You must have heard about big data, data analytics, data mining, forecasting, etc. Data is not something new; it has always been around, but its benefits are now increasing at a higher rate. Gone are the days of manually inputting data into spreadsheets. Now, due to rapid technological advancements, it has become easier to collect, maintain, and analyze data. Not only has it become easier, but the benefits data analytics provide are too good to ignore.
Data analytics means unraveling the hidden trends in raw data. And after gaining those useful insights, interpreting and using the obtained results to the business’s advantage. In today’s world, data is equivalent to gold for businesses.
It’s almost impossible for a business to thrive without data analytics. Machine learning, artificial intelligence, automation, etc. have hugely enhanced its use and benefits for businesses. Here are its six benefits.
1. Improves Decision-Making:
The most obvious and fruitful thing about data analytics is that it significantly improves the decision-making capabilities of businesses. When you have data about the customer’s attitude, likes, dislikes, and preferences, you can use it to better shape your future decisions with the help of an analysis of that data.
Data analytics allows you to base your plans and strategies on solid data results, not just intuition. So you can make better and more accurate decisions based on data forecasting. While you might not have much expertise in interpreting and forecasting the data, you can hire a professional data analyst for the job.
A professional data analyst can help your business by formatting plans and relevant strategies for each step, from product improvement to marketing to supply. It’s even better if you hire a professional who has completed an MBA Data Analytics course from a reputable institute, as they will have all the knowledge about the business world and a strong grip on data analytics.
2. Increases Marketing Returns:
The insights about customers’ choices you gain from data analytics can play a vital role in improving your marketing strategies and returns. Data analytics enable you to opt for customer-centric marketing strategies.
If customers were not responsive to a previous campaign, you will be able to pinpoint your weaknesses and thus make changes in your previous strategies or adopt completely new ones. So, when you target the right audience with the right marketing approach, your marketing returns will eventually increase.
Also, the campaign analysis highlights the specific audience segment more likely to interact with the campaign. So you can create different messaging and creatives for different audience segments based on their preferences. This way, efficient marketing leads to less ad waste and better returns.
3. Better Risk Management:
Businesses face many risks like staff theft, worker safety, uncollected receivables, legal liabilities, etc. Here, data analytics plays the role of a savior, as businesses can predict and prevent such and many other risks with data analysis.
Retail chain companies, for instance, employ a propensity model to evaluate and prevent risks. This statistical method predicts future occurrences and behaviors to determine which stores are at a higher risk of theft. This way, the corporation can increase security where necessary and reduces extra security where possible, thus implying better resource management to avoid risks.
4. More Security:
Data analytics help businesses diagnose the cause of data breaches. Since companies generate a lot of data nowadays, there is always a threat of data theft. So, by analyzing and visualizing relevant data, companies can find out the root cause in case of cyber theft.
For example, IT professionals can process, parse, and visualize audit logs with the help of data analytics programs. It will lead them to discover the origins and paths of the incident. Moreover, the IT department can use statistical models to foresee and prevent assaults in the future. Since cyber-attacks often involve aberrant access behavior, mostly in the case of load-based attacks like DDoS. Using these statistical models can help in detecting and reporting anomalies by monitoring the system all the time. Thus, security professionals can take quick action.
5. Better Operational Efficiency:
Data analysis of the supply chain specifically enhances the organization’s operational efficiency to a large extent. Data collection and analysis point out where the manufacturing delays occur. And predictive analysis can tell if there are any chances of delays happening again.
Based on demand projection, it is easy to point out which vendor will not be able to handle high volumes for more demand during, say, the holiday season. In that case, the company will know their best option is to find another supplier to avoid production delays.
Data analytics also solves the issues of inventory management. Many retail companies are always struggling to optimize inventory levels. Companies can determine the optimal supply level for all enterprises’ services by using data analytics features characterized by vacations, seasonality, and temporal patterns. Thus, the companies know the optimal level of inventory that they can maintain.
6. Improves Customer Experience:
Businesses collect customers’ data such as the number of digital clicks, how many times they visited the website, how long they stayed on it, how they paid, which offer attracted them the most, what they like and don’t, and so on. Businesses collect this data through e-commerce, physical retail, and social networking. With the help of data analytics, businesses can provide an improved shopping experience for them.
When customers receive targeted ads, discounts and offers, and updates about products they like, such as restocking, etc., their shopping experience is enhanced, and you do all of this with the help of data analytics.
The best thing is that all this helps increase consumer retention and loyalty. When consumers receive customized experiences, their satisfaction increases, which makes them enjoy their shopping experience with your business, and they keep coming back for more.
The Bottom Line:
In today’s world of rapid technological advancements, data analytics has completely altered the way of doing business. Now, organizations are able to take better, informed, and, most importantly, customer-centric decisions with the power of data analytics. With the increasing use of data, analytics businesses are able to find out and overcome their weak points in a short period of time. Read through these six benefits to realize how you can improve your business’s performance and minimize risks with the help of data analytics.