1. Determine ROI of Marketing Efforts

In an operating environment that’s teeming with nifty pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, handy mobile apps, ubiquitous social media networks, and a plethora of analytics tools, BI is vital in helping businesses determine whether the marketing path they’ve chosen is yielding the desired return on investment (ROI).

BI can lead to insightful reports that can drive decision-making based on solid quantitative data as opposed to assumptions, gut instincts and intuition.

2. Make Sense of an Ocean of Data

Business intelligence has always been important but never more than it is today. The volume of data humans and gadgets create is growing exponentially. In fact, 90 percent of all data that exists today was generated in just the last 24 months. With the rise of the Internet of Things, the volume of data businesses must contend with will only continue to grow.

Such enormous data volumes can be overwhelming. They certainly contain plenty of useful insights but just where does one start? BI can give coherence to this data by extracting knowledge that helps organizations better understand market dynamics and customer needs.

3. Understanding and Engaging Your Audience

The businesses that succeed are those that understand the profile of their potential customers, what drives these customers’ decisions and how their customers consume information. Today’s average consumer is constantly inundated by hundreds of ads and marketing campaigns on a daily basis. No one has the financial or physical capacity to act on all these.

Only a fraction of marketing campaigns will interest the consumer enough to prompt them to buy. BI is about knowing the what, why, how and where of your target consumer’s information consumption in order to make your marketing campaigns effective.

4. Customized B2B Sales Strategy

For companies that primarily sell to other businesses, BI can help them proactively identify and respond to circumstances that may be a hindrance to closing a sale. Specifically, sales teams can go through BI information and be prepared for questions and objections that the client is likely to raise.

For example, is the client cutting down on expenditure, are they experiencing a decline in sales, are they on the verge of merging with a competitor etc. With robust BI, a sales team can evaluate a B2B client’s health and tailor their sales strategy accordingly. If nothing else, demonstrating you’ve done your homework gives the client the impression that you are keen on securing their business and places you in a good position to get a positive response.

5. Steer Clear of Problems and Bottlenecks in a Fragile Market

No industry experiences a perpetual run of growth, profitability and stability. Even the banking industry, which is often seen as the one sector that makes money whether the economy is doing well or not, can run into a crisis as the 2007-2009 GFC demonstrated so dramatically. Fragility in the marketplace may not last long but it can take down many established players with it.

BI can give you useful insights on not just the health of your company during such trying times but also market opportunities you could exploit to ensure your business survives and thrives. Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs), key risk indicators (KRIs), market forecasts and drawing the right conclusions can help you avoid the perils that could destroy your business.

6. Create an Effective Niche Business Model

The Internet has created vast new opportunities for businesses by breaking down barriers for entry, eliminating geographic borders and leveling the playing field between established multinationals and budding startups. However, this advantage of the Internet is also its Achilles Heel.

The unintended consequence of increased opportunity is rising saturation across every industry. Are you looking for food, clothing, furniture, books, computers, jobs, cars or even a home? You have thousands of brick-and-mortar and online businesses to choose from irrespective of what you want.

This breadth of choice is certainly good for customers but can be suffocating for business owners. To survive the cutthroat competition, companies must identify a niche business model . BI can provide the information you need to see where you are likely to make a good return from your business investment.

BI is no longer something a modern business can afford to treat as an afterthought. Business intelligence can make the difference between whether your business succeeds or becomes just another statistic of a failed enterprise.