How to Get More Value From Your Data Analytics Strategy
With a better data analytics strategy in place, your organization can have access to a greater quantity of more reliable data. By interpreting those data, you can make more effective decisions. The trouble is that managing a data analytics strategy can be both monetarily and temporally expensive.
How do you get more value out of your data analytics strategy to justify those costs?
Understanding the Purpose of Data Analytics
Data analytics covers a lot of ground, and there are many ways to take advantage of this type of strategy. For example, predictive and prescriptive analytics serve two very different functions; most businesses interested in data analytics will use some combination of both, but the precise balance and application of these tactics will depend on the unique circumstances in which they’re implemented.
Before you can be effective in your data analytics strategy, you need to understand what you’re trying to achieve and why you think data analytics is going to help.
Recognize the Strengths of Data Analytics
You also need to recognize the core strengths of data analytics.
Generally, these types of strategies can help you with:
- Objective decision making. The most common reason business leaders pursue data analytics is so they can make decisions much more objectively. Instead of relying on instincts, subjective feelings, or creative reasoning to make decisions for the business, you can rely on hard facts and numbers, grounding your insights in reality.
- Superior performance. Proper data analytics also gives you a path to superior performance. When you understand what your business is doing well and where it’s failing, you can make crucial changes to your organization to tip the scales in your favor.
- Customer knowledge and experience. Strong data analytics efforts can also assist you with customer knowledge and experience. Not only will you be able to understand your customers better for marketing, sales, and customer service purposes, but you’ll also be able to refine your customer experience strategy.
- The competitive edge. Broadly speaking, better knowledge of data can give you a competitive edge. You could have more information and better insights than your top rivals, positioning you to exceed them in many respects.
Start With Your Core Objectives
Before you get too deep into planning your data analytics strategy, outline your core objectives. What, specifically, are you hoping to achieve? Which areas of your business require further development and refinement? Which decisions will be best supported with more objective information?
Focus on Data Quality and Accuracy
Data quality and accuracy should be high-value priorities in your data analytics strategy. If your data isn’t correct or reliable, it might as well not even exist. Accordingly, you need to set up tools, strategies, and workflows to improve data quality and accuracy.
Use the Right Tools
In line with this, you need to use the right tools. There are many platforms that can help you with gathering, storing, and analyzing data, but not all of them are equally valuable. In your due diligence, focus on:
- Integrity. Is this platform going to help you verify the accuracy and quality of your data?
- Consistency. Is this platform consistently reliable and functional?
- Usability. Is this platform easy to learn and use?
- Productivity. Is this platform capable of helping your team stay productive?
Build the Best Team
Experienced, talented people will help elevate your data analytics strategy. Cast a wide net when reviewing candidates and prioritize hiring people who seem aligned with your business objectives and data goals. Building the best team is going to be a process, so take things one step at a time here.
Plan a High-Level Roadmap
A high-level data analytics strategy roadmap can help you chart out your biggest business priorities (and how you’re going to achieve them. From there, you can develop sub-strategies and tactics that feed into your ultimate goals.
Prioritize Action
Throughout your data analytics strategy, you need to be focused on action. Yes, the numbers themselves are interesting and are capable of satisfying many of your business curiosities. But your data is only going to be truly valuable if it motivates real action. Use data as your objective grounding to employ changes in your organization.
Stay Adaptable
Finally, be willing to stay adaptable. Your data is always changing, and so are our available tools, philosophies, and strategies surrounding data. Your business will be better poised for success if you’re willing to stay agile and make changes on the fly.
Data analytics can certainly be valuable, but that value is often capped by the nature of its implementation. With the right mentality and objectives, you can make sure to extract the maximum possible value from your data analytics approach.