Data is one of the most valuable currencies in the world right now. The data-industry is one of the biggest in the entire international marketplace. This is because of how informative and telling data is, especially when it comes to consumer habits, behavior, and other trends. Additionally, the rise and overarching universality of social media created oceans of data ripe for the picking. Combine this with the already ever-expansive breadth of the internet, and the phrase, “data is everywhere” starts to make a little more sense. The way that organizations implement and utilize this data, however, is an ever-evolving field with new innovations each and every year.
One of the most popular ways that organizations seek to utilize the data they’ve collected is through marketing, advertising, and sales activities. However, this often poses a challenge. Mainly due to the fact that many organizations rely on a centralized data warehouse(s) and the barriers to data-access this creates. In turn, it became a necessity in the industry to find a way to easily, conveniently, accurately, and securely transfer data stored in a warehouse to other operational SaaS tools that an organization may employ. Since the value of data is so high, it makes sense that decision-makers and professionals in every role of an organization would benefit from having access to pertinent and relevant information based on real-time data-analytics.
A popular example, for instance, is figuring out how to send data from Snowflake to Salesforce which enables salespeople to use real-time data in making real-time decisions.
Implementing Data Activation
The first step in syncing data from a centralized warehouse or string of warehouses is implementing a reverse ETL process. Reverse ETL is the term for the software that is designed to sync the data in a company’s centralized warehouse(s) with the rest of the operational and SaaS tools that they use. Having a reliable reverse ETL process is important as it plays into the accuracy of the data-sync. For example, a reliable reverse ETL will minimize the amount of duplicate, inaccurate, or errant pieces of data that get synchronized from one system to the other.
By using reverse ETL, a company is able to take their data hosted within their warehouse, Snowflake, or anywhere else, and synchronize it with other operational tools, such as Salesforce. This is a big improvement. In previous iterations, anyone wanting to access this level of data and analytics would need to understand and be fluent in SQL writing. A major technical barrier of entry that the large majority of non-technical employees have no reason to train in. This creates delays in information, analytic reporting, and makes it nearly impossible for the employee to make a real-time decision or pivot based on anything other than their gut-instinct and last month’s KPI report. This is like being between a rock and a hard place for the salesperson, as they’re essentially throwing darts with a blindfold on. Implementing a data activation strategy, on the other hand, allows employees in any number of departments to run reports, retrieve instant analytics, and create automated tasks and notifications, all founded on real time and information and analytics they trust to be accurate.
Enabling Real-Time Sales Action
A major benefit to implementing data activation and syncing data between Snowflake and Salesforce is that it enables salespeople to make real-time decisions based on powerful consumer data and analytics. One of the easiest examples is to imagine a consumer purchasing a picnic blanket. At the time of purchase, this data is synchronized with Salesforce, informing the appropriate account-representative, and allows them to add this consumer to various ad-campaign audiences that are relevant and complimentary to that of the picnic blanket. I.e. a picnic basket, a sun-umbrella, etc.
There are countless other examples of how salespeople are able to utilize real time information and analytics in the pursuit of creating stronger sales tactics, better consumer engagement, more effective communication, and a unique customer experience.
Utilizing Automation
Salesforce isn’t the only operational tool or SaaS that benefits from syncing data with a centralized data warehouse or series of warehouses. The use-cases for data activation are growing every year, and becoming more and more innovative as professionals find new ways to implement and utilize these real-time analytics.
Another great example of how data activation can elevate an organization’s communication strategy is through automated tasks and messaging. For example, data activation enables an automatic notification pushed to all users who have reached their free-trial of a specific subscription service and need to cancel or upgrade.
Using the Full Potential of Data
Data and information is one of the most valuable assets that an organization can collect in the digital marketplace. Collecting this data is one thing, however. Putting it to good use and creating actionable workflows from this data takes operational analytics to a whole new level.
