Business Intelligence
Business Intelligence (BI) is a broad, umbrella term that involves collecting, measuring, storing, and analysing data from all business activities, with the main goal of helping businesses make data-driven, informed marketing and business decisions.
Business Intelligence Roles
Business intelligence analysts use data to figure out market and business trends for companies to increase profits and efficiency. They may work directly for a company or as a consultant.
A range of tools that can be expected for candidates to have knowledge of include:
- Data mining tools
- Data visualisation software
- Online analytic processes (OLAP)
- Reporting software
- Spreadsheets
Business Intelligence jobs are crucial for data-driven organisations, something that is becoming more and more prominent with the evolution of technology.
A key aspect for being a successful business analyst is working to increase the accuracy, timeliness, and amount of data.
This would mean finding new ways to extract information that may not already be captured, checking for errors, and ensuring these are rectified, and presenting information in a broadly understandable manner for others to use with ease.
Business intelligence analyst roles gather this data through a number of ways, from mining a company's computer data through software, to looking at competitor data and industry trends to help develop a picture of where the company stands in the industry, where they can improve and where they can reduce costs.
These reports can help various sectors including Technology, DTC and Ecommerce, to make enhanced marketing and business decisions, solve problems and have a well-rounded understanding of the data the company is producing to be able to adapt to market changes and gain competitive advantage over business rivals.
Industry Differences
Business Intelligence jobs can vary from industry to industry.
For businesses struggling to organise and interpret their data, external companies provide business intelligence solutions to aid in optimising the use of their data and help them make informed decisions.
Financial Industry
Financial and insurance sectors may use BI to perform risk analysis and highlight products to offer to existing clients based on their profiles.
Retail Industry
In the retail sector, BI may be used for activities such as stock management, promotion planning and general marketing campaign management.
Media and Entertainment Industry
Media streaming giants such as Netflix or Spotify use business intelligence to create a list of recommended shows, titles, or songs, based on the customer’s preferences and streaming history.
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2023 Digital Salary & Benefits Report
We’re back with our Digital Salary & Benefits Report which takes an in-depth look at the salaries, benefits and job search preferences of talent working across digital media, marketing, tech and creative sectors.