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Best Individual Batting Seasons of the 2010s According to FanGraphs

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In the 21st century, baseball became more analytics-focused thanks to the advent of the internet and mathematicians determining what traits were more valuable for players. With that, new statistics were created thanks to websites and companies like FanGraphs. One statistic that has gained a lot of traction over the years is wins above replacement, or WAR, for short. FanGraphs uses a system to determine WAR, and some of the finest seasons for a batter in baseball history have come during the 2010s. A few, however, really stood out above the rest over the decade.

The Brilliance of Mike Trout

Of the 15 best individual seasons of the 2010s, Mike Trout was responsible for an amazing seven of them. The lowest of the bunch was Trout’s 2014 season when he put up an impressive 8.3 wins above replacement. He even outdid that season in 2019 despite playing in 23 fewer games. The most impressive feat for Trout, however, came in 2013.

It was then that Trout had the second-best season of the decade, posting a batting average of .323 with 27 home runs and 97 runs batted in. When you add in 33 stolen bases, terrific defense, and an on-base percentage of .432, it’s easy to see why Trout was considered to be the best player of the 2010s by a longshot. Sadly, despite his individual success, the Angels made just one postseason appearance in the decade and the team was swept by Kansas City in the American League Division Series.

No Triple Crown

Surprisingly, when Detroit Tiger Miguel Cabrera won the American League’s triple crown in 2012, his season wasn’t even top 30 of the decade in terms of WAR. Instead, it was the following season when he nearly repeated his triple crown performance that ranks highly, landing at number 11 in the decade.

Varied at the Back End

With Trout taking up four of the top 10 spots of the decade, there weren’t many spots left open, but nobody else had more than one season, making it a varied list of names. At the 10th spot is Josh Donaldson’s 2015 campaign with the Toronto Blue Jays when he mashed 41 home runs and hit for a .297 average en route to an MVP season.

Aaron Judge’s 2017 season was one to remember with 52 home runs for the Yankees, placing him in the ninth position. Trout’s 2015 then appears at eighth, but that same year, Bryce Harper was just a little bit better with the Nationals. That year, Harper hit an impressive .330 with 42 home runs to win the National League’s MVP award. Rounding out the bottom half of the top 10 was Jacoby Ellsbury’s 2011 season. Boosted by his stellar defense and power-hitting, Ellsbury finished second in MVP voting that year behind Justin Verlander.

Best Non-Trout Seasons

The top three batting seasons of the 2010s indeed feature Mike Trout, whose previously mentioned 2013 was his best. The third overall spot was taken by catcher Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants. Hitting .336 on the season with 24 home runs and 103 RBIs, Posey got a big boost from his impressive defense behind the dish to launch him to an MVP win.

The best batting season of the 2010s, though, belongs to Mookie Betts while he was a member of the Boston Red Sox. Winning the American League’s MVP award that year in a landslide, Betts collected 10.6 wins above replacement while batting .346 with 32 home runs. Though he had just 80 runs batted in, Betts crossed the plate a whopping 129 times and stole 30 bases. Add in a walk rate that was almost higher than his strikeout rate and you can see why this was the best season of the 2010s.

Fangraphs Best 2000s Hitters Shows Barry Bonds On Another Level

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The 1990s and heading into the 2000s were interesting times for baseball. Home run rates were through the roof, and it was later that the public found out that the likely biggest reason for that was the use of performance-enhancing drugs. This led to some of the most productive individual seasons in baseball history taking place in the early half of the decade.

If you take out the allegations or even confirmations that a player was using PEDs, the numbers for some of the performances are mind-boggling. Looking at the wins above replacement (WAR), there were 30 individual seasons where a player had a shocking 8.0 or higher. Let’s take a look back at the 2000s to see who had the best seasons.

It Was Bonds’s World

You probably could’ve guessed that Barry Bonds had some of the best seasons during the 2000s, but did you know that he had all four of the best seasons in the decade? He did all that while missing almost an entire season and then playing two injury-plagued seasons in his 40s, too. 2001 through 2004 were Bonds’s best seasons, with 2002 being his tops, and there were 19 games he didn’t even play in. In that season, Bonds blasted 46 home runs and batted in 110 runs while reaching base 58.2 percent of the time he came to the plate.

In second place is Bonds’s 2001 season in which he hit 73 home runs and 137 RBIs, so what made 2002 more valuable? The 2001 season saw Bonds strike out almost twice as much as 2002 with an on-base percentage nearly 70 points lower. Some might argue his 2004 campaign (which was the third best of the decade) was his personal best thanks to 45 home runs and an insane on-base percentage of .609. Of course, 2003 would round out the top four with another 45 home runs.

The Other Big Bopper

While Bonds was toward the end of his career when the 2000s came along, he was hitting better than he did at his peak. One player that was hitting their peak at this time was Alex Rodriguez, who holds five of the top nine individual seasons of the decade if you take out Barry Bonds. What’s even more impressive for A-Rod is that he did it with three different teams (Mariners, Rangers, Yankees).

From 2000 to 2007, Rodriguez put up performances that made him a hot commodity, which led to a record-breaking contract. The best season for A-Rod came in 2002 with Texas when he finished with a WAR of 10.0. In that year, he batted .300 with 57 home runs and 142 runs batted in. Rodriguez’s other amazing seasons included two with the Yankees (2005, 2007) one more with the Rangers (2003), and one with the Marienrs (2000).

The Best of the Rest

Bonds and A-Rod weren’t the only two having all of the fun in the 2000s. There were three other individual seasons that registered in the top 10, all of which came from different players. Coming in at ninth overall is the fourth member of the 700 home run club, Albert Pujols, back when he was just 23 years old in 2003. That year, Pujols hit a career-high .359 at the plate with 43 home runs and 124 RBIs.

At seventh overall was Adrian Beltre in 2004, his final season with the Dodgers. Somehow, Beltre didn’t even make the All Star Game that year despite a .334 average, 48 home runs, and 121 RBIs. The top non-Bonds or Rodriguez season, though, belonged to Sammy Sosa in 2001. While still a member of the Cubs, Sosa knocked in 160 runs (more than anyone else in the decade) and was propelled by 64 home runs.

Big Blue Boss: Brian Daboll’s Path to Coaching the New York Giants

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In the NFL, teams are often rolling the dice when looking for a new head coach by giving someone a chance that has never been a head coach in the league before. Between 1983 and 2015, though, the New York Giants were never led by someone with zero prior head coaching experience at any level. That changed with the hiring of Ben McAdoo in 2016, but he was relieved of his duties the following year. Nearly five years later, the Giants named another head coach with no prior experience at the position when they announced that Brian Daboll would be the franchise’s 22nd head coach.

Daboll seemed to come out of nowhere leading up to his hiring, too. How did he go from relative unknown to leading one of the biggest sports franchises in the United States? Well, first you have to look outside of the country. Daboll was actually born in Canada (Welland, Ontario), making him the second NFL head coach from the country. Daboll was raised just outside of Buffalo, though, becoming familiar with football at a young age.

After attending the University of Rochester where he played the sport, Daboll’s coaching career got started at the college ranks when he was with both William & Mary and Michigan State University to round out the 1990s. In 2000, the New England Patriots hired the now legendary Bill Belichick, and Daboll was part of his inaugural staff as an assistant.

Daboll was promoted to the position of wide receivers coach for several years before taking on the quarterbacks coach job with the rival New York Jets for two years. Finally, Daboll got a big break when he joined the ranks of offensive coordinators in the NFL. He was first with the Cleveland Browns for two seasons before taking the same position with the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs for one season each.

Unfortunately, Daboll’s offenses struggled and changes in head coaching regimes caused him to return to familiar territory. Daboll took a demotion in his return to the Patriots, this time as the tight ends coach. After racking up two more Super Bowl wins, Daboll got back into being an offensive coordinator, this time returning to college with Alabama for one season where the Crimson Tide won a national championship.

In 2018, Daboll returned home to Buffalo where he would finally start getting recognition as a potential NFL head coach. Daboll took the Bills’ offensive coordinator position and was given a project quarterback in the form of Josh Allen. After some growing pains in their first season together, Daboll and Allen found success, with the Bills becoming one of the league’s elite teams.

Following the success of Buffalo’s 2021 season in which they almost reached the Super Bowl, several teams wanted to speak with Daboll about him potentially becoming their new head coach, including the Chargers and Jets. However, it was the New York Giants that interviewed him on January 21, 2022, and announced that he was going to be the team’s head coach exactly one week later.

There were a lot of ups and downs along the way for Daboll in his coaching career. Things looked rather bleak for Daboll’s career after departing from three franchises in three years. During those three years, all three of the head coaches he worked for were fired when the teams had a collective record of 13 wins and 35 losses.

Daboll has learned a lot along the way, as highlighted by Giants general manager Joe Schoen pointed out. “Brian’s ability to develop young players, his leadership qualities, his football acumen, his communication skills, and his ability to bring an organization together were all traits that really stood out,” Schoen said.

The History of Akinator

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Growing up, many of us played the game 20 Questions where you had to guess what something or someone was based only on asking yes or no questions. When playing with another person, they could make it almost impossible to guess the correct answer because they picked a subject that was incredibly obscure. With the advances in technology, specifically artificial intelligence, you can play 20 Questions with a bot and it’s probably going to get the answer right every time.

At this point, you may already be familiar with the Akinator app and website. Akinator, a genie-like character, first asks whether you’re going to be thinking up a character, object, or animal. From there, the questions get more specific until Akinator guesses precisely what you were thinking of. The accuracy of the AI is beyond impressive, with a success rate of over 99 percent.

Akinator has been around possibly longer than you thought, with its initial release coming back in 2007. The AI was designed by a tech company called Elokence, a French-based operation with only a handful of employees. In their own words, Elokence “develops and markets intelligent services to man-machine dialogue allowing access to complex information databases through natural language to make them intelligible to users with diverse levels of knowledge.”

From Spongebob Squarepants to God, Akinator seems to be able to know every person to ever exist, both real and fictional. No matter how popular or obscure the subject is, Akinator is likely to guess it right, even all the way down to your personal alter-ego. Many want to know how Akinator works and how it was developed, but Elokence has been rather quiet about the inner workings of Akinator.

On the official website, Elokence says that two friends named Arnaud and Jeff were camelback riding through Egypt when they stumbled upon a genie’s lamp, and thus Akinator followed them to France when they couldn’t stump him. We’ll go ahead and chalk this up as a teensy bit of an embellishment.

The real story is that Elokence, which really was just a couple of people at the time, set out to use the information and communications technology for laboratory research. They did this by using a program they developed called Limule. Elokence found that the same AI could be used for entertainment purposes and Akinator was the public’s first taste of the algorithm. What exactly Limule contains and how it operates, though, is “our little secret” according to Elokence.

Ever since Akinator was first introduced, the public has helped to make the algorithm much stronger by introducing questions for the AI to ask and adding potential answers. Even YouTubers with just a couple hundred subscribers are included in Akinator’s knowledge database, so stumping him has become more difficult by the day.

Akinator has become one of the most popular apps around the world, thanks in large part to its ability to be able to communicate in more than a dozen languages. This includes English, French, Spanish, Japanese, and many more. Between word of mouth and great reviews from critics and users alike, Akinator exploded in popularity after being around for a few years and has become a staple of the internet ever since.

Akinator has become so popular over the years that it can even be enabled on Amazon Alexa devices. So when you have friends and family over and you’re looking for a quick and fun game, you can all take turns trying to stump some of the smartest AI in the world. If you’re able to be one of the lucky ones to stump Akinator, he’ll ask you to add what you were thinking of to the database to make him even more capable of getting the right answers in the future.

FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT): How To Win

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There’s a lot of excitement when you finally get the FIFA Ultimate Team that you want with all of the players that you’ve been working so hard for throughout the entire season. Then, like clockwork, the new FIFA is released and you have to start your team over again from scratch. It can be a little disheartening, especially as fewer and fewer people play the previous year’s release, essentially forcing you to move into the newest version. It doesn’t mean that it has to be a hassle, though. You can still win matches and build your ultimate team quickly by following the right steps.

Inevitably, you’ll run into some teams that have a boatload of talent when playing online. Due to EA Sports releasing packs that can be purchased with real money, those that don’t want to pay extra are already at a disadvantage. Still, having good players on a squad doesn’t make the person controlling them any better than you. It’s all about playing to your strengths and the opponent’s weaknesses. 

The first thing that you’ll want to do is assemble a squad that’s at least capable of scoring goals and keeping you competitive against higher competition. Early on in the season, gold players will become easily obtainable. While these aren’t superstar cards that have 99 ratings across the board, they can still get the job done. Focus on the objectives each day and you’ll have a formidable squad in no time.

The other main aspect of building your team is to make sure that there’s good chemistry amongst your players. Good chemistry means that the players get a boost to their attributes, so even an 80 overall card can play like an 83 if the chemistry is right. EA has introduced these types of rating boosters through all of their sports games so that the focus is on building a team that gels instead of just superstar names thrown together and completely out of their real-life positions. You wouldn’t want Cristiano Ronaldo playing goalkeeper in real life, would you?

Before hopping online, get some practice in against the computer. Game modes such as Moments and Squad Battles can get you ready for the fiercest competition, especially when playing on the highest difficulty. By doing this, you’re also getting a lot more rewards that can make your squad that much stronger. 

With your squad assembled, it’s time to get onto the pitch in an online match. More than anything, you’ll want to be extremely patient when playing an online match. It’s tempting to try and score a quick goal in hopes of getting your opponent to quit, but bad things can happen if you don’t net that goal. Sprinting toward balls in the open field will drain your stamina and make goal-scoring opportunities harder to come by later in the match.

Sprinting also takes away from your dribbling ability, so it’s best to focus on working your way around a defender rather than blowing by them with speed. The other biggest aspect is all about positioning. Too often, players online will get out of position defensively to chase a pass, leading to an open look. With that in mind, keep the ball moving with passes to try and get your opponent to leave their zone throughout the match.

Instead of trying to sprint in straight lines, be very meticulous about each movement your players make. This saves a lot of energy, and if you give a goal early on that doesn’t mean you should quit. Continue to play the matches in which you’re trailing, and you can still prevail simply by having more energy left over in the second half than your opponent. Take all of these tips with you, and you should start seeing the number in the win column increase drastically.

The History of 2048

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There are a lot of popular game apps that have come and gone over the years, while only a few break from being just a flavor of the month and becoming a mainstay on phones around the world. Among those that achieved quick popularity and have held onto it ever since is “2048”, a game that was released in March of 2014 and became an overnight success. With tens of thousands of players each day, “2048” stimulates your brain by sliding numbered tiles together to achieve a summation of “2048”.

“2048” was developed by Italian developer Gabriele Cirulli while using JavaScript and CSS, and within two months was all over the app stores for both Android and iOS. While most would think that it takes months to develop software like that, Cirulli actually did it in just one weekend as a way to kill some time.

When “2048” was made, Cirulli had just graduated high school the year before and was toying around with web development and doing freelance work instead of going to college. Within weeks of its mobile app release, millions of people were trying their hand at getting to the coveted 2048 total. However, of the first 100 million games of “2048” that were played, only one percent of those people were able to win.

The popularity of “2048” was very similar to that of “Flappy Bird” which came out around the same time. “Flappy Bird” was the game that everyone was trying to break their own high score in, but the app was taken off of mobile stores after its creator didn’t want much to do with it anymore. “2048” has remained, however, with many still coming back each day to try their hand at finally reaching the mountaintop.

For Cirulli, he didn’t foresee his weekend project becoming a global phenomenon. “I really didn’t think about it becoming as successful as it is,” he said. The game is based on the similar “1024”, which Cirulli expanded upon with his more popular version. “I really liked 1024, but I felt like the pace was a bit slow,” he said. “And that was one of the reasons why I built 2048.”

Part of the reason that “2048” became public was that the core idea had already been done, with the “1024” developers being a bit irked that the newer game was more popular. “I didn’t feel good about keeping it private, since it was heavily based off of someone else’s work,” Cirulli said. “Once I was done with the game, I published it on GitHub Pages.”

Cirulli wasn’t looking to use “2048” as a ‘get rich quick scheme,’ either. Instead of advertisements, Cirulli placed a donation link on the app and received a few hundred dollars at the height of the game’s popularity. What was more important to him, though, was that potential career prospects started pouring in for the then-teenager.

“I have received a few important job offers in Italy and abroad,” Cirulli said. “I am either going to pursue my own project, which will not be game related. I was never really in the game industry.” Since then, Cirulli has taken on a role as a designer and developer for 1Password which safely keeps all of a user’s passwords in one location so that they don’t have to be remembered or written down.

Cirulli has also worked on projects that include Plantie which allows users to manage their plants, as well as Budge, a budgeting app that provides real-time analysis and data. Due to his disinterest in the game development world, it’s unlikely that we’ll see a true successor to “2048”, at least from Cirulli. Still, he has given us a game that will live on forever as we try to reach that elusive total.

How To Get Better At Scrabble – Without Needing To Cheat

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There are a lot of games that withstand the test of time, and Scrabble is certainly one of them. From the classic board game to digital versions, Scrabble is a staple of the game world with thousands of clubs spread over 100 countries. Even Scrabble GO, the online version, had more than 2.5 million people playing at its peak every day. There’s one big question that everyone has when playing Scrabble, though: How do I get better?

Due to the anonymity of playing online, your opponent can’t see that you’re cheating if you decide to go that route. If you want to do things the old-fashioned way and simply hone your skills, there are some tips for doing just that. Some of the top players in the world have suggested ways to improve your score by up to 50 points per game, and it might be easier than you think.

One tip that many people might not consider is the use of the two-letter word. With over 100 of them in the Scrabble dictionary, two-letter words can help you branch off into double or triple letter/word spaces easily. For example, let’s say there’s a triple letter score hanging just above an ‘A’ tile. If you were to put a ‘Z’ in that space, you’re getting big points and can make a word around the ‘Z’ to juice it up even more.

The next tip is to not play the same people over and over. This is where online play becomes a huge bonus since you can play anonymous people from around the world and learn different styles and words. Even in losses, you can learn a lot about how to play Scrabble. If you can, try to take on some of the highest competition available and make mental notes throughout the game to use for your next match.

The best players in the world all make use of the bonus spaces. Even if you’re not maximizing your points when using them, you’re still preventing your opponent from possibly getting a triple-digit score for one word. Just like in sports, defense is just as important as any offensive attack. If you can run parallel words and eat up those bonus spaces at the same time, you’ll be in ultimate control over your opponent as they scramble to find anywhere to put their tiles.

If you can’t find someone to play against online, you can always just take on the computer. To really get some tips on how to improve your skill to the highest level, crank up the difficulty and find words and placements that you never would’ve imagined. It makes it a lot easier to lose, too, knowing that you’re being defeated by an AI designed to play Scrabble rather than someone that can trash talk you for not knowing that “Pfft” was an acceptable Scrabble word.

Lastly, you have to know what tiles you have in your rack. If you have a blank tile, hang on to it for as long as you can, especially if one of those coveted triple-word spaces becomes available. That tile, while blank tiles might not be worth anything themselves, they can help to form a word that seals a victory for you. For tiles that have higher point values, try to unload them as quickly as you can. If you have a couple of them in your rack when the game ends, it can go from what seemed like a 10-point win to a 20-point loss in a hurry.

With these tips in mind, you can start to boost your average Scrabble score almost immediately. You don’t have to memorize the Scrabble dictionary to be a top player, you just have to know the intricacies of the game itself to really stand out.

The Insider’s Guide: 5 Ways to Get to Know the Real Morocco

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If Morocco represents the kind of exotic travel you’ve always dreamed of, your dilemma may be deciding on how best to spend limited time in a country that is so diverse. Morocco is vast and distinctive, from the Atlas Mountains to the Sahara Desert, from the magical blue town of Chefchaouen to the fishing village of Essaouira, which has become a modern surfing destination. What is the “real” Morocco? Here are five suggestions.

Dine with a Berber Family

Some Berber mountain villages welcome visitors and it’s possible to visit a family for mint tea, a simple meal, or even an overnight homestay. An ideal way to experience the unique culture of indigenous Moroccans, such visits are included in some tours. If you plan to be near Tagounite Village at the edge of the Sahara desert, inquire about visiting a Berber home at Draa Oasis.  

Visit the tanneries in Fez

Take your pick from three major tanneries in the city — all of them manually strip the hair from animal hides and dye them with color created from natural pigments, the way it’s been done for centuries. It’s “pungent,” done with natural ammonia (from pigeon poo), but tannery visitors are supplied with sprigs of mint to help temper the stench. Mint is used to produce green dye as well. The red comes from poppies, the blue from indigo, and saffron creates the rich yellow. Marvel at the colorful array from your vantage point on nearby rooftops. 

Experience a Hammam

This is a cultural experience, not simply an invigorating soak and massage for tired muscles. The cleansing and rejuvenating ritual has its roots in an era when private plumbing was unavailable, and both men and women went to public baths. It’s a pampering experience that no visitor should miss, whether you go solo, with a partner, or with a group of friends. Enjoy a steam bath, hot and cold plunges, skin exfoliation, therapeutic argan oil massage, or a rejuvenating full-body clay treatment, and emerge relaxed and refreshed. 

Roses — in Morocco?

You bet, the Kelaat M’Gouna Rose Festival is unique to Morocco, held for two days on the second weekend in May. At other times of the year, the valley is worth a visit to see its palm trees, clay homes, and traditional mosques, all with the backdrop of the Atlas Mountains. The scenery is breathtaking and, if you’re lucky enough to visit when the roses are in bloom, you’ll never forget the scent — or the sight — of the spectacular pink flowers that are used both in Moroccan cuisine and for world-renowned lotions and cosmetics.

Make Time for a Prayer

The Hassan II Mosque, on the Atlantic seawall in Casablanca, the largest in Africa, has a striking minaret stands 690 feet tall, and is fitted with a laser beam directed toward Mecca. Remnants of other mosques, including the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalen, the Grand Mosque of Damascus and the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakesh were used in its construction.

Finally, try to spend at least part of a night stargazing, whether from a peak in the Atlas range, or from the desert dunes. The stars above Morocco just seem to be closer and brighter than most other places on earth. Study the constellations beforehand so that you can recognize them! It’s an experience you won’t soon forget, and it’s worth missing out on sleep!

The Culture Guide: 5 Things You Should Not Do When Visiting Italy

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Oh, beautiful Italy, home to magnificent Florence, Rome, and the Tyrolean Alps. It’s a sight to behold and the home of beautiful villages, lakes, islands, and Mediterranean beaches. Italy also has some of the craziest drivers you’ve ever seen that take pride in their Ferraris and Turbo Fiats.

Italians are proud of their culture, which is often very dysfunctional, engaging, and sometimes challenging. A few things shouldn’t be done when visiting Italy, and we’re here to clue you in.

Never Commit the Ultimate Sin; Cheese on Pasta with Fish

Throughout history, numerous Italian leaders have been exiled from the country. Italians may change their governments as frequently as most of us change our pants, but they’ll want to exile you too if you put cheese on top of pasta that includes seafood. This is a culture that touts the wonderful flavor of its food and takes the greatest of pains to ensure every bite is an experience. The chef wants to know that you found the food amazing, not committed something tantamount to the ultimate food sin of covering the flavor of the fish with cheese.

Don’t Wear Shorts to a Church

The artwork in Italian churches is legendary. Walking into the Duomo in Florence, you see some of Michaelangelos’ most marvelous masterpieces. As the origination country of the church, Italians truly value their Catholic tradition, and it is important to respect it.

Jeans are acceptable but don’t wear shorts, tank tops, or flip-flops into these hallowed places if your wish to be respectful.

Don’t Plan on the Trains Being on Time

In northern European countries, trains always run on time; that is rarely the case in southern Europe. A more relaxed approach to life results in trains that can be epically late. In fact, don’t expect punctuality at all. Many shops and restaurants will close at lunchtime when Italians slowly savor their flavorful food.

Do Not Expect English to be Spoken

Almost everyone is fluent in English in Germany, as it is a compulsory subject in German schools. This is not the case in Italy, English is not widely spoken, and Italians don’t really have no desire to do so. Thankfully modern smartphone apps are available to help.

Whatever you do, please don’t yell English words. Yelling doesn’t make them any more effective or translatable.

Don’t Cut Your Spaghetti, Ever

Yes, there is pasta etiquette, and an Italian never wants to see their famous noodles end up in pieces. You will see looks of pure terror. The proper method is to roll your spaghetti around your fork with the assistance of the plate. By doing so, the essence of this dish is fully respected.

Don’t let these tips scare you away from Italy, though. It is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, filled with incredible, iconic art, amazing views, fashion, historical places, and tasty food. It’s magical and a little crazy all at once, making for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, which is also why you’ll find yourself returning again and again.

5 Ways to Transform Your Business Using Data

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Data is everywhere. It’s more than any business could ever process. It’s customer reviews, social media analytics, purchase history, page visits, productivity, and more. 

So forget about the overwhelming enormity of it for a minute. Instead, get hyper-focused on how they can actually use that data now to transform your business in real and tangible way. 

Here are 5 great places to start.

1. Business Intelligence, Not Just Data

It’s easy for business leaders to spread themselves too thin, reducing their effectiveness — especially when it comes to data analytics.

Given just how much data is out there, you’ll need to focus your efforts to see the greatest return on investment. Business intelligence is more than just collecting a lot of data.

It uses technology to narrow your focus to what’s important and helps you get a comprehensive view of performance. Harness an overwhelming amount of data quickly and efficiently so that it becomes more useful. Make more data-driven decisions because you always have up-to-date and useable information. 

For example, simple data collection can tell you how much revenue you generated in the third quarter. But business intelligence leverages the power of technology to analyze many data points. It helps you understand:

  • Why revenues rose/fell
  • Where they’re coming from
  • What you’re doing to affect them
  • How you can consistently repeat the desired result
  • How you can cut costs while doing it

Business intelligence data is not acquired through a specific type of tool. Rather, it’s a feature to look for in a great data analytics platform across industries and departments. Don’t just look for the tool that collects the most data. You can always collect more data. 

Rather, choose analytics tools that present data to you in a useful way.

2. Better Customer Targeting

For most businesses, somewhere around 50-75% of the target customers’ journey happens online. That’s great for your business. 

You can track most of what customers do online, within reason.

Don’t be a stalker. 

You can’t see everything. But you can use what you can to better understand who your ideal customers are.

  • What drives their decision-making? 
  • How do they find you?
  • What do they need from you?
  • How do they respond to your efforts?
  • What keeps them coming back?

Knowledge is power. Now, take what you learned to influence what they do. 

The real power is in collecting first-party data through your own customer relationship management software (CRM) such as HubSpot or Salesforce.

3. Cutting Costs Through Efficiency

Data analytics can help you streamline operations in every department. Identify where you’re wasting money. Then use that same data to narrow down the cause and start applying strategies to eliminate that waste.

Not only is this good for business. Employees and customers suffer in inefficient businesses. Businesses that overlook ineffective people, tech, and processes will lose customers and employees.

Enterprise resource planning tools (ERP) help you track, streamline operations, and cut wasteful resource usage related to:

  • Quality issues (internally and with vendors)
  • Productivity loss
  • Inefficient processes that should be automated or revised
  • Overspending on raw materials

4. Enhancing Customer Service

Data gives you a window into how well your customer service team is addressing customer complaints and questions.

See how these influence their future buying decisions and revenues. Gain insights into how you can generate more delighted customers. 

As an example, use data to identify your customer’s most common questions. Then build chatbots to answer those questions and free up your people to manage more advanced issues.

Not only are customers getting their answers without having to wait for a customer service rep. Customer care gets to stop answering the same obnoxious questions over and over.

Your CRM centralizes data across departments and helps you view the customer’s whole brand journey. Explore its customer experience enhancement features and put them to work to transform that brand experience.

5. Protecting Sensitive Data

Data can help you track who’s accessing private data and how they’re using it. Machine learning — a type of data analytics — can learn from the data it collects. It can spot nefarious activity more quickly, notify you, and even address the situation on its own with automation.

Network Security Monitoring tools and vulnerability scanning technology can help you begin to capture and track this data.