covered all industries, or were comprehensive enough to warrant an investment in to this research, but in the last couple of years, there has been a huge shift to data portals that are helping to change the way businesses operate in the long-term. Everyone is making a shift towards a stronger focus on data collection to shape the future of their business strategies, but why? Here are eight reasons to explain just that:

1. More in-depth findings With technology advances making research easier on a daily basis, it can be simple to get feedback and knowledge on your customer or client bases. But data analytics takes it one step further by really delving in to what is or isn't working, or perhaps finding pockets of information you had otherwise been overlooking. Solid data backs up the findings, thereby making it an extremely useful tool.

2. More effective marketing strategies It goes without saying that when you really understand your audience, you are much more likely to market to them efficiently and effectively. By using a data analytics platform to learn about your audience, you can adjust your marketing strategy accordingly to improve engagement and reduce ad wastage.

3. Avoid making the same mistakes again Analyzing the last month, six months, or beyond ensures that everything you have been actioning can be held accountable for the results it has driven. If it didn't work, then the data will show, ensuring you don't put your energy (or budgets) in the strategies that don't work.

4. More accurate forecasting Rather than hoping that you are hitting the nail on the head with your new strategy for the future, analytics can use predictive methods to really hone in on what worked, and what could be the best steps forward.

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5. Manage your social media presence better Knowing what people are saying about you online can help to better measure the effectiveness of many things, including ad campaigns, marketing strategies, or spend. You will be able to get data on everything from where your audience is, what they are interested in, and how engaged they are in your campaigns and strategies, among other things.

6. Boost customer retention If a business is slow to learn what is or isn't working for their end client or customer, they can quickly see a decline in footfall or engagement. These days, you have little time to engage your audience, and with heavy competition in nearly all industries, it can be almost impossible to get them back if you are to lose them. One way that data analytics can help with this is to increase customer loyalty. It allows for an ongoing analysis of customer behaviour and trends, and keeping a close eye on this means businesses are able to make quick and informed decisions to keep their customer bases happy and engaged before it is too late.

7. Encourage innovation and product development When a company decides on a new innovation or product development, they would usually first look at the customer to establish what fits and what would work. Previously, this was done through guess work or with little internal analytics or feedback. With data analytics so advanced these days, it makes identifying what the customer really wants that much easier and more accurate. It gives logical reasoning and key solid data to back on the product development, which in turn increases the return on investment and keeps client loyalty long-term.

8. Boost productivity in the workplace Gathering data isn't just about what happens externally or how to grow your business, but it is also very much about analyzing what is happening on the inside too. Data analytics can help you encourage productivity in the workplace with things such as efficiency, where training is needed along with general employee morale.

To conclude, data analytics is an extremely important investment for all businesses to truly understand their customers, along with giving you a huge competitive advantage and an overall reduction of cost, because less "mistakes" are made, and will lead to, in the long run, a steady growth on new clients, and more importantly, retention of existing ones.

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