Joining the (data) dots

Every business generates data; precious few do anything worthwhile with it. 

Now Delft is helping business owners leverage their data to take marketing and efficiency to a whole new level.

In 1665 Professor Antony van Leevenwenhoek invented the first ‘true’ microscope, with 300x magnification and ‘unbelievable’ resolution. For the first time it was possible to see tiny microbes and blood cells, and it opened the door to a new understanding of the world we live in.

The city of Delft in the Netherlands is the professor’s birthplace, which is why the founders of data-led strategy business Delft (delft.co) chose the name when they launched 18 months ago.

The understanding and insights revealed through that re-invented microscope mirrors the ethos of Delft, as they exercise their skills and technology to uncover patterns and insights from data that’s literally right under the nose of business owners.

“We can completely customise those insights too,” explains Delft’s client executive Steven Baker. “Every business is different, even if they’re in the same industry. They have different questions to answer.”

A company’s footprint of data is everywhere, he explains. There’s data in social media, customer management systems (CMS), payment solutions (like DPS), customer interaction on your website (tracked by Google Analytics), in-store behaviour if you’re a retailer, and loyalty card behaviour, to name just a few. But that data sits in silos.

Delft’s job is to aggregate all the data, and the report on how it all ties together. “To see what patterns exist between them that show you that your business is better or worse off in certain situations,” says Baker.

Their data analysis can get quite detailed and ‘granular’, particularly when it comes to marketing channel analysis. For example, in a typical marketing analysis, Delft can look at the relationship between a particular marketing channel, and predict the future life-time value of a customer that came from that particular channel. 

When a business knows which marketing channel delivers the longest lifetime value, then it can direct more marketing dollars where they’ll produce a better outcome over time.

“[Directing spend into the right marketing channels] can make a huge difference to a business, especially when you count on that insight year on year,” says Baker.

Predicting demand

Drawing on its data analysis technology, Delft can also predict the demand for new products, and across a broad swathe of industry sectors. It takes that demand prediction and loads it into its own “buying tool”, aka automated algorithim – providing businesses with an accurate forecast on how many products will need to be purchased to meet customer demand.

Delft is not just about “joining the dots” on data for retail or marketing applications either. 

Any part of a business where there’s data to be found can be peeled open in order to gain insight and efficiency. For example, optimising ‘pick paths’ in a warehouse; increasing the lifetime value of customers, this time by tracking how your organisation has interacted with them; as well as analysing the productivity of employees, increasing operational efficiency; even the efficiency of a business’s website.

Delft also examines data to determine the price sensitivity of customers, helping businesses to determine optimum prices for their goods or services, and potentially adding thousands of dollars to the bottom line.

“A business’s data is literally everywhere, and that’s half the problem,” says Baker. “But, no matter where the data is, Delft will aggregate all of it; tie it all together, so business owners know exactly how things are playing out. And we place it all on a dashboard report, so everything can be easily visualised and tracked. 

“Our live dashboards can be updated every minute.

“Many businesses might view data as a big boys’, mysterious and unaffordable, dark box,” he adds. “It’s not. Our goal is to talk to smaller businesses in particular, and help them to understand their business from a more granular level. That’s what we can do for them. That’s the whole reason why Delft exists.”

“We’re not data scientists; we’re business people too,” continues Baker. “We’ve simply found a way of using our data [analysis skills and technology] to be both practical and useful for business. And there is no industry sector or business we can’t help.”

Accessing a business’s data is non evasive, he adds, and secure – Delft treats a customer’s data as if it was their own.

Tracking the trends

Tracking the big behavioural trends, is one of the most valuable outcomes of Delft’s work for clients. For example, what is the churn rate of customers? How is the lifetime value of customers performing – is it going up or down? And more importantly; why? 

It’s invaluable information to help a business with its forward planning and marketing strategy.

However, the Delft team is ready to tackle any challenge relating to your business’s performance that can be solved through the data that already exists – data that has always been there right under your nose.

“We’ll organise your data into one place, to help you know more, move quicker and grow faster,” says Baker.

“If you have questions about your business, we’ll definitely find the answers.”