Take advantage of big data for your small business

 2017-06-17

Big data is a term which has been intimidating small businesses every since it was coined just a few years back. Hearing the term turns off the attention of small business owners almost immediately because for them, big data isn’t something that they should be concerning themselves with. That’s where most small businesses miss out.

Big data is no longer ‘big’ in the sense that it is only accessible for large corporations with limitless budgets. With everything now so affordable, especially the ability to use numerous helpful cloud-based applications, the access to big data and being able interpret it for a businesses advantage has never been easier.

Tools as simple as Google Trends and Google Analytics allow businesses of all sizes to measure customer behavior, interaction, ROI and many such factors which play a major role in overall business operations. It becomes much easier to really explore untapped business opportunities and take it to the next level.

Every social media interaction from a tweet, blog post, Facebook share or like and Instagram double-tap can be assessed, measured and used to track consumer behavior and emerging trends. Growing small businesses are undoubtedly using big data to their benefit and it’s time that others catch on. This could potentially be the answering in reversing the trend of 80% of small businesses failing to achieve their targets every year.

Keep It Real First

For businesses everywhere and of all types, it is key to maintain the human touch in their daily operations. Making consumers wanted and listening to their needs directly is the best way to ensure that customers become raving fans, rather than those who just look for who is giving the best deal.

Before small businesses get into the realm of big data, they need to optimize their human interaction and make sure the best level of service is being given to then shift the focus to analyzing big data.

Need Assessment to Maximize Benefit of Big Data

If small businesses don’t know what they are looking for, they will never find the answers regardless of using even the most advanced tools to analyze big data. It just does not work that way. If there is no direction set, all that data will just seem like more noise mixed in and end up spoiling any efforts made.

Small data analysis is key here. Take baby steps and building up slowly is how small businesses need to approach data and learning how to take advantage of it. Asking customers what it is that they are thinking and looking for first really does open many closed doors to valuable insights.

Cloud Based Tool Integration and Measurements

With access to everything now being in the cloud, there’s no way small businesses can stay left out. Everything is accessible at all times and from every device out there now. There’s just no reason anymore to stay left out.

Being able to get access to tools and data would normally cost thousands of dollars if history is considered even a decade ago.

Now, the ability to measure big data based on specific campaigns, objectives, goals and metrics is as simple as signing up for a SaaS (Software as a Service) and entering in information as simple as your website domain. Within seconds, small businesses can see where they are getting traffic from, which pages are being clicked the most and how many customers are being acquired.

Using big data is now so simple and so affordable. The time is ripe for small businesses everywhere to realize this fact and move towards an era of business going global in a matter of a few clicks.