Building a Database and Why It Matters for Marketing
In 2017, there is a massive amount of digital data collected, and it has greater importance for companies than ever before. For many businesses, data, particularly digital data, is already an essential part of daily operations. The issue with data is it can be difficult to utilize the information distilled from raw data. A database to collect, organize, verify, and store digital data is important for any business. Data isn’t just about having more facts and figures, but optimizing what you learn from those facts and figures to make better decisions.
Companies that understand the power of data are invested in turning information into knowledge, and knowledge into a cohesive strategy. For the cutting edge companies out there, the age of digital data is a massive shift in manager behavior, marketing techniques, and sales strategies. Unsurprisingly in the age of the Internet, this process begins with programming.
What Does a Database Programmer Do?
A programmer is responsible for determining the structure of a database. Structure is often dependent upon the amount of information a company wants to capture, organize, and eventually, analyze. What’s most efficient for a few thousand data entries or records, could be a catastrophe for a hundred thousand records or two million records. It is a programmer’s primary job to determine the best structure for a given project based on quantity and efficiency. Part of structure can be the design. A developer will create the tables that constitute the database, or in the syntax used by programmers and web developers, they define the relations between records.
Once built, a database developer should monitor performance. A database is actually a set of processes, and at times the overall structure is correct, but a specific process is not. When an individual process is inaccurate, it lowers performance. A programmer must set the right functions to handle specific queries and organization of data entries or records. This is a skill learned over time and specific to database programmers.
The responsibility to maintain the integrity of collected information also falls to a developer. There are two main threats to data. The first is attrition and the second is theft.
- As to the first, it is necessary that data is organized and accessible. However, a database is constantly collecting new information that could be more relevant. This new information must seamlessly replace the less pertinent information, without the company losing insight on trends or patterns.
- Second, the threat of a security breach looms over database programmers, particularly in light of recent ransomware cyber attacks. The threat of loss or attrition of information is the much more likely to interfere with a database. Every adjustment to functions, procedures, or trigger events, can alter other aspects of data collection and organization. Any refactor must be done without compromising the other records held within a database.
Benefits of Working with a Great Database Developer
Working with great database programmers, such as the team at Nixa, can keep you organized. Instead of sifting through piles of digital information, you can read reports or forms. Of course, where there is improved organizational, efficiency will follow. Decision making is faster and smoother when the right structures are in place.
Additionally, organized information can also reveal facts and circumstances that were previously unknown. It can be difficult for humans to see patterns or repetition within a large data set, but a database handles the complicated organization. This could improve more than just efficiency at your company. Once properly organized, marketers can use data to build strategies based on a comprehensive perspective. For example, it is easier to tap into the mindset of a customer when you have patterns of customer behavior and better insight into why customers made specific decisions.
A clean database also allows humans to analyze more information than ever before. The rise of digital information has exponentially increased the amount of data that exists. It is impossible for all of this digital data to be collected and synthesized, even with the assistance of excellent programming, but a database helps humans prioritize the most important information.
Lastly, the right database will save merchants and marketers money and cut costs. Companies can utilize the information to employ marketing campaigns in a specific geographic area, cut campaigns that do not drive revenue, and build a strategy that actually hits a target audience. It is possible to build a smaller and more specific strategy because you have more certainty regarding potential customers, their habits, and where they are located.
Partnering with the Right Developer
If you want to harness the organizational power of a database, it is necessary to work with the right programming partner. It takes experience and thought for a database developer to create the right database for a particular business. Everything from design, to appropriate maintenance and functionality will make a difference in a company’s ability to collect and store data.
The programmers at Nixa will take care to learn about a company and its specific needs. Our database programmers have experience working across multiple industries and developing a tool that truly assists your business. Visit our website at www.nixa.ca to learn more.