How to Improve Automation Using Insight Tools

Automation is the future. And yet, companies cannot apply it haphazardly and expect things to go well. I always come back to Bill Gates' famous phrase, "Automation applied to an inefficient operation will amplify the inefficiency."

If a business isn't using their automation well, it won't help. Here are three ways I've found brands can improve their automation by using analytics tools to identify areas that need attention.

1. Unify your marketing channels

Marketing potential has exploded in recent years. However, the number of options associated with online marketing can lead to a scattered and disconnected effect.

One ​​of the quickest and easiest ways for a business to improve its automation is to consolidate its various marketing tools under one roof. One tool I've found that can do this effectively is the AI ​​software solution Hawke.ai. It does this by integrating all the data from various marketing platforms, including Shopify, Facebook, Google Ads, and even Slack.

By centralizing multiple channels of data under one roof, you can get a complete view of your marketing data. This can lead to key insights, such as how much you're spending or how much engagement you're getting across different platforms. You can then use it to be more efficient when automating various marketing activities.

2. Improve SaaS Scaling and Spending

The technological age has led to an increasing number of cloud-based third-party applications. Companies are deploying SaaS applications for everything from invoicing to workflow.

This can be an effective way to control costs and automate activities. But it can also lead to a proliferation of SaaS. I know I'm not the only one facing this either. It's a common occurrence where enterprise IT and technical administrators can't keep pace with managing their company's SaaS tools. When this happens, it is easy for inefficiencies to appear.

Torii is a tool I found for this problem. It tackles the problem of SaaS proliferation head on by helping to maintain a clear view of SaaS applications over time. This can lead to crucial information about the effectiveness or value of each application, and help you decide which programs to keep and which not.

3. Keep an eye on everything

Sometimes the struggle for effective automation is more important than analyzing specific things like SaaS expansion or marketing activity. These steps may come in a timely manner, but the first thing you need to do is get a data-driven view of all of your business activity. This is especially important for businesses, many of which I have personally seen, where critical data is constantly changing.

Looker is a Google Cloud app that I've used to keep up to date with BI and analytics. Data is perpetually collected and organized into accessible dashboards that can help deploy informed automation solutions and data-driven workflows. This helps keep automated solutions up-to-date ensuring businesses operate with the most relevant business data at all times.

There is no doubt that automation is the future. However, as businesses embrace automation, they must remember that it is not a fully functional business solution. Automation solutions require monitoring and a lot of tweaking to make sure they really benefit a business. Using some of the solutions above to harness the power of analytics insights will help keep your business on track with its automation.