Subject areaData and infrastructure
An insight is a new reading of customer or market behaviour, drawn from data, that changes a decision.
Data says what happens; an insight explains why it happens and what to do about it.
The difference matters because a report full of numbers may contain no insight at all. A metric becomes an insight when someone connects it to a cause and to an action: this is why the articles on the site talk about insights that come from customer sentiment, from community conversations or from social listening, and about moving beyond superficial metrics to derive meaningful insights.
Artificial intelligence produces analyses in bulk, but the insight remains an act of interpretation: it needs someone who knows the company's context and can tell a coincidence from a cause.
An example
A manufacturer of mechanical components notices that customers who request a quote in the evening sign more often than those who write in the morning. The insight is the reason: in the evening it is the owner who writes, and the owner decides alone. Hence the choice to answer those requests by the next day.
broader entriesthis entry and narrowertwo levels down← up · → down
Enrico Giubertoni. Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0: you may quote, translate and adapt this entry with the author’s name and a link, stating any changes. For commercial use, write to info@enricogiubertoni.com
Spotted an inaccuracy or something that needs updating? Write to info@enricogiubertoni.com and help make this glossary a better place.
What are your business challenges?
Tell us about your priorities and the objectives you want to reach.
You will receive a free, targeted answer within one working day.