U.S. Census records are valuable to taxpayers
and to the community because they help us understand the history of our
country and the issues that we're dealing with today. However, they're
also extremely valuable to businesses in nearly any industry.
Businesses use census records to do market research and to look for
opportunities according to their specific business plans. These
comprehensive records of population, family planning and much more give
companies and enterprises a unique insight into the American population
and many of their primary target audiences.Assessing Age, Gender and Demographics: Census Records for Target Audiences
In a very general sense, businesses can mine data from the U.S. Census records to look at where their customers are in terms of location and in terms of their share of the national population.The Columbus Metropolitan Library goes into how entrepreneurs and others identify target markets through the use of formal records. For example, the library site shows how using U.S. Census records can help a business to figure out who in a community shares certain demographics that will make them an accurate audience for a pitch or campaign. "Your product or service will be sold to a specific group of consumers with particular characteristics in common" by using records to learn about your market.
With suggestions on detailing household spending and other types of demographic data, the Columbus Metropolitan Library also includes the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other agencies as areas for this kind of critical research.
U.S. Census Records: Identifying Work Habits and Consumer Behaviors
Businesses can also drill down into the routines, schedules and habits of households by using more specific types of records such as "On the Map" reports or Quarterly Workforce Indicators, representing specific U.S. Census projects that take a sampling of a given population, going in-depth to show how a household works each day.Prior to 2011, the U.S. Census reported a budding project where field representatives, formally called enumerators, would do specific interview surveys of about 15,000 respondents to figure out average household spending on both large and small expenses. The project also includes a diary component where a selected number of households keep detailed records on purchases. All of this gets funneled into reports that can provide a lot of value for companies looking to do more thorough research about consumers. They can see how households think, whether they may be ready to splurge on bigger ticket items, and whether the local economic climate is right for a particular product or service rollout.
Blending Census Records into Business Data Assets
The idea of using U.S. Census records in business gets much more sophisticated when companies start looking at how to integrate this external data with internal data that they have already collected about customers or others. As the Internet allows more different kinds of digital access to information, other kinds of new business tools are offering more in-house data collecting capability. For instance, customer relationship management, or CRM, tools offer businesses new ways to compile histories of what customers and clients have purchased in the past, as well as fuller identity details and dashboards to present this data efficiently. CRM tools like Angel, Stride, or VCC designs offer the kind of comprehensive dashboard businesses can use to work smarter in a digital economy.Using CRM tools and other resources, along with Census Bureau records, presents a powerful ‘one-two punch’ for managing and utilizing data in ways that boost business success. For more on how businesses do this, see resources around Angel’s VCC (Virtual Call Center) suite: Angel also adds something called ‘CX’ or Customer Experience components, as an add-on idea. CX tools have to do with designing and directing the user’s experience with a company website or other IT system. Beyond this, the company uses other kinds of software tools to present metrics, demographics and more for live business operations.
All of this kind of business IT intelligence can be combined with a careful use of formal records, such as U.S. Census statistics.
Companies are also taking many different amounts of data and aggregating them in centralized data warehouse models. These are repositories of information that get mined by software and human workers to build more elaborate reports on customers and their activities. For example, banks are using detailed CDW assets to provide cross-indexing for customers, so that they can identify them across multiple accounts.
Throughout all of this relatively new world of business processes built on data and analytics, U.S. Census records continue to provide a solid basis for reviewing the demographic makeup and behavior of the American consumer. Businesses do this in many ways, but incorporating formal national records for federal agencies gives these activities a lot of fundamental basis in a ‘public record approach’ that really represents an objective look at where we are as a country.