With the constant flow of data from multiple sources including the internet, social media, news, and CRM tools, it’s important to figure out what all this data means to your business and what value it brings.
With the constant flow of data from multiple sources including the internet, social media, news, and CRM tools, it’s important to figure out what all this data means to your business and what value it brings.
Most companies collect data in one form or another and to each company, data represents something different. The value of data to every organization lies in the volume of data collected, its complexity, variety and the speed with which the data is received.
The goals of organizations are evolving into visualizing Big Data into the larger scheme of things specific to their businesses. With the spike in allocated budgets, the applications of Big Data in different industry verticals have become mainstream than they were before.
But no matter how varied or complex data is, the relevance of big data to any business will always boil down to 3 main things:
1. How big data impacts your customers
Big data will improve your customer interaction in the following ways:
Staying Relevant
Understanding the needs and wants of customers is essential for every business. Using business-relevant data, you can segment your target market and thus improve strategy and service delivery.
Real-time insights into customer behavior
Though a company can get useful insights through a market research company, the process takes too much time, it’s expensive and is more concerned with past information as opposed to future trends.
Big data eliminates this problem. A combination of daily data from your CRM systems, the news and social media will always yield up-to-date insights into the market. We have seen this time and time again with companies such as Apple, Samsung and Microsoft where every product release is met with a flurry of social media and news activity, which information is then used by these companies to make decisions.
Expanding to new markets
Sometimes the opportunity for growth and revenue generation lies in new markets. By analyzing patterns in your company’s data, you can discover new markets and new customer target groups.
2. The impact of big data on product
Big data gives your company to improve product delivery in the following ways:
Personalization
Companies such as google, Amazon and Nordstrom, have perfected personalization by using the data they collect. Google for instance, uses search results to personalize the information offered to every user. Nordstrom also uses data collected from Pinterest to personalize their product offering in their stores.
Better service delivery
Collecting data on customer satisfaction levels is important for improved service and support in the future. Airlines such as Emirates, British Airways, Qantas, Delta, among others, use data analytics to deliver high-quality service to their customers. Flight attendants are for instance able to monitor allergies, special medical conditions, loyalty programs and special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries.
Innovation & Product Improvement
When a company launches a product, it will monitor how the market responds to it. The automotive industry for instance uses telematics to collect data which they use to make future improvements of automobiles. Industries dealing with fast moving consumer goods can also use simulation analytics to create the perfect iteration of a product.
3. Big data and how it shapes your company
Big data is at the center of many decisions in any company. It will allow your company to:
Reduce and manage risk
Without data, organizations are vulnerable to many risks. Big data allows financial institutions to profile their customers when giving them credit facilities. Insurance companies can also create risk profiles which will allow them to set appropriate premiums for different customers. Agricultural enterprises as well, can use data on weather and food pricing to control production.
Better decision making
Collecting data on employees’ interests, behavior, interactions, work time, resource use and resource allocation can be very instrumental in creating better structures, improving the flow of information, increasing inter-departmental cooperation, increasing efficiency, saving time and saving resources.
Get a competitive edge
Monitoring competitor products, marketing activities, sales and pricing will help you to respond urgently with your own counter measures. If you are selling your products on a platform like amazon, you can keep an eye on your biggest competitors and respond accordingly when they seem to be outselling you.
Bottom Line
It’s clear that big data is a powerful tool that can shape the direction of any business regardless of size. The first step to reaping the above benefits is to start collecting data to be used in analysis.
This infographic presents how applications of Big Data are driving Industries and bringing innovative practices of growth in respective industries.
