The digital era has come with an incredible amount of data that is now integral to many business operations. With the emergence and rapid adoption of social media and search engine optimization, data has never been more plentiful and readily available. New strategies that small local businesses and global companies alike can make fantastic use of all hinge on data and business intelligence. Social media platforms alone offer businesses a constant amount of data that is publicly available. While having access to unlimited data is a good thing, there is more data than companies can handle on their own. If a company wants to make effective use of the copious amounts of data available online, they will need to use specially designed tools, like the PI System Connection, to manage the volume. This is where business intelligence comes in to save the day. Business intelligence is the technology-based process of data collection and analysis that allows businesses to use data effectively and quickly. By using business intelligence, you can enhance your digital marketing and use data to make smart decisions.

Know Your Customers

Before the Internet, companies were forced to wait to learn about customer reactions to their new products. There was no instant feedback, and products would go through development, launch, and then companies had to wait for reviews to see if the product was successful. This lag in communication between a business and its customers can lead to the business making products customers don’t want.

Thankfully, the Internet, and more specifically, social media, lets companies receive instant feedback. Social media gives businesses access to customer’s needs, wants, dislikes, behavior patterns, and a host of demographic information. Use this customer data to inform your marketing content and appeal to different types of customers with content that suits their needs. You can also use customer data to prevent wasting resources on ineffective marketing that targets the wrong groups or sends a message that doesn’t resonate with your intended customers.

Real-Time Analytics

Data flows through the Internet at a constant and breakneck speed. Working from out-dated data can cause a myriad of problems, and if a business wants to stay competitive, they cannot afford to be lagging behind with data analysis. There is always new data, and it can be hard to keep up, but real-time analytics lets businesses stay up to date. Real-time data analysis enables companies to respond faster in a variety of categories. Whether real-time data enables a marketing team to change course to make a better ad or allows customer service to respond to customer questions faster, real-time data analysis will always be a vital tool for companies.

The Power of AI

Real-time data analysis can even be augmented with artificial intelligence to automate tasks and responses. CRM tools that use AI can automate follow-ups, emails, customer service responses, and more. Fast responses and automated tasks not only benefit the customer because they receive their service faster, but it also benefits the company. The less time human employees waste on tasks that can be automated, the more time they have to work on something new.

The tasks AI can now tackle include designed email marketing content in accordance with personalized user behavior. AI is now helping companies connect with people and turn those connections into qualified leads. The real-time analysis even knows the best time to contact a lead, what information the lead will like the most, and what titles receive the most clicks. AI is becoming an indispensable tool that is expanding the reach of business intelligence to the benefit of customers and companies alike.

Natural Language and Voice Searches

Google estimates 70% of all Google searches are done with natural or conversational language. There are still keywords within the natural language, but the old way of searching the Internet is gone. Learning to work with RankBrain and voice search will increase your SERP performance. The widespread adoption of home smart devices has led to a rise in voice search, and companies must incorporate that form of data into their marketing strategies. By supporting and integrating voice search and natural language keywords, a company can maintain organic traffic as the way we search continues to evolve.

Business intelligence is a critical process that businesses should employ to keep up in the digital age. With more data available than ever, every tool to manage, understand, and analyze data can help boost a company’s digital marketing. Business intelligence spans a wide variety of uses, from understanding customers to AI-enhanced CRM, and is a tool all digital companies should be utilizing.