How to Turn Data into Action
Data is sort of a big deal. It powers virtually every technology we take for granted today: GPS, bank cards, Facebook, Google, Instagram, modern shipping and so on and so forth.
In recent years, data has trickled down to make a big impact on SMBs. As an employee or business owner, you’ve likely heard all about that ad nauseam. And we’re not here to bore you with more theory on why data’s good.
Instead, we’re taking things in a different direction. We’re going to give you six concrete, tangible tips on turning data into actions that benefit your business.
1. Data-driven segmentation
Harvard Business School economist Theodore Levitt used to say: “If you’re not thinking segments, you’re not thinking”.
Why? Because modern businesses succeed by thinking small first. Apple didn’t become a top company by catering to everyone. Instead, it opened with “Think different”, appealed to a small niche of underserved influencers, developed a rabid fanbase – and the rest is history.
With effective segmentation, you can create better products. You can reduce marketing costs while improving performance. You can connect with audiences and captivate them with targeted campaigns. In one survey, 68.1% of respondents said they preferred to see at least some targeted ads, i.e. ones tailored to their segment.
All of this is relevant because data is crucial to segmentation. The more you know about your customers, the better you can categorize and target them.
Acquiring and using data effectively gives businesses valuable insights that lead to better segmentation. This makes it easier to find evangelizing consumers, reach new segments before the competition, maximize ROI, and more.
The cool thing is that the sky's the proverbial limit here. You can get all kinds of data points – for example, seeing what users don’t do with Facebook pixel.
Taking this a step further, data can offer a look beyond current audience segments and help...
2. Discover new markets
The first mover advantage is real. Beating your competition to an undiscovered niche or a hot new product makes a big difference.
Data can help here too. After all, finding new customers, new in-demand products, new market niches and more requires understanding one’s current situation. And that’s exactly what data can help you do.
Think of it this way. Virtually any market – and any business’s market position – can be defined in terms of customer data. Some of this data can come from internal sources like your marketing team, your sales team, even your accounting department. Customer service members can be especially valuable here, as they’re your first line of communication with consumers. Data can also come from external sources. This can mean studying the competition, acquiring free and paid secondary research, or even hiring consultants for their knowledge.
The main point is that once you collate all of the data you can find into insights, finding new opportunities becomes much easier. For example, let’s say your marketing team reports that one specific demographic – millennials – responds to your ads particularly well… But converts poorly compared to baby boomers.
What you can do is take this discovery and look for complementary data. In this instance…
● A website heat map can show you where your millennial visitors are bouncing from your pages.
● Looking at specific competitors’ offers can help you get an idea of how you can do better.
● Asking customer service to identify what current consumers are missing in your products based on correspondence.
By combining data points like these, you can highlight new market opportunities in the form of new markets, new strategies, and even new products. This is the second thing data can do for your business.
Speaking of new products – data is a powerful tool for...
3. Better product development
Data gives you concrete, tangible insights on which products you should develop, market, and offer to your customers. It also shows you how current products can be improved or reinvented.
One famous example of a data-influenced reinvention is Instagram. Few people know this, but it actually started out as a very different app called Burbn. At that point, it was basically another Foursquare with better photo and image features.
Burbn’s creators quickly saw usage data that pointed to the fact that people didn’t actually care about checking in. They just wanted to network and share cool photos. And that, in a nutshell, is how we got Instagram.
To drive the point home, here are 3 more famous examples of data shaping modern consumer products:
● Facebook and Instagram adding the Story feature after seeing how successful Snapchat was.
● Companies like Netflix and Amazon using analytics to determine what makes a winning TV show.
● PepsiCo uses big data to make sure that markets and venues have the products they need, when they need them. Not exactly product development, but still an important part of the product aspect of marketing.
Data can help inform how you handle your products every step of the way. It can optimize existing items, help create new ones, and change the way you market and deliver for better efficiency.
In some specific cases, data can even help you...
4. Disrupt entire markets
It’s no coincidence that some of the data-driven offerings we listed above – Instagram, Facebook’s Stories feature, Netflix’s programming – have disrupted their niches. Data is a strong driver of breakthrough innovation.
To wit, Deloitte Digital reports that 87% of executives believe their industry will be disrupted by digital technology. At the same time, only 44% said they were doing enough to meet these incoming changes.
What does this mean? First, that the digital revolution is creating ample opportunities to create new products, target new niches, and do things more effectively. Second, that many businesses aren’t doing enough to address these opportunities.
This is where data comes in. Strong data-skilled teams can:
● Anticipate trends before they happen
● Identify underserved niches and target them
● Create products that the market is clamoring for
● And more
In addition to the names we’ve already listed, many other brands have used data to disrupt their niches. Revolut’s done it with banking; Airbnb did it with apartment rentals; Maersk is currently trying to do the same with supply management.
Being proactively on-the-ball with data highlights opportunities. It lets you go to where the proverbial puck is going, rather than where it’s already been.
Data can also help you...
5. Achieve extraordinary agility
In the past, many business operations involved a lot of guesswork and a lot of waiting. Say you’re in marketing. You launch a Superbowl ad. How long will it be until you know if it worked or not? Depending on your line of business, the answer is either “months” or even “years”.
Now let’s say you release a new product. Same question: how long until you know whether it worked or not? Again, the answer’s likely to be measured in months or years. Moreover, the cost of trying a new product is likely to be high.
Data changes all of this. It lets you run small pilot projects, get immediate feedback, then scale. This means you don’t have to run the risk of having a dud marketing campaign or dud product. Instead, you can start small, optimize, then scale in pretty much everything you do.
This leads to efficiency, better results, and – this is important – incredible agility. Since you can apply this data-driven philosophy to virtually anything, there are few limits on what you can do provided you use your data well.
Last but not least…
6. Data can help you establish and grow your business
Our business specializes in giving businesses like yours quality leads.
In the past, our industry was built around 2 data points: names and phone numbers. This later evolved into names and e-mails. Either way, getting a lead still mostly meant that you were working blind while trying to convert customers.
In our own business, we’ve worked hard to change that. We give our customers multiple data points including physical addresses, timestamps, and more. The result is that our customers have data-rich lead information they can use to improve targeting and conversions.
In this specific instance, having data is a little like pre-segmentation. It lets you know who you’re talking to before they even know you exist and adjust your messaging accordingly.
To learn more about what we do, and how we use data to enrich our business and provide quality leads that convert easily to our clients…
Skype me> Jared - Skype: BUYFRESHDATANOW