After surveying 500 individuals working for some of the top companies scattered throughout the country, we uncovered one very key piece of information: data maturity equals business growth. While this statement alone may have you jumping at the chance to enhance your organization’s data maturity, it’s important to fully understand the steps you’ll need to take to get there first.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at data maturity as defined through the lens of experts while breaking down the key actions you can take to grow your business with a strategic data maturity plan today.
What is data maturity?
Before we dive into your data maturity plan, let’s first define what this concept entails. Every day, your business consumes, exchanges, and modifies countless pieces of data. Regardless of whether your organization sells goods or services, virtually every business leader would agree that data plays an essential role in the company’s everyday operations–regardless of one’s industry.
Data maturity refers to the extent to which a business uses, understands, and leverages its data. As mentioned, every business possesses data. But it’s how an organization uses this data that matters most. Making data fit for a purpose, capturing, and maintaining high-quality data, and prioritizing a data-centric culture are all key actions that promote data maturity within your company.
4 steps to bring your business’ data maturity to the next level
If you’re reading this article, you’re already one step ahead of your competitors because you’re demonstrating an interest in data maturity. But, the next key part of obtaining the business growth you desire is formulating a strategic plan to enhance your business’s data maturity. Below, we’ll explore four steps that will help you achieve this goal that you can action on today.
1. Understand your current level of data maturity
In our most recent research study, we explored the ways in which an organization’s data maturity is impacted by where they stand in their data journey. If you’re not quite sure where you land on the data maturity scale or how far your business has progressed in its data journey, consider taking our data maturity assessment to find out.
2. Make data a business-wide priority
Data is a topic that only needs to be discussed by those in IT or upper management positions, right? Not quite. If your business doesn’t strive to make data a topic of discussion throughout your entire organization, you’re missing out on the opportunity to become more data mature.
Consider making data knowledge a cumulative experience where the entire company has a sense of data awareness. Remember that data impacts your entire organization, so it’s crucial that data awareness and strategy are leveraged by all individuals in your company. To get started, consider investing in awareness programs or holding educational classes. A great first step is to lead by example and emphasis the importance of using data analysis in the business’s everyday operations.
3. Invest in data management
In our research, we found that 8 out of 10 business leaders noted that data quality investment resulted in a higher return on investment for their overall business initiatives. To maximize your company’s growth and transform the way you interact with your data, it’s imperative to invest in the proper software and platforms that will help you manage your data and accelerate how you leverage it within your daily operations.
Tools and software that provide address validation, phone validation, and email validation, for example, will make sure that the data stored in your database is accurate and up to date. While your CRM may contain a hefty amount of data, you can only begin to enjoy the perks of data maturity once you have the proper customer information in your database.
4. Leverage data to formulate a business strategy
As discussed above, software can help provide you with the accurate data you need to formulate strategic business and marketing strategies. After you put the effort into having an organized and accurate customer database, the next step is to use this information to create a deliberate plan for running your business.
How often do you use data when making informed decisions in your business? If this is an area where you’re admittedly lacking, you may be compromising the data maturity of your business. Take the time to analyze your data and interpret the story that it tells. Companies that keep data top of mind in the decision-making process often thrive against competitors and reap higher financial rewards.
Discover how important data truly is for your business
In our latest research, we summarize what your business needs to know about data management and maturity in a quick, digestible way. Regardless of where your company falls on the data maturity scale, you can benefit from reading about the latest data management trends uncovered in our research report that will lead the pathway to business growth.
