For this blog post, we wanted to revisit a guest episode that we did with the Vision Tech Team. This episode was filmed at the end of 2018, and focused on the changes that we saw in the data landscape in 2018, as well as predictions for 2019.

We found this episode particularly relevant given the changes in the data landscape that we detailed in last week’s post (which you can find here).

Enjoy this short podcast episode, and our insights below.

Insights from 2018:

1. The data landscape changed rapidly, making it very difficult to predict what different platforms would do.
2. Infusionsoft became much more open with their data in 2018, while Facebook began to clamp down on what data they would allow access to.
3. Businesses began to understand the value of data, and started to understand it’s importance.
4. Similar to the dot-com boom, businesses that fail to take advantage of their data started falling behind in the market.
5. Data overload started coming to a head. Businesses started needing to figure out what data actually drives results.
6. Trust in data became an issue. Data validation became a necessary part of data projects.
7. Data visualization became the new buzzword.
8. Everyone became obsessed with visualizing their data.
9. This often came at the expense of actually driving new insights, as they would simply slap graphs on the same data.
10. Automation started to spread
11. In the beginning, nobody tracked anything.
12. Then, businesses started tracking, but the data was stuck in silos.
13. From there, data nerds started creating complex pivot tables and Excel sheets to bring the data together.
14. Now, automation became feasible, and started taking over. This removed the need for manual reporting, and made the visualizations better.
15. Going back to data overload, tracking exploded in 2018.
16. You started being able to track anything that you wanted, and this lead many companies to overload on data.
17. For those that actually leveraged this data, it caused explosive growth.
18. Chatbots exploded onto the scene.
19. Chatbots began to expand their footprint, with very promising results.
20. Businesses began realizing the value of data democratization.
21. Rather than having just one data nerd knowing everything about your data, businesses began to share data with all employees.
22. By opening up data to the entire organization, you can gain insights that you previously would have missed out on.
23. This allows organizations to leverage the combined brain-power of their entire team, rather than just the select few.

Predictions for 2019:

1. Increased competition for data.
2. As more companies realize the value of data, more and more companies will start competing for it.
3. As data becomes more ubiquitous, companies will get better and better at targeting and marketing. This will drive inefficient organizations into the ground, leaving only the best to survive.
4. Data overload to the max.
5. As more data becomes available, businesses will need to start deciding what metrics actually matter to them.
6. Most businesses will need to hone in on the handful of metrics that actually drive results (80/20).
7. Those that capitalize on this principle will thrive in 2019
8. Increased transparency and accountability.
9. As more companies move towards data democratization, we will see a shift towards increased accountability across organizations. This will create cultures that thrive on extreme accountability.
10. Since everyone has access to the data, it will become much more difficult for low performers to hide behind the work of others.

Looking back on 2018, things seem so much simpler. They only worried about compliance with GDPR. In 2019, we have a host of regulations on the horizon to worry about, decreased access to data and information, and platforms throttling data.

Looking forward to 2020, we’re likely to see an acceleration of the changes from 2019. We expect more data regulations to come into effect, and as a result of this, we expect a decrease in marketing efficiency.

One of the things that every business should start doing is gathering data into a data warehouse. This protects you from the whims of the larger platforms, and gives you complete ownership over your data. By gathering your knowledge and wisdom into your own database, you insulate yourself from the storm that is brewing on the horizon.

Praxis specializes in data, so we can help you take ownership over your data, create back-ups, and help you understand your data better than ever before. You can learn more about our products and offerings here. If you have immediate questions, you can contact a Praxis Metrics data expert directly.

‍