{"id":17269,"date":"2021-03-22T05:40:33","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T05:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/?p=17269"},"modified":"2023-01-16T17:43:25","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T17:43:25","slug":"how-to-use-in-house-data-as-a-small-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/how-to-use-in-house-data-as-a-small-business\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use in-house data as a small business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Both small and large businesses have something in common – an <\/span>influx of data<\/span><\/a>. Until recently, however, larger corporations were the ones with the capacity to use this information.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether you call it data mining or data analysis, companies have been using these trends to establish better marketing campaigns, optimised social metrics, and online web personalisation.<\/span><\/p>\n

But as a small business, budget and time constraints (among others) often prevent significant data analysis. The good news is that even small businesses have usable in-house data that doesn\u2019t have to consume large amounts of time or finances.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before jumping into specific data types, however, let\u2019s look at the benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s at stake<\/span><\/h2>\n

Ultimately, data is only as valuable as it is usable. When information becomes siloed within businesses, for instance, it can keep teams from providing the <\/span>best customer service<\/span><\/a> or buyer experiences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Part of the problem is that manual retrieval and data entry use up valuable time that most small business owners and employees need to be investing elsewhere. Added to that, legacy systems (such as <\/span>CRMs<\/span><\/a> that are built for sales leaders rather than sales people) make data analysis even more difficult for small businesses.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the issue of sheer volume. Big data by its very nature grows at alarming rates even for small businesses. Making data usable, in other words, is a significant barrier for small companies and startups.<\/span><\/p>\n

What you as a small business owner may see, is poor communication or missing pieces of data. But what\u2019s behind all these difficulties may be an inefficient use of your in-house data. In the long run, this can result in depleted buyer loyalty – a valuable commodity for small businesses.<\/span><\/p>\n

What data to prioritise<\/span><\/h2>\n

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Nowadays, the challenge isn\u2019t getting enough data. The difficulty is knowing which data is worth spending your time on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And the reality is that regardless of the size of your business you\u2019ll need to pick and choose the right analytics to prioritise. There simply isn\u2019t enough time, money, manpower, you name it, to harvest all the possible insights from big data.<\/span><\/p>\n

For your website, for instance, should you focus on bounce rate or pageviews? When it comes to customer service, should you focus on <\/span>CSAT<\/span><\/a>, feedback completion, or some other metric? In sales should the focus be on customer retention data or buyer acquisition?<\/span><\/p>\n

In a nutshell, putting priorities in place when it comes to your in-house data is an important place to start.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are a few questions to ask yourself as you narrow down data priorities:<\/span><\/p>\n