In today’s day and age, “big data” is all the rage.
With spending on big data technology set to reach $57 billion this year, there’s no reason to believe that this is nothing more than a trend. Big data is here to stay.
As a small business, you may be unable to compete in regards to the highest levels of data collection. And that’s okay.
You may not have the budget, technology skills, or manpower to throw an excess amount of resources at big data and predictive analytics. What you do have, however, is access to a few alternatives that allow you to gain insights that can help take your business to the next level.
1. Get Into the Habit of Pulling Reports
It doesn’t matter if you do this yourself or pass this off to somebody else, you need to pull reports every day, week, or month (whatever works best for your business).
In terms of what you’re looking for, this depends largely on your company, goals, and industry.
For example, social media analytics may be extremely important to the growth of your business. The same can hold true for your online reputation, such as the number of positive reviews you generate each week.
2. Manpower is Better than No Power
Maybe you don’t have access to the technology you need to better understand the numbers associated with your business. This can be frustrating – until you find a solution that works – but it doesn’t mean you’re out of luck.
You can rely on good old manpower to get the job done. This can mean many things, such as manual observation.
An example of this is a brick and mortar store owner who pays close attention to customer habits, such as how they shop, which products attract the most attention, and how they interact with staff.
3. Use FreshLime
You don’t have to be a techie to take advantage of big data. You just need the right solution on your side.
FreshLime is a great place to start, as it acts as a marketing automation, customer engagement, and attribution platform for local businesses.
By providing a variety of insights, it won’t be long before you have a better understanding of what is and isn’t working for your business.
Even better is the fact that FreshLime “transforms your data into actionable insights that grow your business.”
In other words, you aren’t provided with data and left to figure out what to do with it. You’re given advice on how to transform this data into action.
Conclusion
Although you may have ignored big data and predictive analytics in the past, you don’t have to continue down this path in the future.
The three ideas above will transform your approach for the better.
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