5 Competitive Advantages of Embedded Analytics

User engagement and analytics adoption across an organization can remain low with traditional BI solutions because they often provide limited value to the end user and are difficult to use. From my experience building analytic applications, the only way to improve engagement and deliver a successful user experience is by enabling experimentation and iteration at a rapid pace in order to meet the constantly changing needs of the user and business.

This is where the value of an end-to-end embedded analytics platform becomes apparent. The benefits of an end-to-end embedded analytics platform include the ability to deliver rapid iteration as well as a user experience that’s seamlessly integrated into an existing workflow. This capability is why Nucleus Research predicts that 90% of business users will interact with analytics at least once per day but only 15% will realize it over the next seven years.

Let’s take this one step further. What strategic competitive advantages do embedded analytics offer?

1. Enables Users to Gain More Value From Your Product

First and foremost, embedded business intelligence enables your users to derive more value from your product. As opposed to just going through a workflow, now they’re going through the workflow and gaining insights into business performance that they wouldn’t have received from the workflow by itself. They’re understanding where problems are occurring, how much things cost, and where there are opportunities to streamline processes. Users will now be able to determine what actions to take that will impact their business, based on the insights provided.

2. Establishes You as a Thought Leader in the Industry

Being able to navigate users from root causes of a problem to the best solution authorizes your business’s credibility and standing within the industry. Whether it’s insurance, finance, or marketing, this kind of management demonstrates that your company understands the industry and that you’re well qualified to guide the user.

Imagine you’re selecting a CRM tool: one tool allows you to put in new opportunities and deals, deal size, and probability of close; the other one does that too, but it also gives you analytics to assess your funnel, gain an understanding of how likely things are to close, and estimate what your profits will be this quarter — all from within your workflow.

The second tool is the clear winner with its expertise in the industry and advanced capabilities. It helps you understand your job better. Embedded BI can help you deliver that same experience to your customers right in their workflow where they are making decisions.

3. Provides an Upsell Path

Introducing analytics paves a clear path to additional revenue moving forward. Let’s stick with the CRM example from before. If you produce a product like a CRM, a common goal is upsell — getting customers to buy more functionality over time. Analytics gives you one strategy to do so. Launch a tiered offering with “basic” analytics offered in a lower priced package, more robust analytics with more data and capabilities in a “premium” package, or analytics with ad hoc analysis and freeform dashboard creation in a “professional” package. By doing so, you can expand your revenue stream while also enabling your customers to tailor their experience to their needs.

4. Ensures a Deep Understanding of User Personas

User personas in the data domain are rapidly changing and are highly complex. Who is a data scientist and what is he trying to do? What's the difference between a business analyst and a data analyst? What’s a “citizen data scientist”? What's the best tooling for IT vs a data engineer? Who is using a specific feature, why, and how often? Our ability to analyze product usage through different lenses allows us to navigate this complex environment and build the right tools for the right personas.

Additionally, analytics give us a deeper understanding of the interests of personas as they access charts, create specific dashboards, or navigate around in a certain way. You can now further refine your core product, targeting the functionality and resources that would be most beneficial to your target personas.

5. Monetizes Data

In the course of using your service or tool, users are generating data, but that data is rarely used effectively. Think of it as the exhaust coming off the engine of your core product — it’s there, but it’s not something you think you can do much with. But, much like a turbocharger hanging off the exhaust system of a car, analytics can be used to put that data “exhaust” to work. That data can now be captured, analyzed, and used to increase engagement, reduce churn, or improve customer satisfaction. The value of that information would otherwise flow right out the tailpipe, but with analytics it can result in additional engagement or value for your users, ultimately generating additional revenue.

Separately, each of these advantages would be a compelling point, but analytics pull all of these advantages together. Companies looking to differentiate themselves from their competitors should consider the substantial value they can capture from embedded analytics.

Header photo by Leon on Unsplash.