Data-driven companies have been expanding at an average rate of 30% every year. Here’s the thing, though – according to 87% of marketers, data is the most under-utilised tool for many companies.

Statistics are booming, and have been made readily available for nearly anyone on the internet, for just about everything. Think Instagram analytics – you can post something on your story and find out just how many people it was seen by with the click of a button. As a brand, the variety of insights you can attain and make use of is wide and large, and the last thing that you should do is underestimate the impact that data could have on your company’s growth. So how can data be used to boost and benefit your brand?

     1. To improve customer relations

Organisations that make use of data have 23 times the chance of gaining more customers, have 6 times better customer retention and are 19 times more likely to make a profit. It’s clear that with data, your company can better comprehend your customers and their needs through the analysis of their consumer habits. This helps you to stay on top of how you can ensure that your services and products are equipped to meet their expectations and requirements.

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     2. To maximise your marketing efforts

Data can additionally be used to help you gain the most out of your marketing efforts. 63% of those in marketing spend more on promotional efforts driven by data so as to target customers more effectively. This is because data helps you to get a better idea of what your audience reacts best to, and which marketing approaches benefit your brand the most. As a result, you will be able to position your marketing efforts in ways that garner the best results, saving you important resources and guiding your brand in fine-tuning its marketing strategies and more. You need to speak to your audience as people, and knowing what they want and what they need is a great way to facilitate that kind of communication!

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     3. To manage operations effectively

It has been observed by 54% of companies that their use of data has helped increase their control over their company’s operations. Keeping track of your brand’s process flow and inventory data will help you to maximise your company’s inventory and effectively manage production to your advantage. This saves you resources and money that can be channelled into different aspects of running your business, allowing you to make the most of your time, energy and money in ways that constantly help your business to grow. What’s the point of pouring your resources into avenues that don’t garner results, anyway?

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Now that we’ve covered some ways that you can apply data to grow your brand, let’s talk about some ways that you can easily attain these statistics!

  • Facebook Insights

Facebook and Instagram are just some of the social media platforms that have tools that allow you to observe the performance and reach of your posts. These analytics include the number of impressions you make, the number of times your post has been shared, and of course, how many likes, comments and saves you have received. Access to these statistics are completely free, and often just require you to identify yourself as a creator or business owner according to the platform’s guidelines.

  • Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free data collection service offered by Google that also provides additional, more advanced services at a fee. This option is more suited towards website statistics, helping you to track how your website performs and how your audience interacts with it, among other information, such as your audience’s demographics and more.

To sum it up, data can take your brand super far when used strategically. While it takes more than just numbers to really understand your customers and what they need, statistics can really help you in this area to a large extent, as data can present itself in patterns that you can use to your advantage when planning ahead for the future. It’s pretty funny – who would have thought that numbers, of all things, would be so great at helping us understand complex human behaviour?

 

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Hero image: Franki Chamaki, Unsplash