What is the value of data?

- [Narrator] Back in 1848, there was a gold rush in California. Now, over a hundred years later, there is a new gold rush happening in the Age of Information. Now, these modern day prospectors aren't mining the earth but rather huge sets of data for actionable insights. The value of gold is pretty easy to decipher. You can sell it for a set amount of money. On the other hand, the value of data is a little bit more murky. And I'd argue that the value of data is based on its ability to empower you to make better decisions. So what are these decisions, you might ask. Well, let's walk through a few different examples. If you're doing a good job of tracking your sales data, you can quickly, with a rather small amount of sales transaction, target the segment of the market that really loves your product. Targeting this specific demographic can help you increase your return on investment in your sales and marketing budget. You can even put together a survey to dig even deeper and ask the demographic, "Well, what do you love specifically about this product?" Then use that data to better inform your marketing copy, getting the right message in front of the right person. Another form of data that can be useful in this situation would be Google Analytics. If these ideal customers are coming from your website, then you can look at this data to identify which channels or ways these people are visiting your website. It might be YouTube, Google search or social media. Then it's time to double down on what's working. These are some pretty simple examples but we've quickly identified the who, why and how of your sales process. And we did this through studying data. Just remember, the value of data is that it can help you make more informed decisions.