Analytics is the need of the hour, but let’s take a minute before we bungee-jump into it, shall we? As you read on, in this one minute, there are:

• 3.8 million Google searches being made
• 3.3 million posts shared on Facebook
• 448,800 tweets going out on Twitter
• 500 hours of video uploaded on YouTube.

(Source: SmartInsights)

And that’s just 60 seconds on Social Media. Information that is stored to be used for a bigger purpose. Can you imagine the amount of information that is getting created, and stored every day beyond these social channels? Amazing, right?

There is a lot of information available around us. But all that data is useless unless it is applied. Analytics is about making sense of the information that is available and putting it to good use, benefiting the business along the way. More and more organizations are adopting a data-driven approach to running their business. Investing in Analytics has proven to help businesses increase their revenues, optimize marketing campaigns, improve operational efficiency, respond faster to new market trends, streamline customer service efforts and overall, get ahead of the competition.

Thanks to Big Data and some other easily accessible tools like R, companies are aggressively hiring analytical thinkers with an ability to make a real, measurable impact on the organization’s growth. While you still figure how you fit into the realm of Analytics, here’s your quick guide to different types of analytics that are changing the world as you read on.

What is Data Analytics?

All the data that is available in the universe is useless unless it is applied. The process of analysing available data to draw relevant insights using specialized systems and software is Data Analytics. Various data analytics technologies and techniques are being used increasingly by organizations to make informed business decisions. These decisions are based on research, further extrapolated into theories and hypotheses.

It involves taking large quantities of in-depth data and creating reports that display the overall significance of the information collected.

Also Read: Kickstart your Career in Analytics with Data Science Program

What do Data Analysts do?

Data Analysts use data to derive meaningful insights to address business problems or discover hidden trends. These insights can further be leveraged to meet business objectives.

Typically, they focus on data exploration and visualization using statistical models. They also create reports and develop metrics to measure the performance of a business.

The role of a Data Analyst includes initiatives such as:

• Managing customer database
• Understanding user behaviour on a website
• Identifying useful data about the target demographic

Who is Data Analysts for?

Much of a Data Analyst’s role focuses on complex databases, statistics and formulas. High technical ability, critical thinking and ability to identify trends are some of the traits sought in a Data Analyst; a math or information technology background is also helpful.

What is Business Analytics?

Deriving insights from data that inform business decisions and optimizing business processes is Business Analytics. Data in this context is treated more like a corporate asset that can be leveraged for a competitive advantage.

What do Business Analytics do?

The role of a business analyst is to understand the business problem, analyse the current state of business and then provide recommendations to solve the issue. Using various tools like surveys, group discussions, interviews etc. analysts capture all business requirements.

Someone in this role might perform research, organize, communicate, and oversee the implementation of key business tasks like:

• Financing new initiatives or software
• Creating a streamlined workflow
• Ensuring a high return on investment (ROI)
• Business analytics is less technical and therefore, involves simpler formulas and calculations.

Also Read: Things to Consider Before Taking Data Analytics Course

Who is Business Analysts for?

Business analysts are expected to have a stronger background in business administration, excellent communications skills and problem-solving ability.

What is Marketing Analytics?

The practice of measuring, managing and analysing the performance of various marketing activities to maximize their effectiveness and optimize return on Investment is Marketing Analytics. It offers insights into customer preferences and trends.

Marketing Analytics goes beyond the function of marketing by providing real market feedback to sales, customer service and senior business management representatives. This further helps them guide decisions on where to invest and how to prioritize.

Marketing analytics offers a more holistic approach to the measurement of marketing efforts – both online and offline. It helps reveal the direct impact of marketing by connecting all areas of marketing with sales and lead generation results.

What do Marketing Analysts do?

Some of the tasks Marketing Analysts are often involved in:

Collecting data on customers, competitors and market place and extrapolating information into actionable items, reports and presentations

Understanding business objectives and designing surveys to find out the preferences of prospective customers

Collating and analysing statistical data using both, modern & traditional methods

Also Read: Tips on how to Become a Successful Business Analyst in India?

Who is Marketing Analysts for?

Professionals with strong communication & presentation skills along with the ability to interpret large amounts of data are preferred for Marketing Analytics roles. Knowledge of statistical packages (SPSS, SAS etc.) and familiarity with search engines and web analytics tools is also helpful.

Opportunities in the Analytics domain are abundant. Organizations are looking for professionals with sharp analytical skills to help optimize their performance and discover new avenues of growth. If you are interested in pursuing analytics as a career, check out the range of analytics courses we have to offer.

While different kinds of analytics have different applications, the fundamentals of each stream have the same basic domains, around which different functions are described.

To enhance the product value for total client satisfaction is every organisation’s end goal. The target markets of various industries are ever-changing in their needs to conform to society’s standards, fads and issues.

Business data analytics helps the company to stand out in the competition through exceptional innovation of ideas and deliverable products, which would instantly attract customers. Analytics online certification courses improve the skillsets of business analytics managers in smart decision making which leads to organisational efficiency.

Business analytics covers four significant domains of study:-

Databases and Data Warehouses

Databases and data warehouses serve as the epicentre of business analytics. The process of analytics begins with storing the data correctly in operational databases and guaranteeing data integrity. The data analysts must comprehend the core concepts of database design and its implementation at all levels. Analytics online certification courses can provide keen insights into the conceptual, physical and logical modelling of business analytics.

Job Profile

Databases and data warehouses job roles are critical to a company’s ability to make sound business decisions. A data warehouse analyst collects, mines, analyses, and supports the business leverage the data stored in data warehouses. Online business analytic courses from IIM Kozhikode can give a quick boost to the analytical and problem-solving skills of entry-level data analysts.

Also Read: How can I pursue a Career in Business Analytics in 2022?

Responsibilities of a data warehouse analyst:-

To research and recommend tech solutions related to data warehousing, importing, reporting, and other business concerns.

To combine forces with business intelligence team members and developers and interpret data requirements into logical models.

Descriptive Analytics

Descriptive analytics quantitatively reports the essential features of organisational data. Descriptive analytics targets to summarise a sample using statistical modelling. The business world is much dependent on descriptive analytics reports which provide a historical examination of an organisation’s operations, financial, sales, customers and stakeholders.

Descriptive analytics is the essential piece of business intelligence procedure of parsing historical data to get an in-depth understanding of the changes in the business eco-system.

Job Profile

Business analytics managers make nuanced strategic decisions based on the performance analysis, a core concept of descriptive analytics. Analytics online certification courses help business professionals to obtain an integrated view of performance and the market trends on which to pivot business strategy.

Prescriptive analytics

Prescriptive analytics can benefit the movie and airlines industries to augment their revenues, ensuring the balancing of the price-demand matrix. Aspiring data analytics professionals can enrol in online business analytic courses from IIM Kozhikode to get latest updates in computational modelling, algorithms and machine learning which are the heart of prescriptive analytics.

Job Profile

Business data analytics professionals employ prescriptive analytics to make decisions based on available data. The most commonly used models include sensitivity analysis, linear programming, goal programming and simulation modelling.

Summary

Business analytics promotes a company culture of high performance and teamwork where employees can share their insights and mould the decision-making process. Companies using various domains of business analytics can determine the right steps needed to accomplish new goals.

More Information:

Important Key Functions of Business Analyst in 2022

Career Opportunities in Business Management Domain

Lucrative Business Management Careers for Young Professionals

Make better informed decisions with Business Analytics & Big Data

Accelerate your career growth with a course in Business Management