Data has long been the backbone of the business, but recent data has taken on increased importance. In fact, some say that data is the new oil because of how highly valuable it has become in recent years.
Data is what powers companies to more accurately predict and understand their customers, which in turn allows them to offer better products and services that are sure to be more successful than the competition.
If you’re looking for an edge over your competitors as you start or grow your small business, learn how to use data effectively by using the following:
What is Data?
Data is a collection of information that may be structured or unstructured. Data can be in different formats like text, sound, pictures, numbers, software programs and more. Some data is structured and some are unstructured.
Structured data is data that has been organized so that it can easily be processed by a computer. For example, if you save your contact list in alphabetical order (A-Z) then your contact list is formatted as structured data.
Unstructured data is not formatted into an easy-to-read format such as alphabetical order.
The Value of Big Data
Big data has huge implications for small businesses. The new oil, as it were. Big data means that any business with an Internet connection can access terabytes of customer information in a fraction of a second. With this kind of potential power comes great responsibility. Big data makes individualised marketing possible at an unheard-of scale, which may make marketing more efficient but also raises some serious ethical questions about privacy. In order to find the best balance between what’s profitable and what’s right, companies should have detailed conversations about their values and mission before getting into big data analysis or other major innovations.
Types of Data to Consider in Digital Marketing
The sheer amount of data available to a company can seem like a daunting task. The key to using it effectively is understanding which types of data to consider for your digital marketing strategy. There are four types of data that should be addressed in any digital marketing strategy: demographic, psychographic, geographic, and behavioural.
Demographic Data - This type of data includes information on age, income level, ethnicity, gender and occupation.
Psychographic Data - Psychographics look at factors such as personality, lifestyle and values.
Geographic Data - As a business expands its reach, geographical data becomes increasingly important as well.
Behavioral Data - Finally, this type of data captures user interactions with content including pages visited, time spent on site or watching videos, scrolling behaviour and more.
When it comes to building an effective marketing strategy around these different types of data there are several questions you'll want to ask yourself first: What do I know about my audience? What do I want to know about my audience? What data do I need? How can I use this data?
Ways to Track your Digital Marketing Efforts
There are several different ways to track your digital marketing efforts in order to determine what’s working and what isn’t:
The first way is to check your analytics regularly. This will show you information about your website traffic, such as where visitors came from, how they found you, which pages they looked at on your site, how long they stayed on your site before leaving, etc.
A second method for tracking your marketing efforts is by looking at where visitors clicked on links to find out more about your company or products.
A third option would be to ask customers directly with a survey or questionnaire (if you have a lot of customers).
Finally, another option is a content audit - taking inventory of everything that has been published online by your company so far.
Optimising Your Strategy
The first step in optimizing your data strategy should be determining what data you need. The more specific your goals are, the better you'll be able to use data to reach those goals. Once you have a good idea of what data you need, ask yourself how frequently it needs updating. If it's only updated once a year or less, then don't worry about having daily updates on those metrics. You can always pull them up at a later date for benchmarking purposes. However, if the metric changes rapidly (daily or weekly), then consider setting up an automated process so that you're collecting that data regularly with little effort from you.
For example, if you're trying to measure customer sentiment through social media channels like Twitter, Facebook or Yelp reviews, set up alerts on the social networks where they will post their review. That way, when they do post their review, it automatically sends a notification to you and other team members who are working on marketing campaigns.
If you want to optimise data collection and reporting processes within your organisation, look at the following questions:
What type of technology do I need?
How much time does each report take?
How to take advantage of data
In order to take advantage of data for innovation analysis and business growth, you'll need to be able to separate what's important from what's not. There are many tools on the market that can help you do this, but it all starts with asking questions. Here are some examples of questions you should ask your data:
What trends or patterns can I identify?
What areas of my business seem to be performing best?
What could we do better in our marketing strategy? - Who are our most valuable customers?
Where would they like to see more of our products and services offered? - What does a customer look like for us?
How well does the customer know our brand?
Why did the customer buy from us instead of one of our competitors? - What other brands do they also purchase?
Do they have any suggestions on how we can improve their experience with our brand?
Data is a powerful asset that can be used in new, innovative ways. It's time to stop thinking of data as just data. You need to think of data as a resource that can help your small business innovate and market better than ever before.
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