According to statistics, there are 4.88 billion online users. They share social media content, purchase online, and interact with brands. Our every activity in the virtual world results in the creation of new data. Digital data never sleeps. Research studies found that every online user creates at least 1.7 MB of data every second.
Big data is the treasure trove of customer information. It allows small businesses to gain more granular insights into their audience’s habits, needs, and problems. That way, they can deliver more relevant and personalized user experiences.
In this article, we discuss how small businesses can get more from big data analytics.
Why Should Small Businesses Invest in Big Data?
The benefits of big data analytics for small businesses are numerous. Here are the most prominent ones.
Identifying Performance Problems
Big data analytics helps you understand why certain content types resonate with customers better than others. Or, why do users leave your website without purchasing? Most importantly, big data analytics applies to various segments of your business. Apart from sales and marketing, you can also identify potential performance issues in other business areas.
Enhanced User Experiences
Modern business intelligence tools analyze massive amounts of data to unveil customer behavior patterns, correlations, and the like. By knowing how they think, you can adapt your business accordingly.
That way, big data lets you personalize user experiences at every touchpoint and increase conversion rates.
Improving your Bottom Line
According to research studies, firms that use big data report a profit increase of 8% and a significant reduction in expenses.
Big data impacts SMB revenues on multiple levels. For example, it helps you understand the current market demands. By identifying the gaps in market needs, you can develop unique products that align with your customer base.
As mentioned above, big data helps you track customer behaviors and deliver individualized user experiences. Apart from increasing sales, this tactic also encourages brand advocacy and repeat purchases.
How to Leverage Big Data Analytics
Now that you understand the benefits of big data analytics, let’s see how to get the most out of it.
Harness the Power of your CRM Software
You can analyze big data in multiple ways.
One of them is your CRM software. It has a wide range of marketing, sales, and customer service tools. That way, it collects customer data from multiple locations and brings it together under a single platform. That is the opportunity to gather customers’ demographic data and learn about their pain points, interests, and service inquiries.
However, manually collecting customer information can be inefficient. That is why you should consider investing in a big data analytics tool. It uses machine learning to collect structured, semi-structured, and unstructured business information. Based on your goals, it cherry-picks what is most relevant to your company.
Some of these tools are:
- Zoho Analytics
- IBM Cloud Pak for Data
- Azure Data Lake Analytics
Invest in Data Consistency
Information consistency and accuracy are essential in the analytics process. Inconsistent and outdated data will not provide your employees with any helpful insights.
That is why you should invest in integration software that keeps the data coming from different channels into a central location.
You can use existing data integration tools like Talend, Data Sync by HubSpot, or Hevo Data. When choosing the big data tool, make sure it is user-friendly and matches your industry and business requirements.
Alternatively, consider investing in an in-house data integration solution that meets your SMB’s specific demands. According to the HTEC Group, digital transformation starts with extensive audits and a technology strategy. Only that way can you harness the power of software integrations and data.
Create Insightful Reports
Once you collect relevant business data, make sure you present it in a visually appealing way. Above all, ensure your reports are easily accessible by all employees.
While you can use PowerPoint presentations or Excel Sheets, remember that these tools are often inefficient. Fortunately, most business intelligence tools allow you to develop and customize your reports and dashboards.
Act on the Information You Collect
Once you collect insightful business data, do not let it sit idly on your PC. Instead, take action to improve users’ experiences with your brand.
For example, do you still send uniform email newsletters to all customers? Consider breaking your newsletter list down into narrower segments. That is where big data helps. You can segment lists based on customers’ location, gender, past purchases, and content interests. That is how you can make your emails more relevant and significantly improve email open rates and conversion rates.
Another example of the use of big data is content marketing. For instance, you can create dynamic website content that adapts to a customer’s geolocation, stage in the sales funnel, devices, or past purchases.
Conclusions
Big data analytics supercharge your small business in multiple ways, from boosting your revenue to improving customer experiences.
That is why you should approach data analytics strategically.
Based on your industry, customers, and business needs, make sure you focus on relevant business data. Most importantly, do not let the data collect dust – act on it to improve business performance.
short url:
