Print   RSS

Using Data Analytics Can Boost Your Small Business

Joyce Morse

December 07, 2015

If you want your small business to succeed, you have to know what works and what doesn't.

Whether it's marketing, operations or other aspects of the business, data analytics plays a key role in determining where to spend your efforts and money.

Recognize the Value

Utilizing data analytics requires that you first recognize the value of data for your business. That value will be different for each small business based on what they want to accomplish.

As the article, “Ready, Set, Data Analytics! Are You Ready?” says marketing with data involves a shift in your views by valuing the data you have and what it will do for you.

What this means is that you must know what you want to do with data, so you will know which data is important and how to store it and organize it.

It often begins with remembering the core principles of your business and the marketing goals of the company.

Know What Drives People to You

No matter what tools you use, the goal of every kind of analytics is to find out what makes people come to you.

Why do they visit your website? What keywords brought them to your site? Maybe potential customers are looking for information before they are ready to make a purchase or contact you.

You may discover that people visit review sites like Yelp before they check out your site. Armed with this information, you'll focus more on increasing your positive reviews.

Once you know what path people take to find your site, you'll be better prepared to improve the amount of traffic and the experience once people land on your site.

Don't Forget Offline

If you have a physical location, remember that not everything happens online.

You have to dissect your data to see how much of your sales comes from online marketing and how much is garnered from offline promotions.

Just line online marketing can drive people to visit your location, offline ads can let people know about your online presence.

For instance, a car dealership might use YouTube videos to tell people about their new arrivals. They could promote their YouTube channel on billboards, brochures and other print materials.

Customers want information about vehicle choices before they are willing to commit to buy, and the dealership that provides this resource will be in the forefront of their minds when they are ready to make a purchase.

Make Necessary Changes

As you review your analytics, you can see which avenues are performing well and which ones need altered or forgotten.

For example, the car dealership may learn that the YouTube channel is bringing in a lot of users who ask for more information while the blog isn't seeing traffic that converts.

Data analytics can help you make the right decisions to ensure your business continues to be relevant and reach your target audience.

No matter what industry you're in or how small your company is, take advantage of this resource and see the results.

 Feedback   Submit Article