The fact that small companies generate less data doesn’t mean big data initiatives should be set aside for them. From our big data services practice, we confirm that small companies are particularly capable of acting quickly on acquired data-driven insights.
However, when starting a big data initiative, you should remember that big data analysis will result in meaningful insights only if appropriate data sources are chosen. And the main concern of a small company is that their limited budget put some restraint on this selection process. To help you choose wisely, our consultants present three insightful internal and external data sources for you to consider.
CRM
CRM systems contain data gathered at each customer “touchpoint” – marketing, sales, and after-sales service. Integrated with various software (website, helpdesk, ecommerce, etc.), CRM becomes a solid foundation where the aggregated all-round customer data is stored. By analyzing this data, you can:
- Get a 360-degree customer view to deliver a more personalized experience. When you clearly understand your customer journeys across all channels, you can use every opportunity to convert inquiries into sales by enabling your customer-facing employees to make quick informed decisions.
- Modify your products/services or create new ones that meet customer needs better by analyzing customer complaints, requests for support and cases of returned products.
Your website
Website analytics plays a crucial role in improving your online presence and provides you with insights on how to meet the lead generation goal. With this data source, a big data solution can help you:
- Tailor your landing pages based on where your visitor traffic comes from.
- Improve customer journeys by understanding what affects customer behavior and optimizing your website to customer needs.
- Raise conversion rates through measuring and analyzing current conversion figures and identifying new conversion opportunities.
- Update your marketing campaigns by assessing their performance.
Though internal data sources are insightful, analyzing internal data only is not enough even for a small business. If you don’t use this opportunity, you miss out on revealing social trends and outperforming competitors. Social media channels contain a wealth of data that your existing and perspective customers share both intentionally and unintentionally. Social media analytics helps you:
- Run better influencer marketing and keep up with the trends in your business sphere by identifying customer sentiment.
- Generate a better strategy to drive your brand recognition through analyzing your clients’ feedback, which opens up an opportunity to convert your followers into customers.
See how small business uses data sources
According to IBM research, 62 % of retailers leverage big data analytics to keep ahead of the competition. Among them are small companies like BaubleBar and Emitations, which deploy big data analytics to stay on top of trends. By tracking customers’ characteristics (demographic, psychographic ones), analyzing their buying behavior and feedback, these accessories brands gain an in-depth insight into the popular choices of their customers. They compare this data with social trends in fashion to identify patterns and correlations that help design their offering and define their marketing strategy.
Be ready to go big data
The global business intelligence and big data analytics market is forecast to grow, making it hard to stay out – the opportunities of big data are tempting.
Are you ready to make the most of your big data? ScienceSoft can help you choose the most suitable option for your big data initiative, be it in-house implementation or outsourcing big data analytics.