How Data Analytics Can Benefit Your Business

If you’re a small business owner navigating an increasingly digital world of business, data analytics should be a top priority. Every dimension of your business, from your customer demographics to your supply chain, can be measured and those metrics can provide valuable insight into opportunities for growth and optimization. While we are finding new and innovative ways to use data every day, there are several ways that data analytics can benefit your small business.

Improve Customer Experience

Customer feedback is an invaluable asset. Monitoring what your customers have to say about your business can shed light on how customer experience aligns with customer expectations. The average star rating on sites like Yelp, Google, Facebook, and Trip Advisor only gives a snapshot summary of the customer experience your business provides. Reading the reviews may reveal which variables contributed to a positive (or negative) review. Are there trends in the feedback, something your company can improve or keep doing? You can facilitate your own customer feedback with a survey tailored with questions of your choice. By viewing feedback through an analytical lens, you can refine the customer experience your business provides.

Grow Customer Loyalty

There’s another way your customers can provide data that makes your business better. Loyalty programs are a great way to build customer relationships and reward them for their business. To create a loyalty program that resonates with your target customer, you can look at their spending habits. How often do they buy your products or service? How much do they usually spend? What times of year are they frequenting your business? These questions can be answered by tracking customer purchases and website traffic. By using the data customers provide, your business can better serve customers on a mass scale while also personalizing their experience.

Increase Efficiency and Minimize Costs

Discover ways to offset business costs with data analytics. Data can inform you where the bottlenecks in your business operations lie. Are customers having to wait longer to receive your services due to in-take forms or scheduling errors? Are you overstaffed during slow periods or understaffed during peak seasons? Sales data can inform you when to stock and how much inventory to keep, allowing you to minimize stocking costs. Determine if there are steps in the transaction process that can be improved and whether there are costs that can be absorbed by customer fees, such as shipping or card swipes. By measuring the efficiency of your business, you can identify areas in need of optimization. Eliminate wasted resources while delivering more value to your customers.

Know Your Competitors

Data has the power to enable a small business to compete with the bigger fish in the pond. In order to best communicate your value to customers, you should know how your competitors are positioning themselves. Measure how your business compares to competitors based on revenue, transactions, and average purchase price. Use data trends to anticipate how prices could change in the future and stay ahead of the curve. Your business may not be able to compete with another business’ pricing or value proposition, but by observing their strategy through data, you can choose messaging that presents your product or service as the better choice.

Build Your Digital Presence

You can take control of your digital presence without putting any dollars into digital advertising. Businesses use data analytics to measure the effectiveness of their digital strategy. Data can tell you which channels customers are using most often. You want to be on those platforms, putting out content that customers respond to. Metrics like engagement, impressions, and frequency can tell you how customers engage with your business online as well as how often. Maintaining a website and social media accounts are low-cost ways to be more visible and relevant to potential customers. Data analytics can help you develop high impact messaging without spending a ton of time and resources.

Data analytics is an asset every business should be utilizing. But it might be intimidating to dive into a sea of data and make sense of it. With the right tools and guidance, your small business can increase in efficiency and grow a loyal customer base. Take advantage of PlainsCapital’s Merchant Services, a team that is available to make sure your business is running smoothly. With their business expertise and insight, you can turn data into an effective business strategy. Learn more about how Merchant Services can help you dive into data analytics by visiting our Business Analytics page.