No matter if you’re a multinational corporation or a one-man-show, one of the most important things that any organization can do to get ahead in 2023 is to use your data. And with so many resources and tools available, it’s never been easier! In this blog, we’re going to explore some of the ways you can use data to improve your business and keep your growing brand on the right track.

1. Get to Know your Customers (and give them a voice!)

You can easily gather and analyze data on your customers’ demographics, behaviors, preferences, and so much more. Tools like Google Analytics can help you to understand who your customers are, what pages they visit, and what other actions they are taking while they’re on your site. Social media analytics can help you to understand how many people are seeing your posts, and how they are interacting with them. Which posts on your social media accounts perform the best? Which pages on your website are most popular? When you’re armed with the answers to these questions, you’ll have a better understanding of what your customers will respond to.

You can also survey your customers to give them a chance to voice their own opinions and offer feedback. They will appreciate having their voices heard, and you will get to gather some high-quality insights about what your customers are happy with, what could be improved, and what you could do to better suit their interests and needs. As an example, many clubs, teams, and employers will survey their members to see what kinds of branded products they would be most interested in receiving; they then use this feedback when placing their promo orders for the season! Tons of beginner-friendly online applications allow anyone with a computer and an internet connection to develop their very own survey instruments.

2. Track Sales and Inventory

This one may seem pretty simple, but it’s still worth talking about. Keeping a strong and organized system for tracking your sales and inventory is vital to understanding the performance of your business, and planning the next steps. By tracking sales and inventory, you will come to understand which of your products are performing well, and which ones aren’t. You’ll also see when you need to restock an item, and how much you will need.

3. Measure your Progress

Another great way to use data to improve your business is to set measurable goals, and then keep track of them! Your inventory and sales data, your web and social media analytics data, and your customer and employee feedback will ALL help you to understand how your business is progressing, and which areas need improvement.

By slowly incorporating data into your business operations, you will become more comfortable with making data-driven decisions, and you will eventually accumulate a wealth of information over time that can be used as benchmarks and reference points for growth and progress.

4. TRUST your Data!

Quality data will lead you to make better business decisions; and if your data is pointing in a different direction than your ‘gut feeling’, go with the data! As the PPAI noted in a recent article, “Data-driven decisions will outperform instinct-only decisions, but they will still not be perfect. While no amount of data guarantees the right decisions will be made, the more data you collect and leverage, the better your decisions will be.”

So what are you waiting for? The sooner you start gathering data, the sooner you can use it to improve your business and marketing decisions!