Six Important Reasons Why Businesses Need Analytics in 2020

April 23 2020 - As the economy becomes more vibrant and dynamic, businesses must adapt to the changing landscape. With greater competition across most industries and sectors, operating under a status quo framework is no longer possible. Because of this, many businesses are looking to embrace new and exciting methods that help them better understand consumers, trends and industry.

Behind many of these changes and advancements is the use of analytics and data. In a world where every customer, client and potential shopper leaves digital footprints behind, businesses that know how to extract this information and put it to good use stand to gain immensely.

But what exactly are the reasons why data and analytics solutions are so necessary for businesses in the modern era? To understand the benefits of these solutions is to understand the modern business world itself. As such, let's examine six crucial reasons why businesses should be utilising analytics in 2020 and beyond.

To Understand Demographics

Businesses need to know who is shopping and interacting with them. This is an integral part of any business operation, whether it be in marketing, product development or research. Analytics help brands collect vast amounts of data on the demographics of their target audiences and existing shopper bases. From online purchases to social media interactions, sophisticated analytics solutions can mine this information and convert it into easy-to-understand outputs for businesses to use.

Analytics allows companies to see which age groups and genders are utilising their services, as well as which geographic areas, ethnicities and other complex criteria comprise their target audiences and consumer bases. Businesses have known for ages that this information is important: with modern-day analytics available, the power of demographic understanding exponentially increases.

To Improve Marketing Performance

Most businesses understand the need for marketing, but not all understand the need for analytics solutions. Just like you require professional marketers, enlisting the services of analytics professionals is equally vital (read this article to learn about the importance of analytics pros).

While more traditional forms of marketing can benefit from an analytics-driven approach, digital marketing is generally where the focus is placed currently. Given its wide variety of possibilities (such as email marketing, social media marketing, and search engine marketing, to name a few), businesses that take advantage of them along with analytics can extract meaningful value.

Ultimately, analytics can determine the success or failure of each marketing campaign. This helps brands realise which strategies work and which do not and can often uncover many minor, otherwise unknown variations in ad copy and targeting that affect response rates and engagement.

To Improve Search Engine Optimisation

As was mentioned, digital marketing is a powerful tool for businesses in 2020. Paid marketing in particular is often a huge focus, but organic forms of marketing are just as crucial. Primarily, search engines are the platform through which effective, free exposure can be earned through content creation methods.

Search engine optimisation is the act of ensuring your pages rank as highly in search results as possible. While paid search engine marketing methods exist - and can be improved via analytics - it is the organic methods through which long-term exposure can be earned. This has the potential of driving an immense amount of traffic to a business website or blog, but the process is complex. Only through the use of analytics can brands ultimately determine if their efforts are producing results, or if a shift in strategy is required.

To Predict Future Trends

It's said that nobody can predict the future, but analytics isn't human. Many major businesses use a series of complex datasets to determine when potential future spikes or drops in demand will occur, when competitors may have problems, how seasonal shifts may affect an industry, and dozens of other important trends.

Real-world factors may lead to a big, prolonged change in sales which can be devastating if no prior awareness exists - whether that change is an increase or a decrease. If there's growth, then a lack of preparedness will mean your competitors could gain the upper hand while you miss out; if there's a contraction, then you may be caught off-guard and suffer immensely. Knowing when and how various trends may emerge can help bolster business potential in 2020 and beyond.

To Assist with Decisions

Many actions in the world of business come with risk and uncertainty. Entrepreneurs, managers, and leaders must navigate these situations as carefully and with as much information as possible. This is a critical reason why having a comprehensive analytics solution is such a vital component in modern business.

Access to data can help further refine assessments as to whether a course of action is likely to yield positive or negative results. This can also minimise the potential risk in situations where uncertainty is simply unavoidable. Whether it be hiring a new employee, expanding production, opening a new branch or targeting new audiences, analytics provide some counsel to businesses when uncertainty or risk exists.

To Counter the Competition

In 2020, a plethora of businesses are utilising the power of analytics to guide their decision making. What happens to a business that doesn't adopt this approach? In most cases, it gets left behind. Whether it be anticipating trends or knowing where the potential for growth exists, businesses adopting analytics solutions at this point is simply an act of levelling the playing field. Most companies simply cannot afford to forgo this approach, lest they miss out on ample amounts of potential profit.

It is also worth noting that select datasets and analytics solutions may shed light on specific competitor practices, allowing you to beat the competition via data. Through a variety of assessments, companies can uncover exactly where and who their competitors are targeting marketing, content and sales efforts, which provides those companies with a chance to increase their own efforts in these niches.

Given the immense power of analytics when placed in the hands of businesses, 2020 means that a company can no longer abstain from using these solutions to grow and to offset the competition's efforts.

These important reasons are just a few of the numerous justifications that businesses have to utilise analytics solutions in the present day. From improving the marketing experience to countering the competition, companies must adapt to this tech-reliant world. By doing so, they can extract additional benefits and avoid unnecessary losses within their niches.

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