In today’s technologically advanced society, the pervasive use of technology is closely intertwined with the invaluable role of data. With the abundance of data available, it becomes imperative to sift through it meticulously and analyze it accurately. Failing to establish a solid plan for data analysis can potentially expose your company to significant risks. For instance, misinterpreting data and allocating funds towards ineffective strategies can lead to financial losses that may have severe consequences.
Amidst our technology-driven society, the field of marketing places even greater emphasis on the effective utilization of data analysis and implementation of appropriate marketing techniques. Here are some key points to consider and learn from:
Don’t Just Go By The Data That’s Available
When you’re looking to try to determine the outcome of the business, you’re going to be doing yourself a disservice if you just look at the data that you have. That’s opening yourself up to potentially being biased. As a result, you might not be able to think of a possible solution to the issue, since you’re limiting your thinking. You could also find yourself wasting time by chasing some wrong leads.
Instead, try to think of how you can use the data that you have in a way that will benefit the company and help its progress forward toward success.
Don’t Prevent People At Your Company From Getting Data
The people who are in charge slow things down if they don’t give enough access to the data. They do that because they don’t think enough people are competent enough to do the work. This leaves the ones who do get the data faced with an overwhelming amount of work.
How can they do that? They can train citizen data scientists, who are power users that can do both basic and intermediate data analysis. A lot of companies are starting to hire and train these people since they see that it’s the wave of the future.
Citizen data scientists will do their best work when they are able to use the correct data and tools. The more people that a company has looking at the data, the better chance they will have of proper business analysis documentation.
Don’t Use The Rules of Data Governance Improperly
Yes, it’s no secret that there are a lot of hackers out there who want nothing more than to steal your data and sell it on the open market. There’s no denying that you have to recognize that possibility and set up security measures. That doesn’t mean that you have to restrict your employees from being able to see the data. If they are being held back, then they’re not going to give you the best results that you want.
Set these rules early on, before your workers begin looking at data. It doesn’t make sense to have things being done a certain way and then post a bunch of new rules on the walls and not expect the people working there to be skeptical.
Be smart and first familiarize yourself with the people that will be doing this work. You’ll get a very good idea of their character and that they’ll obey all the rules you lay out. Trust within an organization is very important and you’ll be able to delegate properly so as to keep them from forming silos, which can hurt the company culture.
Don’t Use Data as a Crutch To Validate Your Way of Thinking
Data’s extremely malleable, which means that people can tweak it to show what they think works for their strategy. They can do this intentionally or unintentionally. This can be bad if they use it to try to keep things the same. Data should be for innovation, not stagnation. Your strategy might seem like it’s working at first, but then you’ll see your competitors catching up and eventually passing by you..
Other Mistakes to Avoid
There are other things that you should not do as a data analyst. They include:
Not Understanding The Scope of the Project –
It can be far too easy to underestimate how much work you have to do to complete it. Then you could find yourself VERY far behind.
That’s going to make life stressful for you and your team since you’ll have to work even harder to catch up. As a result, you might cut corners to try to hit the deadline and wind up with a very subpar showing.
That won’t be a good reflection on your company and could lead to your reputation taking a massive hit and the loss of future work. Add a buffer zone so that you won’t be caught unawares.
Not Listening To All of the Requirements –
You’ve got to pay attention to everything that your client wants. There’s nothing more panic-inducing than finding that you left something out and then having to inform your team members that they need to do more work. It’s even worse if you find this out as you get closer to your deadline.
Be very thorough when it comes to your requirements and ask questions about anything you don’t understand. You’ll be able to proceed with confidence, then, and will be able to hit your mark.
Dismissing Things Too Quickly –
Things that might not make sense initially could possibly resolve themselves later on. That’s why it’s important to keep an open mind when you’re looking at things.
Keep the same attitude when it comes to getting information and updates from members of your team. Listen to everything that they have to say and process it before making any decisions.
Not Asking Questions –
Never assume that you have the answers to everything that you need to do when you’re analyzing all the data. There might be something that you’re missing when it comes to your process.
Get all the relevant information that you need. It’s better to ask questions than to have to hurriedly try to find things out later on.
Not Documenting Everything –
Just like all the data that you’ll be looking through, you’ll want to have a paper trail when it comes to laying out your process.
That way, if your client has any questions about your work, they will be able to see how you arrived at your conclusion. Make sure to document each step that you take. This will help cover you later on.
Not Having Proper Communications –
This is another area that people have trouble with. You need to make sure that you have the proper channels of communication with both your team and your client.
Try to set up one main channel – like Slack – and then open up other areas, like texting or Zoom. That way, everyone will be on the same page and no one will feel like they are being left out of the loop.
Not Preparing Things In Advance –
Preparation is key, too. You want to make sure that everyone will have all the tools that they need to properly do the job.
Be sure to take a careful inventory and make sure that nothing’s left out. It’s better to have too much and not need it than to have to wait impatiently for things to be sent to you as the deadline comes closer and closer.
The main thing to keep in mind is to be as flexible as you can be throughout all of this. There can be a lot of surprises that crop up as you do your job. If you’re prepared, then you’ll be able to handle it without many problems. Then you’ll be able to resume your work.
You also want to listen to whatever your client has to say. They are the ones that are paying you. It will literally pay to be open with them. That way, they will feel valued, even if they might not entirely understand everything. Never be openly dismissive of anything they are saying.
Whether you’re a brand-new company or one that has been around for years, it’s always a good idea to be willing to evolve and be open to new ideas. This will help you do your job right and get repeat business.
No matter what you do, there’s going to be a lot of data to sift through. There’s no avoiding that part of it. You just need to be smart about what you do when you get your hands on it. That way, you’ll be able to get the best results and make sure that you do everything accurately and correctly.
As we move further into the Information Age, this kind of work will keep growing in importance. The companies that excel at this will rise to the top. You want to be one of those. If you follow the above steps, you will give yourself the best chance of success.