6 Real-World Examples of Business Intelligence in Action

Data is the lifeblood of business success. However, simply having access to massive amounts of data is not enough. The real challenge is transforming those datasets into actionable insights that can drive growth, optimize business operations, and elevate decision-making. 

Ever wonder how Netflix recommends your next binge-worthy series or how Amazon seems to know exactly what you need? Behind these seamless experiences is powerful business intelligence software that analyzes your behavior and offers personalized solutions.

Business intelligence solutions are continually evolving and improving, but four trends – artificial intelligence, cloud analytics, collaborative BI, and embedded BI – are changing how companies are using expansive data sets.

To offer deeper insights into real-world applications of BI, we spoke with six business leaders across various industries. They shared how they use BI platforms and processes in their organizations to tackle their toughest challenges and gain a competitive edge.

Here's what we learned...

1. Business intelligence in advertising

BI tools have revolutionized the advertising industry by helping marketers better understand consumer behavior, refine audience segmentation, and optimize ad spend. This ensures that every advertising dollar is spent strategically and drives higher engagement and conversions.

"Each quarter, our business intelligence team analyzes our network statistics to help our advertisers make decisions on which ad formats are working best for different offer verticals. This is done by showing the average CTRs for different formats and verticals as well as statistics for new platform features. We compile this information into blog posts for our website, promote on social media accounts, and email newsletters to our advertising clients. Additionally, our team of account managers and client-care agents also promote the blog posts to their clients.”  said Giles Hirst, Head of Communications at ExoClick

Another great example is Spotify, which uses a business intelligence tool to deliver highly personalized ads based on users' music preferences, listening habits, and behavior patterns. This personalized advertising approach has helped Spotify enhance user experience while boosting ad revenue.

Several trends are shaping business intelligence in advertising. Personalization is becoming increasingly vital as brands leverage data science to deliver tailored ads that resonate with individual preferences, driving engagement. Additionally, programmatic advertising, powered by customer data insights, automates real-time ad placements, optimizing reach and effectiveness.

2. Business intelligence in sales

A prime example of BI in action is Starbucks. By analyzing data from its loyalty program and mobile app, Starbucks can identify a high demand for seasonal beverages. The company can then strategically promote those drinks and ensure sufficient stock at relevant locations, enhancing customer satisfaction and boosting sales.

Business intelligence sales dashboards use data mining, predictive modeling, and machine learning to help make projections of future events. They have become indispensable for sales teams, enabling them to extract valuable insights into customer behavior, business performance, and market trends. 

Bruno Verbruggen, Sales & Business Development Manager at Cumul.io, highlights the importance of business intelligence systems in sales management:

“One of our most actively used sales dashboards is our 'sales assistant dashboard.' It provides an overview of the sales pipeline, the sales process, and data points for each sales representative. We have internal guidelines on which actions to take at specific sales stages. This dashboard helps everyone on the sales team stay on top of their pipeline and understand at a glance where they need to take action.”

To illustrate this concept, below is an image provided by Bruno showcasing a typical sales assistant dashboard.

Key elements of this dashboard include:

• Initial contact assistant for follow-ups
• Metric tracking average days of inactivity for re-engagement
• Individual sales funnels for ownership and tracking.

This level of clarity and accessibility empowers sales teams to make data-driven decisions and take proactive steps, ultimately improving business outcomes.

3. Business intelligence in digital marketing

The relationship between business intelligence and digital marketing is inherently synergistic; BI solutions rely on data warehouses for information. It helps businesses collect, access, and analyze real-time data from various data sources—such as social media, website traffic, and email campaigns—and companies can gain valuable insights into consumer behavior, preferences, and emerging market trends.

By harnessing the power of data analytics, Coca-Cola tailors its campaigns to specific customer segments, delivering personalized experiences that resonate and drive engagement. From understanding customer preferences to optimizing ad targeting, data-driven marketing has become an integral part of marketing strategy.

Alex Membrillo, CEO of Cardinal Digital Marketing, elaborates on how BI influences digital marketing strategies:

“Business intelligence is now powering customer segmentation, retargeting, push notifications, click tracking, and even content creation. Beyond data analysis, marketers utilize BI to enhance customer service. It also allows companies to identify user behavior for personalization, which is crucial for achieving growth objectives. Moreover, BI is instrumental in profiling buyers for advanced targeting.”

As privacy regulations evolve, there is a growing emphasis on ethical business data usage and transparency, prompting brands to adopt more responsible BI practices that foster trust with consumers.

4. Business intelligence in call-tracking

By monitoring and analyzing call data, businesses can uncover valuable insights into customer behavior, preferences, and the overall effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. This data-driven approach enables organizations to pinpoint which marketing channels generate the most calls, optimize their advertising spend, and ultimately enhance the customer experience.

Nasser Aftab, Director of Business Development at Phonexa, explains how his team leverages business intelligence in the call-tracking sector: “Software that offers predictive data analytics is key when it comes to call tracking. Predictive analytics allows marketers to visualize current and future key performance indicators related to calls and campaigns. It also helps eliminate the trial and error associated with accepting leads in real-time environments. By employing predictive business intelligence with data visualization, a business can assess the potential outcomes of removing or adding key variables and understand the impact on their ROI.”

The rise of mobile communication and the growing use cases of digital channels are also prompting businesses to integrate call tracking with multi-channel marketing strategies, ensuring a seamless customer experience across all touchpoints.

American Express, a global financial services company, strategically uses call-tracking data to gain valuable insights into customer inquiries and interactions. By analyzing this data, they can improve service quality and enhance customer engagement. 

Although call-tracking software is a relatively new and niche industry, it plays a crucial role in helping marketers and salespeople predict leads and quantify their phone-based efforts.

5. Business intelligence in team management

Business intelligence is equipping leaders with actionable insights that enhance collaboration and productivity. Organizations can effectively monitor team performance, identify skill gaps, and improve resource allocation, ultimately leading to more effective management strategies.

Richard Uruchurtu, VP of Operations at KlientBoost, describes how his team uses business intelligence to ensure a balanced workload:  “We have scoreboards for every department that help us when making business decisions. Some common metrics we look at are the capacity of team members and the company as a whole, which helps us decide client assignments and when to hire more team members. This helps make scaling the agency more manageable and helps maintain a solid but balanced workload for our fulfillment team.”

This unique example illustrates that business intelligence extends beyond tracking sales and marketing metrics; it also plays a crucial role in quantifying employee engagement and day-to-day productivity.

Organizations are increasingly adopting business intelligence platforms that seamlessly integrate with collaboration platforms to monitor employee engagement and productivity levels. As remote and hybrid work models become the norm, teams are leveraging BI to assess workflows and optimize interactions, ensuring alignment and accountability regardless of location. 

6. Business intelligence in healthcare

Many healthcare organizations are investing in advanced BI systems that provide actionable insights into patient treatment and resource utilization.

As telehealth services continue to expand, there is an increasing emphasis on utilizing BI to analyze virtual care data. Such a data-driven approach is poised to redefine healthcare management, fostering a more proactive and responsive system.

Daniel Jebaraj, Vice President at Syncfusion, shared a dashboard that displays key metrics for visualizing the patient experience. These metrics can be filtered to show patient satisfaction levels, average appointment durations, the departments visited, and more.

Be a BI-liever!

If we can take away one thing from our contributors, it’s that business intelligence can inform better processes and decision-making across many industries. This is made possible by establishing metrics and visualizing results using dashboards, scorecards, charts, and more.

Business intelligence fosters a culture of accountability and transparency. When teams can easily access and interpret data, they are empowered to take ownership of their projects and contribute to the organization's overall objectives.

If you haven’t started implementing business intelligence yet, you are already falling behind in today's data-driven landscape. Embracing BI software is essential for staying competitive and making impactful decisions.

Explore the latest business intelligence statistics that can help you harness data for your organization’s success. 

This article was originally published in 2019. It has been updated with new information