Your business might be small — but it’s not too small to use data

Companies have long used the power of “big data” to understand their customers better, target them more effectively, and simply make better business decisions in general.

But big data is no longer something just for big companies — today, small businesses have access to an unprecedented amount of information, along with affordable or even free tools to help make the most of it.

How can data help your business? Here are three key benefits:

1. You’ll know your customers like never before. You already know what your customers buy — but do you know why they buy (or why they don’t buy)? Do you understand the experience they have with your business? For example, a product page on your website could be confusing or unattractive, pushing potential buyers away. But you’ll never know that if you don’t look at data that tells you how long people stay on your site, how they behave once they get there, the pages that make them most likely to leave, etc. You can even determine if customers react differently when they visit your site from their phone versus on a laptop. When you have all of that information, you can adjust accordingly to make the experience more inviting.
   
   
2. You can improve your products and services. Customers make choices about products and services every day, and you can learn a great deal from those choices. For example, if sales fall for one of your products, while numbers jump for a different product, data analysis can help you determine the best course of action. Should you improve the failing product in some way? Stop selling it? Bundle it with a complementary product or service? Making those decisions without the right data could prove to be costly; a lot of companies have wasted time and money promoting products that should have been discontinued. Don’t make the same mistake.
   
   
3. Your marketing will get better. We’ve all gotten a mailer or email at some point that made us think, “How did I get on that list?” Data can help your company avoid that issue by showing you the characteristics of customers who are most likely to buy from you — including their income, where they live, how old they are, etc. Just as important, you’ll see how they learn about your business, the types of messaging they prefer, and more. This means you can tailor your marketing campaigns much more effectively, both in terms of reaching the people you want to reach and providing a message they want to hear. It also means you’ll be making the best use of your marketing dollars.

OK, so you know data can help your business. But how can you get that data? Stay tuned — in a future post, we’ll talk about tools such as Google Analytics, customer relationship management (CRM) options, and more.

What has data done for your business? Email us at smallbizstories@avalara.com to share your story.