Big Data is on everyone’s lips. No wonder, because the data volume generated worldwide is growing with increasing speed: More and more digitized processes and processes are leaving their mark on the most diverse systems, servers and hard disks in the world to maximize responsiveness.
It is the data analyst, whose place in the company is changing, that can meet this challenge, provided that its role is closer to the operational. Act on the churn once it is predicted, act on machines when they show signs of weakness, avoid fraud by analyzing customer behavior: out of his den, the data-analyst will be in the front line to allow his team to take advantage of Big Data.
What exactly is Data Analysis?
Understanding the scenarios in which the business is inserted is essential for good conditions for strategic direction and decision making. Data analysis is a way to feedback the company’s plans and initiatives so that signals, indications, and insights become inputs for defining the direction of the enterprise. This is why professionals with analytical skills have been increasingly in demand in the market.
Why data analysis is important for businesses?
It is no secret that data analysis can prove to be extremely valuable for companies of all shapes and sizes. Recent research revealed that almost 46% of sellers face great difficulties when trying to access the analysis and compatible data to have an advantage over the competition.Â
So, here are some reasons to understand that make data analysis, strategic activity and why data analysis is important for businesses:Â
- Market Recognition – A company is inserted in a complex environment, composed of several players with different interests in relation to the business: some contribute, buy the product or contract the service, others provide inputs and there are those who compete for the same space. Knowing this universe is fundamental for the business to position itself in the most productive way possible. Thus, it is essential to know the terrain, the influence of competition, the profile of suppliers, potential partners and, of course, the customer. The latter is so important that it will be covered in a specific item later.
When analyzing the market, four types of information essential to business continuity are captured. They are divided into internal environment data and external environment data. When one has real knowledge of the characteristics of the business, it is clear information that denotes the strengths and weaknesses of the internal environment. When you look at the external environment, you can learn about the opportunities it offers the business as well as the threats it presents.
With this analysis, the company can see which “house of the board” is, what are the chances of moving their pieces in a positive way, which moves are risky and what are the best strategies to win the goals.
- Customer Knowledge – Every business has a reason for being and this is directly related to the customer because it is to him that the value of the work done, materialized in a product or service, will be delivered. It is essential to know the profile of this customer, their needs, their wishes, their expectations and wants. For this, any and all clues left by him in the market channels are relevant.
Especially today, in the age of hyperconnectivity, we all leave footprints in the virtual environment and everything that is done on the internet can be informed for setting up a customer behavior profile in relation to the business. When a customer visits the company website or corporate blog, the access and view or click logs show their point of interest. When he buys a product from the online store, he can build a history of statistics that show consumer trends. When he posts a comment about the company on some social network, he leaves there a perception about the brand. When he files a complaint with a consumer protection website, he provides data on his dissatisfaction.
All of this is highly valuable business information and helps to structure a customer archetype – that is, a standard that characterizes the ideal type of customer for the business. This element can compose a business model validation method that will indicate where efforts should be directed to achieve audience satisfaction, engagement, and loyalty.
- Market Differentiation – When managing a business is clear about its market positioning and what its customer expects, it can go beyond the obvious deliverables, perfectly aligned with the expectations of its players.
It is possible to expand horizons and generate results beyond the expected, beyond the known ones. It becomes viable to create products or services with differential, with something more than any competitor offers. And none of this has to do with any magic solution or any feat achievable only by the extraordinary. Just find a gap in the diagnosis made in the market or a weak point of the competitor.
Taking up an unowned space or producing something optimized in relation to what is already offered may be a chance for the business to differentiate itself and gain an unprecedented position in its path.
- Agility in market responses – Companies that analyze business data gain a very advantageous ability: they can predict movement, dodge risk and respond quickly to market changes. Nowadays, agility is one of the requirements of all parties involved in a business. Competition is fierce, and if the company does not serve the customer when it needs it, the competitor enters the game and does so.
The speed of changing scenarios also influences the business and strengthens its adaptability. This is one of the most strategic factors in collecting data information from all environments and elements involved in business management.
- Results increment – A complete diagnosis of the reality in which the company operates allows us to visualize business deficiencies, as well as their potentialities. With this in mind, strategies can be devised so that you can do more with less. Thus, by realizing waste or underutilization of some potential for profitability, management can reposition itself and define new ways to maximize earnings.
This benefit is practically a consequence of the other advantages of data analysis and has become a powerful justification for convincing managers that it is profitable to invest in collecting and evaluating business information.
Closing ThoughtsÂ
Companies that use data analysis to make decisions are more productive and experience greater profitability than competitors that do not. That is why data analysis is the DNA of businessesÂ
Before a company begins to collect a large amount of data, it is important that it formulate a long-term plan and objective. Storing data can be expensive and analyzing information can be even more. Therefore, it is important to make a strategic analysis of how to do data analysis and identify in advance what the purpose of the data is.