The Ultimate Guide on How to Monetize Data in 2023 and Beyond

The market of data is getting bigger with every passing moment. With advancements in technologies, Big Data and Data Science have become ever more critical for companies. The report Data Monetization- Global Market Trajectory & Analytics 2022¹ states that the data monetization market is drastically growing and is estimated to reach $4.1 billion by 2026.

Every organization is trying to stay afloat in this competitive business environment. These organizations are emerging from almost all sectors, including retail, financial, educational, etc. The majority of these companies tend to collect essential data on users and their activities. The security departments in these companies work on giving maximum protection to the collected data and preventing unwanted third-party access to it.

It is essential to evolve your data strategy according to the trends that surround the business

The data landscape is rapidly changing in different ways. If you have a business and you want to monetize your data, you need to evolve your data strategy according to the trends that surround the business. The drivers of change in the modern-day world include:

● The changing regulations, policies, and external factors

● The shift to new ways of work and the changing customer expectations

● The new technology innovations and the new ways of working

● Your data monetization strategy should be based on four pillars.

● Your data monetization strategy should be built on four pillars: vision, people, technology, and data.

Vision: You need to clearly envision what you want to achieve with your data monetization efforts. The vision should align with your overall business goals. It could be as specific as increasing revenue by 30% or something more generic like improving the customer experience. Whatever it is, make sure it is measurable and achievable within a specific time frame.

People: Your organization needs to have the right people to successfully execute your data monetization strategy. These should include stakeholders from different business units and geographies who can help you drive the internal adoption of this initiative across your organization. Consider hiring external experts if needed to ensure success and accelerate time-to-market for your products/services that leverage consumer data insights and analytics.

Technology: You need the right technology stack to support your effort in making sense of consumer data and transforming it into actionable insights critical for your business growth in 2022-23. This means building an ecosystem capable of capturing, processing, analyzing, and acting on consumer data in real-time effectively across multiple channels (mobile apps, web, etc.). If you do not want to build everything from scratch, consider partnering with a data platform company that has deep expertise in this field. Platforms like Google Cloud Platform or Amazon Web Services (AWS), etc., can help you get started quickly without spending too much money upfront on resources or infrastructure costs.

It is crucial to create an ecosystem that supports your data monetization strategy

So, you want to start a company that profits by gathering and monetizing data? Too right. If you are just getting started, it will probably take a while to get the necessary skills and technology in place. However, that does not have to be the end of your journey. Once you have built your business and have the knowledge needed for its success, it is time to consider how it is structured.

With all that said, what kind of business is the best fit for data monetization? The answer is an ecosystem, an integrated group of businesses with physical proximity and shared synergy. Think about this as a giant circle with lots of dots (in this example: Amazon) connected by lines (a network). Both Amazon Web Services (Amazon) and AWS Lambda are pieces of this circle—they help you build out your ecosystem by providing software tools to manage, process, analyze, distribute or accelerate your data.

On top of that—and this is critical—not every company can or should go down the same road; each needs a different set of skills and technologies to succeed at data monetization. Remember: You need both people with technological know-how as well as those who can acquire and manage people who have those skills.

It would help if you had the proper governance in your organization for a successful data monetization journey.

To have a successful data monetization journey, you need to get your organization's internal structure ready. Data governance is a critical element of this process.

If you are serious about data monetization, you need to have the proper governance in your organization. You might already have the right people and processes in place, but if you do not have a data governance council that defines the policies and standards for usage of data, then you are likely headed for trouble. For instance, you might want to sell your customer data but do not know how much of it can be shared with other organizations without compromising your customer's trust or privacy. In such situations, having a solid governance mechanism will help you make decisions faster.

You can monetize your data and get value for it, but you need to follow specific steps

To truly leverage the benefits of your data, you need to follow specific steps.

You first need to know what data you have, identify the value of that data, and then figure out to whom to sell it. After identifying the potential buyer, you need to determine the best method for selling your data and how much it is worth.

To begin with, knowing what type of information or data a business has and how it helps them derive value from their customer. For example, suppose an eCommerce company wants to sell its customer's data instead of using the same for advertising purposes. Apart from looking at their demographics, they will also look at their transaction history. It will give them more information about the customer, like what they have purchased before, what was their average order value and frequency, etc.

There is some data on this "right business strategy" that we have found, so hopefully, you will find some of it helpful. Consider bitcoin firms, where merchants can see their prices in real-time and change them without waiting, increasing speed and order turnaround. The value here is enormous, but it comes from the ability for customers to buy products with bitcoins — not about the reams of data collected by bitcoin companies. Thus far, blockchain experts seem reluctant to post data about how it is used by existing companies with multiple products and customers. Also, who knows if any of these new blockchain apps will even last? Everyone wants something that can significantly work into their current business model, mainly because we might want to copy what another company does by thinking that their customers/revenue sources are similar to ours. So competition tests how well your company's strategy will provide something that they "need." A good strategy includes a healthy balance between marketing/partnership/data mining.