The amount of data stored on the internet is growing year on year, with the total volume predicted to be 44 times larger in 2020 than it was in 2009, a potentially unmanageable amount. It is no surprise then that marketers are overwhelmed and looking for ways to leverage data to better reach their customers. In today’s increasingly competitive market, business analytics offers marketers an opportunity they can’t afford to ignore, and it’s time to recognise the real value it can bring.

From a marketing perspective, data analytics transforms rows of data into insights about things such as customer preferences, purchasing history and spending patterns, so brands can have an informed picture of customer activity to boost sales, drive marketing, and even determine store layout in order to improve service.

Seeing the bigger picture

Marketers today need to build a more complete picture of customer trends and behaviours in order to stay ahead of the competition. To do this, they need to gain fast, easy and accessible insights from their data. The days of not knowing customer desires, motives, needs and behaviour are gone. The technology solutions available today, such as data analytics software, can help retailers take a more holistic approach to considering customer trends and behaviours.

Getting a fuller picture allows brands to target consumers with content relevant to them as an individual, benefiting both the customer and the brand. It’s a simple truth that the more brands know about their customers, the better they are able to offer them goods and services they want and need.

In order to better target the consumer, brands need to deliver engaging material. For retailers, opportunities are wide-ranging, and data analytics enables them to improve promotions and increase multi-channel sales. Consumer goods retailer MUJI analysed more than 300 million rows of data to enhance its understanding of activity and results across its 640 stores, as well as online and on its mobile app. The retailer has been able to tell which channels work best for which demographic enabling them to focus their efforts on reaching those most engaged with the brand.

Synthesise data with emotion

Data is rarely a concept associated with emotion, but today data analytics is doing a lot to bring data and emotion together, it’s much more than a numbers game. Data analytics reveals insights into human behaviour – from online engagement and purchase decisions, to insight behind a customer opting out of a purchase at check-out.

As a result of identifying and responding to trends, brands are better able to drive business success. In order to do this, investing in business analytics is vital so that numbers can be turned into meaningful insights. Data can help unveil deeper insights such as interactions between a person and brand or behavioural patterns amongst customers or groups.

Visual analytics are also highly valuable and can help monitor campaigns, identify issues and track activity. This gives brands profound insight into what their audiences are engaging with, so they know how to adapt and tailor their strategy going forward. Naturally this will lead to brand sustainability because efforts can be focused on actions that are proven to work. Efficiency will grow and ROI will increase alongside it.

Get outside your box

The retail industry has identified a great opportunity to use data analytics to combine external factors – such as weather, population growth or public transportation. These factors can all impact sales so using data on customer’s purchase behaviour enables brands to provide services that are timely and more meaningful.

In order to flourish in today’s fast-paced market, brands need to invest in the tools and techniques needed to better understand their customers. Marketers invest in data analytics to achieve a deeper understanding of their customers’ preferences. This in turn transforms ‘dead’ data from rows of numbers to living insights brands can leverage to better target and engage with customers. Forming long lasting relationships is fundamental to keeping brands ahead of the game, and that’s something they can all achieve with data analytics.

 

By Elissa Fink, CMO of Tableau. 

PrivSec Conferences will bring together leading speakers and experts from privacy and security to deliver compelling content via solo presentations, panel discussions, debates, roundtables and workshops.
For more information on upcoming events, visit the website.

comments powered by Disqus