Introduction
Data analytics is the process of analyzing raw data to find trends and answer questions. For a very long time, it was a privilege of a few. Processing power was very expensive, computers were not personal and could easily outsize the building, while access to the mainframe was limited and scheduled for months ahead.
Today, data analytics is accessible to anyone and can be used by (almost) everyone. Over the last decade, businesses of all sizes have rapidly adopted analytics software, now relying on dozens of tools and services to access their ever growing data needs.
From tracking mobile users with services like Mixpanel and KissMetrics, to building interactive financial models with business intelligence software like Tableau and Looker, data analytics is everywhere these days.
However, what % of employees at your company are using all that data, and those tools, effectively? If your company is anything like the vast majority of others, it's very low. If you look at all the hidden costs and the missed opportunity, it turns out that is a very expensive mistake.
In this article, we share five ways that having strong data skills across the whole company saves the business a lot of money. This article is especially helpful for execs and team leaders working within operations, marketing, and product at marketplace, fin-tech, or e-commerce companies.
Why is Data Analytics Important?
Data dashboards and reports are like a central nervous system for all types of companies, providing a continuous stream of trends and insights to all departments and employees.
The fastest-growing companies take the data analytics culture of their teams seriously, and invest heavily into it.
5 Examples of how data skills org-wise saves your company money
1. Non-core tasks from your dev team backlog removed
As companies grow and evolve, technical teams eventually have to deal with an avalanche of “business” tasks, which are usually data exports, analytical reports, or small tweaks. It eats up a major portion of their backlog and slowly adds up into 5-6 weeks of unproductive ad-hoc work a year. This is very, very expensive if you think about it.
Empowering your business teams with data analytics skills will save your technical team’s resources. It will reduce the number of ad-hoc tasks they have to deal with, and allow your dev team to focus on what they should be uniquely focused on.
2. Your marketing, growth and product teams can optimize CPAs and unit economics faster
Digital advertising is… complicated. Given the competition and price of bidding for many ads, even a small mistake can easily cost your business thousands of dollars. The important question is — how soon does your team know that you made one? Hopefully it's when you see the bill at the end of the month. This process can be improved with the right data skills.
Thousands of businesses use data analytics to set up transparent reporting and optimize acquisition strategies daily, based on real numbers.
For example, e-commerce companies save money by segmenting users based on their shopping patterns, like their average transaction value. What does the unit economics look like for shoppers who spend the most? Should you acquire more of those users or less?
If your whole marketing team is strong at accessing and working with data, your customer acquisition costs will be optimized faster, and it'll be mich easier to grow.
3. Money on fraudulent transactions saved
According to research done by LexisNexis Risk Solutions, $1 of digital fraud money costs merchants $3. That’s an astounding price merchants have to pay for payment, identity, or other types of digital fraud.
Better skills when working with business analytics and data tools help organizations save money by reducing fraud. Companies of all sizes can automate the detection of anomalies in data - narrowing down potential fraudulent transactions, scoring them, and manually confirming the most suspicious ones.
4. Manual workload for your finance departments reduced
When your organization works with many vendors and suppliers, the accounting part of the business can get really messy, really fast.
Finance and accounting professionals waste dozens of hours each month manually reconciling transactions and mapping fragmented reports and pieces of data together – it’s a busy world out there.
Empower your finance team with business analytics tools and skills like SQL and save money by reducing manual work they have to make.
5. Friction between your teams and departments reduced
Understanding data is important, and it's even more important in a remote-first world. Building fluency across multiple roles in the company is highly leveraged. You don't just increase the output of the person who learned it, but you save the time of everyone who no longer needs to be involved in the process.
By investing in the data analytics culture at your company, you save money by forming a stronger relationship and more effective communication between technical and non-technical members of your team. Well worth it!
Closing
Today, data analytics tools and services are common across all kinds of businesses and industries. And the amount of data available to execute on tasks and make decisions is bigger than ever.
But it's just as important to ensure your teams have the right data skills to make the most of this data and the tools at their disposal. This helps companies save money, better allocate resources, and improve collaboration between technical and non-technical employees.
Take Action!
By combining remote experts with efficient software, Enki can empower any non-technical employee or team with mastery in data analysis - in 4 weeks and no time out of work.
With a course completion rate of over 90%, Enki is the most efficient way to ensure your team has the data skills they need to maximize their productivity and decision making.
If you'd like to learn more about how we could help, get in touch.
