Data vs Information vs Insight
Data, information, insight… What’s the difference? For those of us that work in research and analytics, this seems like a silly question. We’re up to our knees daily in all three. But an outsider may wonder just what is the difference between these three important terms? And more importantly, why does it matter?
To understand how data, information, and insight play into the research process and how they can make a difference in your business, let’s start with a few quick and dirty definitions:
- Data is the raw and unprocessed facts that we capture according to some agreed-upon standards. Data could be a number, an image, an audio clip, a transcription, or similar.
- Information is data that has been processed, aggregated, and organized into a more human-friendly format. Data visualizations, reports and dashboards are common ways to present information.
- Insight is gained by analyzing data and information in order to understand the context of a particular situation and draw conclusions. Those conclusions lead to actions you can apply to your business.
The Impact of Insight in Business Decisions
“Data-driven marketing” may be the hot buzzword of the moment – but in reality, insight is the gold good researchers (and smart companies) are looking for. Brands today have access to endless streams of data. But a pile of numbers doesn’t necessarily tell you anything valuable about your business. Insight does.
Turning research data into insights is the key to more strategic and well-informed business decisions. Great insight puts you ahead of competitors and prompts small but important changes that can revolutionize your business.
The Anatomy of a Great Insight
If great insights are the key to understanding your audience, creating better products, and discovering new markets – how do we recognize them? What makes an insight impactful, actionable, valuable?
Global Web Index says an impactful insight is Human, Universal, True to Brand, and Targeted. What does this mean? Here you can see the anatomy of insight broken down:
- Human – A simple truth that is easy to relate to and identify with. Something that taps into the human psyche.
- Universal – Does your insight speak to a wider audience, rather than a regional or otherwise heavily segmented one?
- True to Brand – If it doesn’t align with your brand values, your brand personality and your business objectives, it can’t help you.
- Targeted – Is your insight geared towards the results you want?
In other words, a great insight tells a story. It is interesting and unique to your brand. It presents new ideas for your company and for your customers.
How to Get Powerful Insight
Research is the road to great insight – but it doesn’t stand alone. These few steps can get you started on the path to putting information to work for your business:
- Set your goals – What does your company hope to achieve through research?
- Collect – Gather your data through qualitative and/or quantitative research methods.
- Analyze – In this critical stage, you “humanize” the data and give it context. What is it telling you about your customers, employees, product satisfaction, etc?
- Action – Now it’s time to take the insights gained from analysis and put them into action.
