Interacting with brands is no longer confined to simply walking into a store and physically viewing a product. In fact, the overall customer journey has transformed, and so has a brand’s marketing strategy.
Email communications, website visits and media engagements have made it easier for consumers to make informed decisions. However, keeping a track of these engagements is the biggest challenge for marketers today.
Data analytics has revolutionized the marketing sector by helping brands to deliver more targeted messaging to their customers and measure their campaign ROI.
Today, organizations can use big data analytics tools and software to make data-driven decisions that can improve business-related outcomes.
Benefits of Data Analytics
According to Jadd Elliot Dib, founder and CEO of the data analytics platform Pangaea X, the benefits of data analytics in today’s business world may include more effective marketing, new revenue opportunities, customer personalization and improved operational efficiency.
With an effective strategy, these benefits can provide a competitive advantage.
“There is always ample customer data available, but it is only through analyzing this data and turning it into insights that it becomes useful to companies. This is where data analysts come in: They simply help ease these complex processes and create a seamless experience for the customer throughout their journey”, he told TRENDS.
Furthermore, analytics can help marketers understand the effectiveness of their marketing strategy, weigh the pros and cons of their marketing activities, and ultimately determine the efforts needed to achieve their business goals.
Analyzing and interpreting data provides a deeper understanding of the kind of content or messages that would be more impactful.
Huge opportunities for SMEs
Big data is well suited to small businesses because they’re generally agile and able to act faster on data-driven trends and insights, said Dib.
He added that the use of data analytics tools provides a wide range of opportunities for SMEs, such as a better understanding of the internal production process and of the needs of clients and partners, through the tools of business analytics.
Companies can also better interact and engage with customers by analyzing customer feedback to improve a product or service.
In manufacturing, for example, operations managers can use advanced business intelligence platforms to analyze historical production data, identify patterns and relationships among discrete process steps and inputs, and then optimize the factors that prove to have the greatest effect on yield.
Retailers and brands, on the other hand, mostly value predictive analytics because it can be applied on a daily basis to estimate the ups and downs in the circuit.
For instance, retailers can analyze various factors such as customer shopping behavior, social media engagement, and customer segments.
Using a predictive model, they can then strategize accordingly and aim for a guaranteed increase in sales.
In a nutshell, through data analytics, small businesses can get a better understanding of their customers: why they buy, how they prefer to shop, why they switch, and what they’ll buy next.
Data Analytics in the Arab countries
Many industries in the region are diverting their investments into Data Science, AI, and Machine learning, R&D, and solution-building.
According to Research and Markets, the world largest market research store, the Middle East & African AI, cybersecurity and big-data-analytics market was valued at $11.78 billion in 2019, and is expected to reach $28.36 billion by 2025, registering a CAGR of 20.4 percent during the period 2019-2025.
Dib pointed out that these statistics suggest the adoption of advanced technology has been witnessing increasing growth in the Middle East and African countries. In recent times, rapid digitalization in countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia has triggered a high number of connected devices in the region.”
He added: “The Middle East, and the UAE especially, is and always has been a pioneer in early technology adoption, and businesses are always looking for new ways to improve. Big Data technologies has the potential to positively impact all industries in the region by providing new and additional income opportunities, a more effective way to approach marketing, enhanced customer experience, increased business operations, and lower risk factors.”