Back @ IT Show

Back @ IT: Harnessing Data to Drive Strategic Decisions with Eli Adry

Episode Summary

In this Back @ IT episode, Aaron Back and Eli Adry discuss harnessing data and making sense of it for strategic business decision-making.

Episode Notes

Without a doubt, data is the backbone of what is happening now, which speaks to the true value of data as a critical asset for any company.

However, people are drowning in data and are really struggling to make sense of it in a real, practical way. The true power of data is often found in a community of people passionate about helping others unlock the true benefits of data.

Joining me today to discuss the transformative nature of data is Eli Adry. Eli is the Founder of Emboodo which helps companies use data to their advantage through SEO, SEM. Additionally, Eli is the Marketing Director for Data Hunters.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 02:07 – Eli talks about his background and his early experiences discovering the potential of the internet. For example, there's an abundance of marketing possibilities with search engines. During his first digital marketing project, Eli applied high data skills to the potential he saw with search engines, email marketing, and e-commerce. The project showed incredible growth for the early 2000s.
• 05:40 – The growth of e-commerce strategies has continued to boom because of the pandemic’s impact. For instance, the logistical and supply chain challenges are still prevalent globally.

Future-Proofing with Data & Marketing Strategies

• 06:26 – Key concepts for harnessing data to future proof:
  • How data impacts businesses
  • What businesses are trying to get out of data
  • Actionable strategies around digital marketing efforts to support business goals
  • Determining the business digital marketing presence
  • How to engage with an audience and draw attention to the brand
  • Navigating omnichannel
• 08:28 – Holding meetings to discuss ideas and strategies as well as applying data enables companies to be more productive in future-proofing.

Using Data Insights to Develop Strategy

• 09:49 – Sometimes you must apply business intelligence to ensure you're harnessing the right data insights and be actionable.
• 12:36 – The rise of data clouds and services, such as Snowflake, Databricks, and DataRobot, help businesses make sense of data. Data should foster impactful conversations about leadership. Furthermore, moving beyond the data is about converting the data into a story that you can leverage, make sense of, and make business strategic decisions from.

External Data

• 15:34 – The biggest challenge for the data scientist within an organization is bringing the message of the data and having the decision-makers land on a solution based on the data. In addition to data internal to the company, business decision-makers also need to look at the external data available.
• 19:38 – In a recent Back @ IT episode, Aaron had a conversation about the impact of epidemics, getting population data, and other external data points. For SMBs, external data is more important as it can influence the entire profit for that year.

Community & Customer Experiences

• 23:26 – By understanding how everything is connected, businesses can better understand how to be connected to their communities. From the SEO perspective, customers can generate content, then you can focus more on the customer experience.

25:51 – With community support, businesses can exchange expertise to further improve decision-making and strategy development.