For the last several decades, the business world has been scrambling to stay ahead of the Data Processing and analytic movement. In the last several years, the technology has skyrocketed, allowing businesses big and small to receive granular insights into their product performance, as well as a wide range of other factors that are relevant to their overall success.
Data processing is popular for the simple reason that it works well. Businesses that know how to use the power of information productively can reduce costs, improve productivity, and potentially stay ahead of the competition.
In this article, we look at how data processing helps reduce costs and improve productivity.
Reduces Turnover
Data processing can be used to reduce employee turnover when it is applied to hiring practices. Modern HR tech stacks employ algorithms that make it easier to find good hires. These programs often work by shrinking the candidate pool down to a manageable, well-qualified roster of potential hires.
The HR manager is then able to spend more time with each application than they would if they were forced to manually sift through what could potentially be hundreds of applications.
Good hiring practices not only ensure higher levels of productivity but also vastly decreases the chances of turnover.
Not only is turnover extremely expensive—costing the average company an estimated $15,000 per employee—a number that goes up depending on how high up in the business the churned employee was—but it also slows down business practices.
The math is pretty simple. When your staff loses a worker more responsibility is placed on the shoulders of those who remain. Their work slows, your productivity lags and some people may even feel like turning over themselves.
Data processing helps you avoid the headache by making it easy to find great hires.
It’s also worth noting that data can be used to keep existing staff happy as well. Using surveys, HR managers can get a granular in-depth look at employee pain points. While not all of these insights will necessarily be actionable some will be. As a bonus, the survey will have the effect of making it clear that you care about your staff’s feelings.
Understand Your Competition
Data can also help you understand what your competition is doing to attract customers. This could come in the form of marketing efforts or even product features. While you may not be able to access their analytics, you can get a view into what sort of language they use to describe their products.
Not only can this help strategize about how you outpace competitors, but it may also yield insights into the overall atmosphere concerning your product niche. What sort of language are consumers currently responding to? Is there a feature that should be emphasized more than others?
Smart Advertising
Marketing has, historically, involved a degree of guesswork. Even very talented marketers were forced to feel around in the dark, relying on aging data sets, and gut instinct to craft their sales messaging. The job involved a lot of throwing things against the wall and seeing what stuck.
Data takes much of the guesswork out of marketing. Data processing produces information sets that can update themselves in real-time. The result? Marketers get more insights than ever before into who their customers are and what the best way to sell to them will be.
Data-driven marketing can:
Illuminate Your Demographic
Who is using this product and what do they like about it? Using this information, marketers can craft messages that appeal to people who will not only be interested in your product but actually get the most out of it. Targetting ideal customers increases your odds of upsells and stable repeat business.
Where Your Demographic Is
Not (necessarily) geographically. Digitally. Being able to appeal to consumers directly on social media is one of the most important aspects of marketing in the digital era.
Social media-driven ad campaigns can get very specific. Using data, marketers not only understand who their customer base is but also what social media platforms they prefer and what times of the day they are most active on said platforms. Using this information, they can lead marketing campaigns that have a massive impact.
Messaging Emphasis
From a developmental standpoint, most businesses have a very clear idea of what their product is. While this is ok, it’s important to acknowledge that this idea may differ from your customers. Through data, marketers can understand what features your customer’s value in your product and emphasize them heavily in their messaging.
Let’s say you are a subscription management software developer. Historically, your product has been most valued for its ability to automate invoicing and payment processing. However, a new revenue recognition law has passed setting new perimeters for how companies report their earned income.
Suddenly, your product’s dual ledger-backed recording processes may be more valuable to consumers than invoice automation. With data, you can identify trends quickly, and use them to your advantage.
Not only does smart marketing help you generate more leads, but it also vastly reduces the amount of money wasted on failed or unproductive ad campaigns.
A Requisite Part of Modern Business
The modern business world has a heavy emphasis on tech-driven jobs. Businesses that want to get ahead are actively seeking digital marketers, data analysts, and even digital forensic specialists to help increase efficiency, generate more revenue, and stay competitive.
For now, data processing and implementation can provide a business advantage. That won’t be the case for long. As data technology proliferates, the ability to understand and use data effectively will be a necessary part of keeping up with your competitors.
The time to adopt data technology is now.
