How to Use Your Data More Effectively

Marketers now have access to more data than ever before. This means that it will be easier than ever for you to get to know your customers, making it more likely that they will buy from you. However, this can also pose a potential problem. With so much information available it can be difficult to know where you should be focusing your efforts. Let's look at some of the best ways to use your data more effectively. 

Know Your Objective

While data can be useful, it is still just a tool. For you to use it effectively, you will have to know what you are going to use the information for. This will ensure that you don't spend too long analyzing data, without putting any changes into effect. For example, you might be designing a new campaign. In this case, you can look at the information you've gathered, focusing on how customers reacted to previous marketing efforts. This can inform the type of campaign that will produce the best results.

Get an Overview

Many organizations have the ability to measure hundreds of pieces of information. However, in most cases, you will only need a quick overview. This will allow you to get a quick understanding of the type of areas that are experiencing problems. Then, you will be able to delve deeper, finding out what the issues are and how to fix them. For this reason, you might want to come up with a few metrics, making it easy to monitor every aspect of your business.

Find What Matters

It can be very tempting for you to gather mountains of data. However, this can often make the analysis more difficult, as you struggle to decide which aspects are relevant. For this reason, you might want to think about how the information will be applied before you start gathering and storing it. This will help save you money, as you are only gathering information that you can use.

Make It Easy To Understand

Finally, you need to make sure that you explain the insights you've gained from data analysis, and how they can be used in a business context. There are many reasons why someone might not be comfortable trying to comprehend data insights. For example, they might be bored with maths. Alternatively, they might have a condition like Dyscalculia, which makes it harder for people to understand numbers. This affects 5 to 10 percent of the population. For this reason, you need to make sure that you have made everything as clear as possible. You should also present some practical ways that your learnings can be used to improve the business.

Many companies collect data, allowing them to get more insights into how they can run their businesses more effectively. However, for this information to be useful, you will need to be able to effectively analyze it to implement practical changes. So, use these tips to improve the way you use data today.

Austin Stanfel current CMO at Creative Recreational Systems, Inc. - Commercial Recreation Equipment Importer and CEO of Stanfel Media - A Digital Agency.