We write for Greenbook about the future of business intelligence

“When utilised and analysed appropriately, text data from various sources online – including survey data, social media, reviews, and customer service – can offer invaluable insight into a company’s performance.” Our CEO Ben Hookway writes about how text data is driving the future of business intelligence in his latest article for Greenbook, ‘Why Text Data Is the Future of Business Intelligence‘.

Because there is so much text data available, businesses often have trouble managing and evaluating it in a manner that provides true insights. While most agree that text data is extremely valuable, and can sometimes even be used in real-time, we must have efficient and robust ways to analyse it. Ben writes that many of the text analysis tools out there today deliver only “surface rudimentary, obvious or unactionable insights based on keyword frequency; with static reports which fail to help people stay on top of trends.”

As understanding text data becomes more and more crucial (and more of it floods in daily) the right tools to analyse it and find actionable insights are increasingly important. In fact, Ben cites a couple of examples in the article that show how companies that can fully dig into their text data are able to use it for multiple purposes throughout their organisation. “Rather than data being siloed and analysed for a single purpose, businesses can release the potential of customer-driven insights and collaborate with other departments.”

He also touches on the evolution of the privacy landscape, and the restrictions surrounding access to third-party data (e.g. the deprecation of the cookie). This means first-party data will continue to rise in significance, and companies will need to conduct more primary research to gain the same level of understanding.

This research should include open-ended questions to answer specific business questions in a robust manner. With a platform like Relative Insight, analysing these responses is efficient and effective, allowing companies to “reap the rewards of relevant, and sophisticated, business intelligence.”

He concludes the piece with: “Alongside the pressing need for innovative solutions that allow companies to get the full value out of all their text-based data sources, knowing how to find unique insights and to make the most of data assets has never been more important.”

For the complete article, visit Greenbook’s website.