The Small Business Marketer’s Guide to Big Data

Many articles claim that big data is the best way to plan marketing strategies. These articles have an important point. Big data can provide powerful resources for marketers in building campaigns, as you base decisions on complex data and not your assumptions.

Big data presents new challenges, particularly for small-business marketers. These challenges are more straightforward for larger companies than for smaller businesses.

These are just a few ways to use big data to help your marketing.

Where to Get Big Data

The first problem with big data is how to find it. Data isn’t cheap or easy to find. This is why data protection companies are strict about keeping their data private and do not share it with the public. You have a limited budget and resources, so how do you manage? Don’t give up on your big data dreams!

Although you can access various forms of big data, you must work hard to get them. Your site’s analytics is a great place to start. This is data about your customers and how they interact with your website. A lot of data is out there, and it all matters to your site.

A few significant data sources are available for free. Google Trends is one such source. It can be used to research consumer search patterns. Although a limited resource, it can provide insight into when specific topics are most popular. This can help to predict future trends and capitalize on them.

Many companies can help you with big data. While some companies charge for data only about the consumer habits of your target market, others will do analysis and research specific to your situation. When choosing the data you require, it is essential to determine which data will be most valuable and cost-effective.

Make Sense of the Numbers

Analytics is not for everyone. Depending on your marketing role, you may not be an expert. Although you can see how many people visit your site in Google analytics, it cannot be easy to make sense of all that data.

First, it is essential to realize that not all data sets can tell the whole story. Different analytics can give clues but must be combined to identify consumer patterns. Your website visit data may tell you that your site is performing well, with many visitors. Combine that with your bounce rates to determine if you’re retaining visitors and making money. High bounce rates and increased traffic mean people visit the site but leave almost immediately.

Combining data from different sources is the next challenge. This allows you to predict future trends and measure your performance. While some data sets may not be compatible, others offer a different view of the same situation.

Different Types of Research

Big data must be created somewhere. It is essential to know who it is, how they find it, and the advantages and disadvantages of each research method. Anyone could throw out some numbers and call it data. Knowing the research process can help ensure your data is legitimate and valuable.

Let’s begin with who produces the data. Companies focused on your industry or target market should be your first stop when looking for data. Research companies can help you with data collection in almost any aspect of your business, including employee productivity and grocery store organization. You need to find a company with the experience and capability to provide accurate, objective data.

Next are various types of data around the world. Here are some popular data/research techniques and their pros and con.

Questionnaires: Asking questions and recording the answers to a representative sample. Although this is the most economical solution, it can also be inaccurate because it relies on people’s thoughts rather than actions.

Focus groups: This is where you gather information from people in a particular market. It’s possible to collect data from their opinions and physical reactions to a product or website. These data can be precious, but it is harder to identify trends if the focus groups are small.

Case Study: Although not “big data,” case studies can provide incredible insight into a particular situation and the factors that worked or failed.

Observational: All data from Google Analytics are observation-based research. It doesn’t involve any back-and-forth with visitors about their thoughts or feelings. It is simply a recording of what happened. Although this is the most commonly used type of data in marketing, it can be not easy to find third-party observational data that matches your situation.

Perform Your Research on Your Site

While letting your website run and collect data is simple, what do you get in the long term? After you have analyzed your data and identified trends, it is time to obtain new data.

You can use A/B testing to test different pages. This will give you new data and allow you to determine what is most popular with your visitors. You can collect data from multiple carriers and compile it to make a definitive guide for new pages. You can even use failed A/B testing to get valuable data. This will show you what is most effective for your target audience. It is possible to track which keywords perform best in what situations and why.

The ethics involved in procuring data should also be considered. It doesn’t matter if you buy data from a 3rd party or collect it through lead generation forms. Or simply doing business with customers. If they are not satisfied with the way their data is handled by companies, consumers demand privacy and anonymity.

Improve Your Strategies

Each piece of data serves a purpose. This data improves your marketing strategies and gives you an advantage over your competitors. Your system will be about more than just taking chances and hoping for the best. They can improve their effectiveness and forecast future opportunities. This involves handling large amounts of data and turning it into intelligent data.