Big data. Data analytics. Insights. Business Intelligence. These are popular terms right now, but what do they really mean? What can they do for business? Are they worth the investment? The simple answer is yes. And I’ll explain why by breaking down what these terms exactly mean and how they’ll take your business to new heights. These terms are not going anywhere and will only become more prevalent as technology continues to grow.
A lot of companies today are using these phrases and expecting everyone to know what they mean. To other ‘techies’ in the field, it’s a no brainer. However, it might not be as clear to those who didn’t go to school to study or work in the field. Fear not, we will start simple – what is big data? Quite simply, big data refers to the exorbitant amounts of data (information collected such as names, addresses, age, gender, etc.) collected and gathered by companies. Everyday businesses are inundated with this amount of data. It can come in many forms, structured/unstructured (meaning organized in charts or no order), which is where data analytics comes in.
Data analytics is, as the name suggests, analyzing data to find any trends, patterns – anything that will be useful in determining how to act on that information. Data analytics can be used to assess marketing campaigns, product sales, market competitors, and anything else your company invests on. Deploying data analytics helps figure out if you are truly getting a good return on investment (ROI). It can tell you whether or not those thousands of dollars spent on advertising are producing results. It can tell you how to adjust your marketing strategy and identify your target customers to make sure the right audience is reached (and those thousands of dollars are actually spent the right way). Looking at historical data during a given amount of time (ie. 2018-2019 advertising profits) can give clues as to how to proceed in future investments. This can mean savings, increased profits, etc. Probably the easiest way to think of data analytics is ‘what happened, why it happened, and what to do next’.
Which brings me to my next word to break down – insights. Insights are the key information points taken from data that tells you what kind of action to take. They are the result of data analytics. Insights give us understanding into the processes that are working for a company versus what is not. Knowing which insights are leading to profits can turn business strategies into businesses successes.
Finally, the last term in this simplified definition post, is business intelligence. Business intelligence is building a web-accessible dashboard to visualize the data. These dashboards display the data in an easy to understand format with charts and graphs. This eye-pleasing interface allows for the data to be understood quickly and efficiently. Business intelligence allows you to make informed decisions based on fact that can significantly change the way your business performs.
At first glance, these words sound technical, and they are, but they’re also very important yet simple to understand. Even more important is the effect they can have on your business. Data shouldn’t be intimidating, but a tool you use to harness the full potential of your business. Data guides decision making for better results because data doesn’t lie! Here at Final Approach, we can help you achieve that and above all, make better business decisions.
