The use of data can allow a company to maximize their ROI in certain industries, and there are are all kinds of industries that are impacted by data collection. Making informed decisions based on data yield far more profits than making a decision on a gut feeling. Not all industries are data driven though but for those that are analytics has increased in importance. The collection of this data differs throughout industries with some having automated data collection while others have to collect the data manually. The following will delve into different industries and take a look at how they use as well as collect data to make their businesses run at optimum levels.
1. Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is all about optimizing a campaign so a company can get the most for their money. Google analytics is one of a few great tools to help gather data for this, whether it is to help improve website traffic by covering a certain topic or publishing a blog post during a specific time of the week where website traffic is usually the highest. Goals for these marketing campaigns can vary whether it is trying to establish brand recognition or create leads through content marketing. The website layout being changed can also help optimize a marketing campaign as a confusing layout can lead to people leaving the site when they could have been interested in purchasing services/products or wanted to learn more about a specific service.
2. Personal Data From Citizens To Track Weather
Weather tracking from private citizens can be a huge help to those weather stations that might not have exact precipitation or temperature for a specific area. Most people might wonder how a person accurately records the weather but with a personal weather station. For those people who experience intense storms, a sturdy mount has to be purchased as people in hurricane or tornado torn areas will need this. This allows a person to see patterns themselves or to contact their local weather station to show them the findings that the weather data have illuminated. This could be the difference between people in an area staying put during a storm and evacuating. Do not underestimate the power of a personal weather station to collect important data which could help predict the next big storm.
3. Fintech Companies
Fintech companies are changing the way that money is being borrowed by utilizing nontraditional data that helps them figure out if a borrower will pay the loan back in a timely manner. Fintech or financial technology startups have started to boom as the credit card industry is struggling. Gathering this data not only allows the company to lend money to those that otherwise would not have qualified. This expands the factors that contribute to a borrower paying a loan back instead of simply looking at a business plan or projections for upcoming quarters. Peer to peer loans have become much more popular as people do not want to work with a financial institution as they will not be given favorable loan terms.
4. Market Research Companies
Market research companies are all about gathering data from consumers. This could help a company determine how to figure out whether to launch a new product or service or launch this months later. For those that are more in the business to business space it can be wise to build a research panel for yourself. For larger companies like that of fast food chains, collecting data feedback from current customers can allow a chain like Taco Bell to make a decision of whether they should add another item to the menu. For these companies at times they gather this data by launching a new menu item in a country like Australia to gauge its popularity before launching it in North America.
5. Insurance Companies
The data collection by an insurance company impacts rates as well as what customers that the company will insure. With specific data an insurance company can make a decision to drop a person from the insurance due to impaired driving charges or an excess of speeding tickets. The algorithms that these companies use have a risk analysis built in so an individual does not make the decision to drop someone but rather the algorithm does. Understanding the way that this data is gathered can allow the consumer to find the company with the most favorable algorithm for them personally.
Final Thoughts
Data will continue to be a integral part in companies trying to improve their sales year after year. Optimize data gather processes as patterns can arise that can help a company make an educated decision with their business going forward.