Jennifer Belissent still remembers what the chief data officer of one of the largest banks in the U.S. told her when Forrester was conducting its Business Technographic Priorities & Journey Survey, 2020.

“He said, ‘With our own data, we can only look internally. We need to see industry benchmarks, regional trends, and what waves we can ride on,’” she recalled.

That comment struck the Forrester analyst because it summed up what she and her team were seeing in how the poll was playing out. Ultimately, they found that 85% of companies surveyed prioritized improving their use of data and insights. And through another study the research firm conducted, they discovered that 70% of global data and analytics decision-makers are expanding their ability to use external data.

“What’s clear is there’s this real desire—and need—to understand your customers and your own operations better than ever before,” Jennifer said last week during a Domo webinar. “So, increasingly, companies are asking themselves how they can take advantage of not just their own data, but other data that might be out there, as well.”

The webinar, which focused on this widespread move toward a greater degree of “data commercialization,” not only featured Jennifer, but two other experts on the power of secure information sharing: Chris Haleua and Dan Hendriksen, who help Domo customers leverage data to drive change inside and outside their organizations through the use of Domo’s dynamic, embedded analytics solution, Domo Everywhere.

If you missed the wide-ranging discussion, here are the top five insights from it.

1 – Data commercialization is for everyone

Given the volume of data that’s created every single minute nowadays, every company is a data company. And because data is currency, every company now has the opportunity to participate in this marketplace. That’s what data commercialization is all about.

“Data commercialization really translates the data team from what is often thought of as a cost center to a profit center—and a strategic asset to the rest of the organization,” Jennifer said.

You don’t have to be data-mature either.

“We work with a federal government’s tourism department that isn’t technical at all,” Dan said. “But it’s got a lot of data that is immensely valuable to all the local municipalities, such as where people are coming from, how many people are coming with them, the duration of their trip, and so on.

“So what the department has done is leverage Domo Publish (a product in the Domo Everywhere suite) to create hosted analytic environments that these municipalities can log into, which allows them to get a better sense as to what’s happening in their particular areas and adjust their strategies accordingly.”

2 – Sharing data/insights with your customers makes for ‘stickier’ relationships

Michelin Tire Care is a fleet tire monitoring program that offers a package called Fleet Fit, which provides fleet operators with data to maximize fleet uptime and control tire-related costs. Michelin loves it—but not because it’s a direct revenue generator.

“In a lot of cases, the manufacturer is advising its customers to replace their tires less frequently,” Jennifer said. “That seems counter-intuitive. But what it does for the customers is increase their trust in Michelin, because they’re receiving accurate information on when their tires need to be replaced.

“We call that ‘stickiness,’ because you’re further binding yourself to that customer by being transparent and giving them what they want.”

3 – To take your data to market, start with an ‘outside-in’ approach

While there’s enormous demand for external data, many companies don’t know how to go about supplying it. It doesn’t have to be that way, though.

“A great way to start with data monetization is to go find one customer today and ask them, ‘What more would you like to see?’” Chris said. 

In other words, don’t just guess at what the market needs. Do some discovery. And treat the process like a team sport.

“It’s sitting down together—or Zooming together—and exploring possibilities,” Jennifer said. “Find out what problems need to be solved. Identify use cases. And then go from there.”

4 – Insights are great, but data experiences are better

It’s one thing for, say, an e-commerce retailer to be able to give their customers some understanding of how their products are performing. But it’s another for that retailer to provide those brands with access to data, insights, and tools that enable them to easily change with the market and explore whole new lines of business.

Proof is in Forrester’s findings, which revealed that there’s a much faster time to value with data experiences that are rich in features, such as customizable dashboards, mobile alerts, and predictive forecasting.

5 – A good go-to-market plan is scalable

For any product or service to truly succeed, it must appeal to the masses. “Even if you start with one customer or partner,” Jennifer said, “you need to think about it with a broader architecture in mind.”

How do you develop such a framework? As with so many other parts to the data commercialization equation, the answer lies in asking questions.

“Recognize that, ‘Yes, we’re going to solve this problem for this one particular customer,’” Jennifer said, “but then ask yourself, ‘How can we design this product in a way where we could add another feature for another customer, and then another?’ That’s when you’ll really begin to see the waves you can ride with data commercialization.”

To get more of Jennifer’s, Chris’s and Dan’s thoughts on the power of data commercialization, watch the webinar on-demand. To see how companies are using Domo Everywhere to optimize their data commercialization efforts, click here.