Data is becoming increasingly important in the world. For businesses, data is useful for providing practical business information. In the world of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), data and data analytics can help with technology integration, improve customer service and increase profits.
Data in business analytics refers to the information collected, processed and analysed to gain insights and make informed decisions. This data can come from various sources such as customer interactions, website traffic, financial transactions and social media activities.
In this article, we look at data analytics for SMEs and how you can use it to improve your business.
What is the importance of data analytics for SMEs?
Data analytics allows for better and quicker decision-making and improves various aspects of your business. Some other benefits of data analytics include:
Real-time insights
Once you have set up your data analysis system and used the tools, you will be able to add new data to be analysed. This is data that you are gaining in real-time. The algorithms of your data analysis tools will instantly analyse new data and provide you with valuable information.
These real-time insights will help you see which areas of your business need improvement and better your decision-making time.
Reduced inefficiencies
Data analytics can help you spot which of your business processes are inefficient. By using data analytics you can identify processes that are less than optimal so you can fix them. This will not only save you time but more importantly it can save you money.
Better quality control
If you have processes in place to ensure product quality, data analytics tools can look at your production process and help you deliver high-quality products to your customers.
Improves marketing efforts
Data analytics tools can look at how your customers’ behaviour to understand their likes, dislikes, price points and buying timelines. This will help you improve your marketing efforts such as e-mail marketing and make it more personal to the customer.
Better customer experience
You can create a better, seamless and personalised experience for your customers using data analytics. Data analytics creates better marketing processes and products which in all better your customer experience.
A great customer experience creates customer loyalty, nurtures brand ambassadors, boosts repeat purchases and increases sales.
Competitive edge
The one thing that every business wants is to be the number one business in their industry. Using data analytics can give you that competitive advantage. You can be quicker to market, increase your profit margins and use your resources more efficiently than your competitors.
These are just some of the benefits of using data and data analytics in your business. The next step is to get started on using data.
Gets started on data analytics for SMEs
Step 1: Decide on your data strategy
This step involves you figuring out the data you want to analyse. You will also then start identifying tools or platforms that can handle the data you need analysed. Most companies use technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence to analyse their data.
Step 2: Identify your data sources
SMEs have a lot of data that they have not yet analysed. You have to identify the data sources available within your business and start from there. You can source data analysis information from:
- E-mail marketing reports.
- Sales receipts.
- Social media analytics.
- Internet of Things.
- Website analytics.
- Streaming data from any connected devices.
- Data that is publicly available.
- Data lakes.
- Suppliers.
- Customer relationship management software or tools.
Step 3: Create a system to manage, access and store your data
You can store your data in a data warehouse or use a third-party cloud storage service. Most companies use cloud storage options while others use data lakes or data pipelines. Your data storage facility will depend on how much access you need and your budget for data analytics and storage.
Step 4: Analyse your data
Now that you have gathered and stored your data, it’s time to analyse it. Data analysis is a time-consuming activity, so it is better to get help. Consider the following data analytics tools for small businesses:
Google Analytics: Google Analytics is a free analytics tool which you can use alongside your business spreadsheets and customer relationship management tools to analyse your website.
Watson Analytics: IBM’s Watson Analytics products can integrate a vast data set from multiple departments within your company. The tool was created to make business analytics accessible to small business owners who don’t have data science experience.
SAS: SAS’s Viya software suite can mine, retrieve and manage data from different sources such as your website, social media and marketing analytics.
InsightSquared: InsightSquared connects your business software to automatically collect data and generate actionable insights for small businesses. The platform integrates with Salesforce, Google Analytics, QuickBooks and Zendesk among many others.
You must choose the right platform for your data analytics needs. Using data can help elevate your business in many ways and will set you apart from the competition.
Start your data analytics journey today and ensure that your business is prepared for today and tomorrow.
