# The Case for Investing in Business Intelligence

- Link: https://chatterblast.com/blog/the-case-for-investing-in-business-intelligence/
- Published: 2021-01-06T17:39:51-05:00
- Author: chatterblastteam

With modern advances in technology and data science, businesses no longer rely on
the eye test to measure success. **Business intelligence** (BI) has emerged as a
critical resource across all industries to better understand victories and shortcomings
using data. Understanding which metrics and factors play a role in this process 
is increasingly important. 

A great example of the power of BI and data-driven business models is the strides
advanced analytics have taken in professional baseball. The importance of business
intelligence is captured in one of my favorite sports movies, _Moneyball_, based
on the **Oakland Athletics**’ transition to analytics. 

In the movie, General Manager **Billy Beane** (played by **Brad Pitt**) asks his
scouting staff to identify the problems with the team after losing key players. 
Their responses focus on players’ physical attributes, off-field issues, and traditional
counting stats like home runs, all based on the eye test. 

However, Beane employs a different approach, leveraging data to make informed decisions
about which players will deliver similar results for a fraction of the cost. Beane
uncovers the devil in the details, leading to a new business model of finding undervalued
players that other Major League teams can’t see with just the eye test. This changed
the competitive landscape across the MLB and resulted in an analytics movement across
the league. Beane was [interviewed in 2011](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAlsPnjP_cY)
about how identifying key metrics and data has made decision making a more efficient
process. 

So how does this long sports movie recap come full circle to your business? Well,
it’s an important lesson that there is a distinction between perceived value based
on the subjective things we _think_ we see versus the power and insights that data
can provide. 

_Moneyball_ illustrates the significant role data plays in evaluating business decisions
to get a leg-up on competition and make financially sound decisions. A few areas
BI can help businesses make informed decisions include:   

 * Sales trends and revenue
 * Marketing effectiveness
 * Optimization of processes and operations to save money
 * Competitive analysis
 * Content strategy
 * Website conversions

## **How does this relate to digital strategy? **

Say you notice that your brand’s blog content on Facebook is generating a ton of
engagement (likes, comments, etc). On the surface, that appears to be positive, 
but how do these interactions translate to clicks, page views, time on page, and
additional events on your website? This is where BI plays a role in recognizing 
what content types drive the desired results and where course corrections may be
necessary. 

At ChatterBlast, we continue to expand our BI efforts to provide solutions and services
for our clients to optimize the way they do business on social and digital media.
We’ll guide you through the process of assessing content and advertising strategies
and use the data to justify those actions. Below are a few tactics we use for BI
to assist our clients. 

### **Audit and strategy**

“You can’t find out where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been.” This
phrase is crucial for understanding your audience, your content, and the types of
interactions happening between them. _Where are the primary sales markets? What 
is the correlation between social media activity and sales? How should advertising
spend be allocated?_ These are common questions we can assist with in the audit 
phase by researching the proper data points. 

### **Benchmarking and KPIs**

Benchmarks and key performance indicators (KPIs) are important elements for measuring
success. We can provide the direction to reach your KPIs or advise on the metrics
we recommend for your business. Learn more in our [blog about the power of customizing benchmarks](https://chatterblast.com/the-case-for-creating-custom-benchmarks/).

### **Customized dashboards**

[[

##### _A sneak peek at a ChatterBlast custom reporting dashboard._

Sorting through reports and data can be a daunting and time-consuming task. Creating
a customized dashboard saves time and money in the process of understanding social
media and business performance by aggregating data into one interactive dashboard.
ChatterBlast’s dashboards pull the data from social channels or data sets into charts
and graphs that make it easier to identify trends and strategize pivots. There are
plenty of reasons why dashboard reporting is more efficient and useful for businesses,
which you can read about in [this blog](https://chatterblast.com/dashboard-confessional-5-reasons-why-live-dashboard-reporting-is-best/).

If you are looking for enhanced BI capabilities, reach out to us! We’ll find the
solutions and services that make the most sense for your business.