There’s plenty of data that can be collected by e-tailers to streamline their marketing and sales. But with this data you face a huge problem of just how to actually put it to use.
And this is where data analytics comes into play.
Read On:
How to collect data
Data and the law
Big data: a user guide
Data analytics tools can help you sift through what data you have and make good use of it, but like any good ‘science’ it requires experimentation and some basic understanding of what you are trying to achieve. So here are some ideas as to what you need to get your data analytics to do for you.
Make sense of the data
Before you can do anything with the data you have you need to have an idea of what you want to actually achieve. If you are looking to better manage stock or to run a targeted marketing campaign, open up to new markets or run a loyalty scheme you need to set this as your goal then look at what data you have and how it can help you.
Sounds a bit of a Catch 22, but really you need to make what you have help you achieve a goal, rather than let the data chose for you what you can achieve.
Score the data
One way to make use of the data you have is to score it for each customer, so that for any given outcome that you are looking to achieve, each customer gets a score.
This will help in future to look at which customers are worth targeting with which offers and how to treat them based on their ‘value’ to you – a value that isn’t necessarily just dictated by spending power.
Create predictive models
Scored data can also, if you are sophisticated enough, be used to develop models that predict the behavior of customers so that you can model more accurately who will respond and how they will respond to particular offers.
It’s not an exact science – hence the computer programmer dodge of calling it ‘modelling’ – but it can create quite accurate predictions if you feed in enough data.
Test it out
Of course the way to see how all this works is to test it out. Many third party software companies will be happy to show you what can be done with your data as part of their sales patter.
Others offer trial and low-cost versions of their software so that you can play about with it and see what it can do. Take them up on this offer – and any other consulting or advice that any of them can give you.
Use your imagination…
While data analytics software can be a useful tool, the real take away is to not let data and data analysis get in the way of using your imagination.
Sure you can score the data and develop predictive models, but don’t be afraid to look at how else you can use the data you have and apply interesting and imaginative ideas to your business. That is what will set you apart from the crowd.
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