Business intelligence sounds like something out of a spy movie. Throw in a few fancy gadgets and an alpha male protagonist, and it could be the premise for the next James Bond flick. In actuality, the practices associated with business intelligence may not, at least on the surface level, be as glamorous as the plot of Skyfall. But, with effective business intelligence practices, companies can make strategic decisions that result in savings of thousands or even millions of dollars over time… and THAT sounds pretty glamorous, now doesn’t it? The folks at our Florida advertising agency think so! First of all, let’s talk about what business intelligence actually means. According to Wikipedia, business intelligence is “a set of theories, methodologies, processes, architectures, and technologies that transform raw data into meaningful and useful information for business purposes.” Put in plain English, that means using data to make factually based business decisions. It often surprises me how many business owners neglect to put business intelligence at the core of otherwise sophisticated marketing strategies. They’ll hire marketers to spend thousands of dollars on campaigns, only to find themselves on the losing end of a major marketing push because the marketing team didn’t take the time to assess the ways in which people interact with their brands. Successful companies analyze business intelligence at both micro and macro levels. On a micro level, analysts can pinpoint exactly what steps an individual used to make a purchase, from that person’s first impression to what drove his or her impulse to make a purchase. On a larger level, business intelligence analysts can explain trends across time. Why do sales suddenly spike at a particular department store during the fall? What will the financial standing of the company be in a decade? This kind of information helps businesses executives make smart choices about where to allocate resources, and where to pull the plug. Of course, business intelligence practices almost always hinge on the quality of the data. How can business owners be sure they’re capturing the correct data about the correct consumers and practices? In some cases, this comprises an entire subfield of business intelligence. After all, it’s worthless for a company to have a lot of information about the wrong type of consumer. So how can a team of executives gain business intelligence insights? Typically, marketers collect and store this information through a mix of spreadsheets, reporting software, digital dashboards and other systems. These tools range from simple to complex, and offer insights into a range of information about user behavior. Sometimes this extends into internal practices as well. The business intelligence field is vast, and there’s always a new way to approach the data. But, a strong team of strategists on your side can help you sift through the junk, in order to find the information you need. Sophisticated business intelligence practices can help a marketing team design a digital strategy that helps the business reach out directly to a target group, in ways that emphasize the ways in which those individuals consume. However, it takes significant skill to be able to effectively gauge and predict the outcome of campaigns based on business intelligence data. If you’re struggling with how to help boost your bottom line using business intelligence insights, the team at our Florida advertising agency has a few ideas to help your organization thrive! We do this for companies and organizations all over the country, let us help yours.