IFE OGUNFUWA examines how to use data to establish and build businesses
In addition to being generated during business operations, data is increasingly becoming a useful tool for developing new products and providing better services.
Experts note that businesses operate more efficiently by using varied data-collecting tools to interact with customers and partners, curtail costs and generate revenues.
In a report by Altimeter group titled, ‘The data-driven business: How industry leaders use data to create value,’ case studies of how data was used to drive competitive advantage was examined.
Using data to inspire new products, services
Citing an example of a customer service firm called Zendesk, the report says the firm has built a machine-learning data science team to work on new products and services based on the shared data of more than 65,000 customer accounts.
According to the report, one example is satisfaction prediction, a feature that gives customers the ability to analyse customer satisfaction based on specific drivers, such as the amount of time it takes to resolve a particular issue and the content of the request itself.
It explains that customer service teams can use this data to prioritise support incidents, such as those involving high-value customers with high negative satisfaction.
The Vice President, Analytics at Zendesk, Sam Boonin said, “What’s really interesting is understanding how customers are using data.
“In gaming, for example, the market has changed so much in the last 10 years. Now online game companies need to be immersed in the world of customer engagement. It’s not just ‘how do I design a game to make money or get people to power up?’ but the way you interact with gamers in game play is incredibly important. Do people who interact with customer care spend more than those who don’t?”
Transforming patient care with data
The Altimeter report notes that one of the greatest dangers in the operating room is the patient’s risk of sepsis; that is, of contracting an infection at the surgical site or elsewhere.
This information, according to the report, can have an impact on the patient’s recovery time and overall health, and can have significant financial consequences as well.
As a result, it says the University of Iowa is using predictive analytics technology from Dell Statistica that uses operating room data, information from electronic medical records, and data from other sources to predict a patient’s risk of infection and customise treatment based on the patient’s unique needs.
“By using data as a component of their strategy, Dr. John Cromwell and his team have been able to reduce surgical-site infections by about 58 per cent,” it explains.
Using data to build digital engagement
In the entertainment industry, the digital presence of rapper, Ice Cube, was analysed by Fame House, a digital marketing company, and it shows that Ice Cube’s fan base was diverse, spanning his early days in NWA and his pivotal role in John Singleton’s 1991 film, Boyz n the Hood, to more recent work, including Straight Outta Compton, a 2015 biopic about NWA.
In partnership with Ice Cube and his management team, the digital marketing firm crafted a plan to increase the engagements across his digital ecosystem.
Altimeter report notes that while his fans spanned decades, a review of Ice Cube’s social channels, including audience data and performance metrics for promotional content, showed that his base responded most strongly to content about his legacy in hip hop.
According to the Vice President of Marketing at Fame House, Katonah Rafter, from June 2014 to February 2015, Ice Cube’s Facebook audience grew by over 50 per cent with no paid support, while organic engagements increased over 2500 per cent to more than 177,000 per month.
“The data lets us understand the dynamics better,” says Rafter. “It lets us understand how valid fan opinions or responses are in the context of an artist’s broader fan base.”
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