Top 8 Ways Businesses Can Utilize Alternative Data

Once we wake up and start scrolling through social media apps like Instagram, we come across pictures of people getting married, starting a family, and similar interesting life-changing events. With this, it has also become common to see people starting their own businesses.

Gone are the days when people used to stick to their 9-to-5 job for decades! Today, all of us are constantly looking for a change and there are more businesses than you and I can imagine. This has also made the competition extremely cut-throat and no matter how small or big a business is, everyone is running in the same race.

That being said, as a business, you keep looking for better and smarter ways to run your operation. Basically, your aim is to be smarter, more efficient, faster, and anything that sets you ahead of the competition.

We understand that. We are also aware that technology is playing a major role in achieving this and there is one thing available in abundance that everyone can use. You guessed it, IT’S DATA!

Data when used correctly can help any business make decisions that lead in a positive direction. Traditional data sources are always a great way to strategize and achieve your goals but now, you also have alternative data sources that help you go the extra mile. In fact, alternative data is not just about going the extra mile, slowly it is becoming necessary to tap into its unexplored potential. Let’s first understand what is alternative data and why are businesses looking to use it.

What is Alternative Data?

Basically, alternative data is collected from non-traditional sources of data. As a user, we are constantly generating data while scrolling through social media, buying things through UPI applications or cards, scrolling the internet, etc. This data that is generated from unconventional places and the sources from which they are collected is known as alternative data sources.

Why are Businesses Using Alternative Data Solutions?

Some of the current sources of alternative data include geolocation data, point-of-sale transaction data, desktop and mobile applications, websites, etc. When multiple businesses migrate to an online format, more and more data becomes accessible. Alternative data helps in providing you with more accurate insights about varied factors that are relevant to your business. Decisions that are taken with the help of alternative data are more reliable.
Sometimes incorporating alt data can also present information you were unawareof or considered in your decision-making process.

These are some of the reasons you should look into alternative data. It can ultimately help you stay ahead of the competition and have an all-around view of your industry and your business. Are you wondering how can you use it?

Top 8 Ways Businesses Can Use Alternative Data

1. Data-Driven Decisions

Alternative data is available in abundance. You can make use of this data in various levels of decisions that are taken in your company’s day-to-day affairs. For example, with the help of macro-market level data gathered from alternative sources, you can get a better understanding of how your business is performing and make decisions that can help you grow.

Data-driven decisions will allow you to see how things are going more logically without interfering with your emotions.

2. Getting a Macro-Market Level View

You can gain a macro-market level view and understand the market as a whole. Although this can be done through traditional data sources as well the key thing to note here is the accuracy that involving alt data provides.

Looking at the bigger picture will assist you in understanding not just your business but overall market performance. Wearing alternative data glasses will enable you to see something that may be hiding under your nose.

3. Utilizing People & Places Data

Various alt data sources can allow you to study the behavior of your consumers and also locate where is your target audience. If your consumers are shopping for products that you sell on Amazon, then you will put efforts to market your product there.

Data about people’s behavior paired with location data can also help you build an offline presence. For example, considering different factors in this type of data can help you decide where you should open your physical store.

4. Know Your Competitors

If your competitor is ranking for a particular keyword on the web, then you can also scrape into the headlines, topics, etc. present on their website and also compare it with your website. It can similarly be used to understand what others are doing and not leave any stone unturned to give them tough competition.

5. Gain Insights on Your Product/ Service

If you open the internet and search for any brand or product, you will find people talking about it through comments, reviews, etc. This helps you gain insights into how people perceiveyour product/ service. You can use this in a structured format to make improvements to what you are offering or come up with new ideas that suit your customers.

With the help of alternative data and tools like Google Analytics, you can also find out whether you are reaching your target audience or not and also understand where the gap lies. Furthermore, you can gain insights into where are your customers coming from, which product is their favorite, which location is attracting a large number of products, etc. This helps you sharpen your view and understanding of your target audience. Data insights like these will ultimately assist you in allocating your sales/marketing budget better.

6. Plan/ Strategize the Next Steps

We know that there is a lot of untapped data available and every action or decision that you take utilizing it will help you reach your business goals. Along with this, analyzing and creating actionable insights can also help you prepare a road map that will help you reach your goals with a set plan.

You can understand your overall market and also the gap percentage to boost your offline as well as online resource planning efforts wherever it is required. Planning and strategizing with the help of alt data will aid you in setting realistic, achievable, and measurable targets across your organization’s hierarchy.

When you and your teammates/employees have a map in front of your eyes that leads you to the treasure chest, the chances of winning the treasure hunt increase.

7. Predicting the Future

Understanding market trends and other factors that influence your business will allow you to predict certain events in the future to some extent. When you can see that the market conditions are going to change, you can accelerate or fasten your seat belt depending on how are things looking.

Historical data, internal sales data, macro-market data, etc. combined can present insights that help your plan better. With the help of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and alt data you can utilize predictive analysis modeling to check whether you are targeting the right places, where you should be targeting, etc.

8. Driving Your Sales

When you incorporate alternative data in various processes of your business, it naturally minimizes the risk and uncertainty of things going haywire. Hence, it will ultimately help you reach your business goals, and analyzing the right set of data can drive sales too. Companies like Data Sutram can make this process easy for you. Their product offerings like Sales Intelligence use alt data and give you insights on how you can drive more sales.

There’s a massive pool of opportunities that you can dive into when you add alternative data to your business equation. Businesses are researching and finding new ways to use it to help you stay ahead.