*I frequently get asked questions about Data Science, so in the interest of helping as many people as possible, I’ve started this blog to answer those questions as simply as possible. This is a robust topic, and if you want a more in-depth discussion, please revisit my blog, where we will be going into greater depth at another time.
Leveraging data science for a competitive advantage can position your business for success, especially as data is becoming more prevalent across multiple industries. Information is everywhere and can provide valuable insights for your company to grow and innovate ahead of its competitors. With these tips, learn how to leverage data science for competitive advantage and benefit your corporation.
Corporations that leverage data science for competitive advantage enjoy a unique position for success, especially in today’s data-driven world. With countless ways to gather data from numerous sources, it’s essential to know how to use that data to your benefit.
So why do businesses leverage data science for competitive advantage, and how does it work? Here’s what you need to know.
Table of Contents
Why Do Large Corporations Use Data Science?
#1. Allows for Quick, Confident Decision-Making
#4. Improves Customer Engagement
#5. Identify New Revenue Streams and Innovate
Four Ways to Start Leveraging Data Science for a Competitive Advantage
#1. Determine Your Business’ Data Fluency
#2. Build a Data Science Department
#3. Establish Metrics and Share Insights
#4. Invest in Creating a Data-Driven Culture
What is Data Science?
Data science applies advanced analytical techniques, principles, and algorithms to pull valuable insights from data. Gathering insights from data allows you to make thorough business decisions and plans. Traditionally, the data science process requires you to:
- Form a Hypothesis
- Run Experiments to Gather Data
- Assess the Data’s Quality
- Clean Up the Datasets
- Organize and Structure the Data for Further Analysis
Data science incorporates data mining, predictive analysis, machine learning, software programming, and statistics. Typically, a skilled data scientist would do this work to leverage data science for competitive advantage. However, lower-level data analysts can help. Employees within your organization who are somewhat familiar with data can also be trained to analyze it more closely.
“The insights from data science can turn into tangible business value by providing a competitive edge and yielding growth opportunities for your organization.”
As the business world has become more immersed in tech, the importance and value of data science have become more apparent. Whether a small business or a large corporation, there are significant benefits to be had by getting involved in the age of big data.
Luckily, the data in question is all around you if you’re looking to leverage data science for competitive advantage. It can be pulled from channels like cell phones, social media platforms, e-commerce sites, health surveys, and even internet searches. With access to data continually increasing, it’s crucial to know how to use the information once you’ve gathered it.
Why Do Large Corporations Use Data Science?
The insights gathered through data science are extremely useful. They can help businesses increase their overall efficiency, identify new opportunities, and improve their marketing efforts. It all boils down to leveraging data science for a competitive advantage.
Having a competitive advantage in any industry is essential. Still, several other reasons large corporations turn to data science for internal improvements. Some reasons why businesses are embracing big data and the field of data science include:
- Allows for Quick, Confident Decision Making
- Marketing Insights
- Reduces Costs
- Improves Customer Engagement
- Identify New Revenue Streams and Innovate
- Predict Market Trends
#1. Allows for Quick, Confident Decision-Making
Utilizing data allows you to make data-driven decisions, which you can typically rely on more than going with your gut or just guessing the best choice.
“Reviewing data will give you concrete numbers and information to look over to determine what the best course of action is.”
For example, maybe you want to launch a new product that you think will sell great and be a hit with your consumers. However, after reviewing customer data and insights, you learn that your customers will not likely buy this new product.
Integrating data into your decision-making process can save you both time and money. In today’s fast-paced business world, the ability to make quick decisions you’re confident in is vital. It poses a substantial competitive advantage over companies that aren’t using data science.
#2. Marketing Insights
Data science can play a substantial role in your company’s marketing endeavors. Gathering data on consumer insights allows your marketing and advertising team to create more effective and impactful plans with your consumer base.
Think of the recommendation system Netflix uses on its platform. It gathers data based on your watch history and the types of shows and movies you like to recommend more content specifically for you. Targeted ads that pop up based on your browsing history when scrolling through social media are also based on data.
When you use data science in marketing and advertising, you’re more likely to connect with your consumers and drive them to make purchases. Also, data can save your marketing team tons of time and money because the methods they’re using will be proven to work based on the data backing them.
#3. Reduces Costs
No matter what industry you’re in or how big your company is, you could likely benefit from cutting costs in areas where you’re spending unnecessary funds. Data science can help with that.
You can gather insights from data on the energy usage in your office spaces, marketing, advertising budget, and even staffing. Intuitive data collection and analysis can help you identify where there may be opportunities for savings without negatively impacting operations.
#4. Improves Customer Engagement
If your company has an e-commerce site, online customers will display specific behaviors, patterns, and habits that you can track. Maybe customers only visit your site on mobile, so you need to improve your mobile site presentation. Or perhaps they’re more likely to check out their cart when you offer free shipping or a discount code.
Understanding your customers’ tendencies based on data you gather about them allows you to target them specifically to push them to purchase.
“Data helps drive more profits, but it also allows you to connect with your consumers and offer a more personal touch to your interactions.”
Not all businesses offer a sense of personal engagement to their customers, and it’s been proven across industries that consumers value that extra special attention. This is another prime example of how valuable it can be to leverage data science for competitive advantage.
#5. Identify New Revenue Streams and Innovate
“All the data you gather across all facets of your company can culminate in you evaluating where to take your business next.”
For example, by reviewing insights from consumer data, you may realize that your customers would pay a subscription service for your products. From here, you can create packages and set monthly and yearly fees, yielding a brand new revenue stream for your business.
You can also use data to learn your customers’ wants and needs and launch into more innovation and product development to give them what they’re asking for. For example, say you’re an ice cream company and discover your customers want a dairy-free version of your products. You can use this data to fuel new product development.
#6. Predict Market Trends
Collecting and analyzing data can also allow you to identify upcoming trends in the market and make predictions about their future trajectory. A data scientist skilled in leveraging data science for a competitive advantage can track purchase data and search engine queries. They can uncover influencers’ intentions to see which products people are interested in.
Applications of Data Science
It’s clear that no matter what industry you’re in, the opportunities to leverage data science for competitive advantage are both apparent and worth investing resources in. Data science and the world of big data aren’t new. Data has been a part of life for a long time. Yet, technological advancements are making data more prevalent than ever before.
Several real-world applications of data science are already in practice. These applications are likely a part of your everyday life, whether you realize it or not. While many of these applications have been growing within their respective industries for years, they provided massive competitive advantages against businesses in the data science realm.
Real-world applications of data science can include:
- Search Engines
- Self-Driving Cars
- Fintech and Stock Market Predictions
- Healthcare Tech like Medical Imaging
- Computer Opponents in Video Games
- Autocomplete Suggestions
Four Ways to Start Leveraging Data Science for a Competitive Advantage
Leveraging data science for competitive advantage may take time and resources, especially if it’s a brand-new concept that you’re introducing to your employees. Still, it will be far worth it in the long run. While it may be helpful to your company to hire a data scientist to get the job done, it isn’t that simple.
You need to take various steps to ensure your company is set up for success when getting into the data science field. Key steps to take with your business when getting started with data science might include:
- Determine Your Business’ Data Fluency
- Build a Data Science Department
- Establish Metrics and Share Insights
- Invest in Creating a Data-Driven Culture
#1. Determine Your Business’ Data Fluency
Before implementing any data science training or hiring data scientists and other staff, it’s essential to evaluate your business’s current level of data fluency. It may be likely that members of your company are already familiar with data literacy and use data science in some capacity.
Not only should you evaluate your employees’ relationship with data at this step, but also how your business gathers and manages data — if it even does. Suppose you’re in the early stages of achieving data fluency. In that case:
“It may be a good idea to focus on improving your strategies and the overall quality of your data.”
This is also an excellent time to determine your goals with data science. What are you hoping to achieve or improve upon? Answering these questions upfront will provide insights on what you need to focus on moving forward and how to best gather and integrate data within your organization.
#2. Build a Data Science Department
After evaluating where your company stands with data, you may find hiring data scientists could be a good idea. They’re trained professionals in all the skills necessary for success with data science. They will also be the leaders in all your data algorithms and specific coding and can handle company-wide training.
You should also pay attention to your current employees. As you’re integrating data science training, you may notice that some are firmly grasping the new concepts and putting them to work effectively.
Current employees you identify as leaders and newly hired data scientists are the foundation of your data science department. Building a department solidifies data science as a vital facet of your company. It serves as a place for others to ask questions and share ideas.
#3. Establish Metrics and Share Insights
Imagine you’re going to effectively use data science within your organization. You need to establish precise, repeatable, and reliable metrics to assess how well your data science efforts contribute to your goals.
Also, you should regularly communicate the insights you gather from your metrics to facilitate strong communication between departments. This data will prove whether your efforts are practical, and sharing those findings with your teams can allow you to brainstorm solutions if needed.
#4. Invest in Creating a Data-Driven Culture
“For your data science efforts to have a lasting effect on your company, you must foster a data-driven culture.”
Strive to integrate elements of data science into as many daily operations as possible.
Immersing your company in data science and its opportunities can lead your employees to buy into it and understand the benefits of being more data-driven. Leveraging data science for a competitive edge will put your company in a preferred position as industries continue becoming more data-centric.
Conclusion
Corporations that leverage data science for competitive advantage enjoy a unique position for success, especially in today’s data-driven world. With countless ways to gather data from numerous sources, it’s crucial to know how to use that data to your advantage.
No matter what industry you’re in, the opportunities that arise from working with data science are worth investing in. Leveraging data science for competitive advantage may take time and resources, especially if it’s a brand-new concept you’re introducing to your employees. Still, it will be far worth it in the long run as you reap the benefits it can pose for your company.
About the Author
Tiffany Perkins-Munn orchestrates aggressive strategies to identify objectives, expose patterns, and implement game-changing solutions with the agility that transcends traditional marketing. As the Head of Data and Analytics for the innovative CDAO organization at J.P. Morgan Chase, her knack involves unraveling complex business problems through operational enhancements, augmented financials, and intuitive recruiting. After over two decades in the industry, she consistently forges robust relationships across the corporate spectrum, becoming one of the Top 10 Finalists in the Merrill Lynch Global Markets Innovation Program.
Dr. Perkins-Munn earned her Ph.D. in Social-Personality Psychology with an interdisciplinary focus on
Advanced Quantitative Methods. Her insights are the subject of countless lectures on psychology,
statistics, and real-world applications. As a published author, coursework developer, and
Dissertation Committee Chair Tiffany still finds time for family and hobbies. Her non-linear career path
has given her an exclusive skill set that is virtually impossible to reproduce in another individual.
