by Patrick Young of ableusa.info
Entrepreneurs continually look for new ways to learn from past performance and influence future outcomes. Although it can be tough to look honestly at what you didn’t do so well, what you learn will allow you to pivot your practices in a better direction. So, do you need a new approach? Data analytics can help. In this article, Directed Analytics explains how to harness analytics to grow your business.
Data Analytics Explained
- Manufacturing plants tracking equipment downtime and runtime.
- Retailers tracking sales.
- Sales professionals tracking conversions.
It’s great to have the information, but what do you do with them, and how can they teach you about your business? That’s where data analytics can benefit you.
Data analytics is the science of studying raw data to draw conclusions. You can learn the answers to these questions:
- What happened?
- Why did this happen?
- What will happen next?
- What should we do about it?
Types of Data Analytics
Diagnostic analytics answers why something happened. You may come up with some theories: Did your last marketing campaign cause sales to drop? Did your cost for materials increase after switching suppliers?
Predictive analytics forecasts what could happen in the future. You may predict lower sales next winter or higher supply costs going forward.
Prescriptive analytics helps you plan. When your equipment has routine maintenance, you can schedule eight overtime hours to compensate. You can increase your materials budget by 4% next year to allow for higher supply costs.
Data Analytics for Daily Operations
Data can also help you to determine if you have the right amount of product and supplies for your current needs. If you anticipate different sales through the spring, you might find that you need fewer items as you move into summer and fall. Or if your manufacturing demands have increased, you may need to consider purchasing or leasing additional machines to keep up.
Data Analytics for Growth
Data analytics can support your growth strategies. One example is using it to plan your marketing campaigns. A complete marketing plan considers your target market, sales strategies and goals, budget, and ways of measuring success.
Are you hoping to increase sales by 5% in the next quarter? Use that as your key performance indicator. Develop test ads to see what your target audience responds to, then analyze the campaign to see which ads work.
You can also use process discovery to help you get the most benefit out of automation and AI services; when you’re looking for a robust and versatile solution, this may be useful. It’s powered by GPT that enables teams to use natural language to request automations across your system, which in turn generates personalized content and summarizes documents in the application of your choice. The automations will identify redundancies and areas causing lag time so that you can respond to those problem areas.
Data Analytics for Creating Strategies
You can also use data analytics to help you strategize. Are you revamping your website? HubSpot suggests that you try asking users for feedback. Then, use data analytics to determine patterns in their suggestions. Next, you can make changes to improve your site.
One important strategy is minimizing coding errors to prevent data loss. Coding errors can result in significant data loss due to errors like bugs or system crashes. If you’d like to improve your coding, you and your team can explore sites with expert tips and help for troubleshooting specific coding and error messages.
Data Analytics for Marketing
It’s more important than ever for businesses to understand their customers on a personal level. By analyzing data related to customer behaviors and preferences, you can gain insights that help you tailor your marketing strategies on an individual basis. A Single Customer View (SCV) is a comprehensive database that stores all of a customer’s interactions with a brand, including purchases, website visits, and social media engagement. With this tool, you can develop targeted marketing campaigns based on each customer’s unique interests and needs.
The options related to SCV marketing tools are endless, and can include personalized email promotions, customized product recommendations, and even targeted advertisements on social media platforms. By leveraging analytics and SCV technology, you can not only improve your conversion rates, but also foster long-term relationships with your customers.
Data Analytics for Customer Retention
Customer retention is an excellent area to focus your efforts. NotifyVisitors reports that fewer than 20% of companies pay attention to retaining their clients.
One way to use data analytics here is to collect data on your current and potential customers, determining similarities. Once you’ve identified potential clients most similar to your existing customers, you can focus on these high-quality leads.
Put Your Data to Work
Data analytics holds a lot of potential for your business, especially as it pertains to automation and the use of AI. It can help you plan for the future based on the numbers you already have, whether its website traffic or machinery needed for production rates. You just need to analyze your information and put it to work.
Directed Analytics specializes in consulting and developing technical solutions that help clients transform their programs into goal attainment systems. Connect with us today to learn more! 225-892-4180
