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\u2019ll explain why by breaking down what these terms exactly mean and how they\u2019ll take your business to new heights. These terms are not going anywhere and will only become more prevalent as technology continues to grow.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
A lot of companies today are using these phrases and expecting everyone to know what they mean. To other \u2018techies\u2019 in the field, it\u2019s a no brainer. However, it might not be as clear to those who didn\u2019t go to school to study or work in the field. Fear not, we will start simple – what is big data<\/strong>? 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.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Data analytics<\/strong> is, as the name suggests, analyzing data to find any trends, patterns –\u00a0 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).\u00a0 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 \u2018what happened, why it happened, and what to do next\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Which brings me to my next word to break down – insights<\/strong>. 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.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n