Find the term ‘data science’ overwhelming? In all its glory, data science is just a buzzword. It does not have to be something technical or intimidating. And in very simple words, data science is the analysis of collected data that can be used to gain insights, make predictions and ultimately make better-calculated decisions to solve problems.
In your businesses or career, it is very often you find yourself lost or not knowing what your next step should be. Yes, you can experiment with various strategies to bring out the best results, but how do you know for sure? How are you going to be sure that the strategy can optimize your efforts and bring the best results? How do you maximize your strategies in the most efficient way? Simple. With data science. Data science gives you the information you need to make informed decisions.
Data Science – An effort to understand your customers better
If you have done Facebook analytics, you have used data science to your advantage
We often have utilized data science without us knowing. If you have used Facebook ads to get more customer engagement, you have probably studied the analysis of how effective that ad was in regard to your conversion rate, that is data science. If you have studied which day you get the least customers buying your products and then set a promotion on that day to increase sales, you are already using data science to your business advantage.
See, data science can help you understand your customer behaviors better so you can adjust your marketing strategies to acquire more customers.
How can data science help increase your business sales?
If data science can help you understand your customer’s behaviors, make predictions of their buying cycle, how can all that help you increase your sales?
1 – Data Science helps you target your niche market.
Do you know if most of your customers are women or men?
By using data science, you can find out the specific market niche your potentials customers are mostly from. This can be done by analyzing your customers purchasing habits. Are most of your visitors from Malaysia or are they from somewhere else?
Do your products lean towards a male or female customer base? Are corporate or entrepreneurs more interested in your services? By the collection and proper analysis of your data, you can learn all this information and narrow down your marketing strategies to fit your own market niche. This can help you maximize your profit without wasting unnecessary resources trying to target everybody in your business.
2 – Data Science helps you make appropriate customizations to fit your customers.
E-commerce stores like Amazon recommend you items based on data
I am sure you are familiar with one of the marketing strategy used by many e-commerce websites. If you buy a laptop on Amazon, they will recommend related products such as computer accessories listed under the “those who bought this also bought” items. This is done with data science as well. With that, you can learn more about the purchasing pattern of your customers and customize your package or plans to fit their needs. Your customers are on a quest to solve their problems by purchasing your products and services. If you can give them a bundle that can solve all their problems at once, they will definitely buy from you. This will increase your customer retention and increase your revenue.
With that, you can learn more about the purchasing pattern of your customers and customize your package or plans to fit their needs. Your customers are on a quest to solve their problems by purchasing your products and services. If you can give them a bundle that can solve all their problems at once, the chances of them buying from you is higher, as we’re tapping on solving their problems. This will increase your customer retention and increase your revenue.
Using this data science trick in any e-commerce business will help increase your customer retention and ultimately increase your revenue.
3 – Data Science helps you optimize your marketing efforts.
When you are able to analyze what kinds of marketing efforts work best for conversion rates, you can invest more time and money into that platform to reach the most potential customers. Depending on the nature of your business, some businesses may be able to gain better engagement through social media, while some may get more sales through television advertisements. Not only that, you get to analyze what sort of content is more attractive to your potential customers and optimize it. With data science, you get a better idea of what works best for your company. With this information, you can steer your marketing direction accordingly to drive sales and increase your profit.
It’s a silly assumption to think that there’s one marketing channel, like social media, that would fit all sort of businesses. A bakery or hair salon might do very well on Facebook where a lot of consumers hang out at, but a machinery business might find it tougher to promote and sell products through social media.
However, instead of guessing which marketing effort works for a business, smart businesses pinpoint their strategy with data. With data science, you get a better idea of what works best for your company. With this information, you can steer your marketing direction accordingly to drive sales and increase your profit.
4 – Data Science helps you alter your pricing according to the demand and supply curve.
Uber is brilliantly using data science for its surge pricing
Many companies do not set a permanent price on their products or services. It often changes according to the time and season. From the simplest example, where restaurants increase their price during festive seasons like during New Years or Valentines’ Day, to Uber increasing its pricing during peak hours; all these pricing alterations can be optimized with data science.
By using data science to understand your customer’s demands and the overall supply of products or services attainable, you can take charge of the market and maximize your profit by altering your price accordingly. The best part is even small businesses & organizations can take part in this. Data science is a skill that everyone can learn and needs.
5 – Data Science helps you to analyze your competitors so you can win over customers.
There is a saying by the great warrior Sun Tzu, “know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight hundreds of battles without disaster”. Hence, understanding your competitors can, in fact, help you to be prepared for the future and to always be a few steps ahead of them in your marketing & business strategies. With data science, you can study your competitors and gain insights from their success and failures. I’ve shared one method to analyze your competitors in a past tutorial.
Based on these benefits of data science, I hope you are excited to learn more about data science.
Data science is indeed a skill for everyone. Like to know more and perhaps join a data science course? Join my Introduction to Big Data tools course for free to get started with data science. I also give out data science certification for some courses that I hold as well, so make sure to sign up for my newsletter and stay posted.
How have data science helped you? Share your experiences you had as a business or as a data analyst in the comment section below as I’ll love to hear from you.