Data Is The New Gold

Posted on May 8 2017 - 3:02pm by Editorial Staff

It’s no secret that technology is moving at a rapid clip these days. New business models are sprouting up all the time based on the fact that data is now what dominates the commercial world. In a sense, data itself has become the new gold, and the companies that are closest to it are those that make the most money.

Here we’re going to investigate some of the ways that entrepreneurs are using data to boost their chances of success in the modern, digital economy.

Find Out What Data You Need

Historically, businesses have relied on a series of metrics to calculate their performance, even if it is only profit and loss. But now that data collection is skyrocketing, there are many more applications of data. According to Sam Adlen, a business innovation leader, these metrics can have many forms. They can be things like sales, financial performance, social media and even marketing. Tracking these metrics, he claims, can help companies become more intelligent, especially if they come up with ways of using them that are sophisticated. If they’ve got enough data, it’s possible to model a particular customer’s likely behavior and the sort of product that they will want. This sort of information, for instance, can then be fed to sales reps who can then emphasizes one product over another.

Manufacturing businesses are also taking advantage of real-time data to monitor production. There are now sensors in machines, for instance, which are able to tell operators whether a machine is about to fail and when it needs maintenance. This is helping to lower costs because problems are being identified before they are able to cause knock-on damage to capital.

Finally, companies are using data to improve their RTB advertising. Online advertising and bidding for advertising space can be expensive. But data are now being used to make sure that advertising is only being displayed to people who are most likely to make a purchase or benefit from the product.

Build An Internet Presence

Building an online presence is becoming more and more important as consumers choose the digital over the real economy. What mean means, according to Shane Nolan from Google Ireland, is that businesses need to have an internet presence which is fit for the modern age. This means actively going out and engaging customers in unique and exciting ways and finding new ways to transact with them.

He also suggests that small and medium-sized businesses that are looking to improve their offering go mobile. He points out that more than 40 percent of searches in some countries are now from mobile devices and that the growth in mobile transactions is faster than any other segment.

Finally, Benjamin Robbins, the founder of a software development company, says that businesses need to get involved with online communities as soon as they can. The most successful companies are almost always those that get in on the action early. There’s no time like the present, he says, so it might be worth finding out what’s going on in your neck of the digital woods and capitalizing on it.

Image Source – Max Pixel

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Editorial Staff at I2Mag is a team of subject experts.