Big data is a massive opportunity for even the smallest business. And when you’re small, data can be the competitive edge that can help your company grow and scale to the size you want for your business. So, what is big data?
It’s the information footprint customers leave behind when interacting with the brand that gives you a glimpse into who they are. From necessary information about their background to their behaviour, big data allows you to align your decision-making with customers for maximum impact.
To know what else big data can do to boost your business, the understanding of the reasons behind it will help.
1. In-depth customer insight
Customer behaviour has changed drastically over the last few decades. Where consumer’s once-favoured value for money, in today’s market, greater emphasis is on the quality of goods and the customer experience. To succeed, you need to step into your customers' shoes and see things from their perspective. And big data helps with this.
First, big data can help you identify your target audience and critical buyer personas. It gives you insight into who is the right buyer, where they spend most of their time, and how they would like to interact with your brand.
For example, if you identify Millenials as your critical demographic, using social media to generate leads might work better than email marketing or your blog.
2. Smarter investments in marketing
When you know the location of your audience online, it’s much easier to target leads with the best chance of conversion. It maximizes the return on your investment, as you can direct most of your budget to a few specific channels that convert well.
But, an omnichannel approach still works best. Invest in channels that generate the most profit, as you use A/B testing to maximize your efforts elsewhere. If Facebook and Instagram convert best, invest 50% of your marketing budget there, and split the remaining 50% to other channels and their development.
It ensures the standard customer experience across all channels is high, regardless of the investment.
3. Personalizing the shopping experience
Big data helps you re-shape how customers shop on your websites. Gaining insight into important metrics gives you a better understanding of customer behaviour. You can use this knowledge to place ads on best-selling products, put products on the home page, change prices to fit your buyers’ pocket, or introduce add-ons which might work well across your website.
Moreover, it can also impact the choice of where you sell products online. You might think that the hidden costs of selling on Amazon are worth it, but if your audience doesn’t respond well, it’s not worth your efforts.
On the other hand, comments on your blog or social media showcase desire for peer-to-peer interaction and user-generated content. It might prompt you to add review graders on product pages and host regular events on Instagram or your blog.
Ready to tap into the power of big data?
Get started now, and switch to an all-in-one platform that gives you insight into your performance using big data analytics. With hundreds of functions, it allows you to access more information about your customers to make better business decisions.
Tags: small businesses, big data, in-depth, customers, footprint
