Well-before big data became a buzzword, American writer Gertrude Stein hit the nail on the head: Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense. As technology affords more precise and real-time access, information and insight, applying a common sense approach to big data is challenging for most small business owners and marketers. We found this summary of a Forrester Research Study on the big data phenomenon to be quite helpful in developing a mindset for big data. Here are a few highlights:
It’s not the amount of data, it’s what you do with it. Big data provides a high-definition view of your business and your customers’ behavior and lets you deliver personalized experiences at scale. Big data is finally making data a strategic asset — so what is your firm doing to build on it? How are you going to use this new asset to delight customers and squeeze competitors?
Big data success requires overcoming any momentum in the wrong direction — such as executives’ tendency to hoard data or lack business curiosity about what quantitative insights are possible. …
Big data gives your firm the power to understand customers in ways not before possible. But just because you can doesn’t mean you should. …
… The Vs [volume, variety, velocity] of big data have run their course; they were useful when we knew little about big data, but they no longer inspire action. Instead, refocus your change effort on keeping the three Cs in balance: a data-driven culture; the competency to leverage data that is more diverse, messier, and larger than you’re used to; and the technical capabilities to put the right insights into the hands of your customers and employees.
More small businesses are tackling big data with a mindset that allows them to mine their information successfully to improve operational efficiencies, customer engagement and service and the bottom line. A ClickZ profile of small businesses tapping into the power of big data explains how online retailer ThinkGeek leveraged its social media insight.
ThinkGeek successfully tracked its social metrics and compiled all its data to discover the best frequency, time of day, day of the week, and kind of content for posts on all its social channels. The company then used this data to tailor frequency and content to its users’ behavior. The results? ThinkGeek now drives 48 percent of its revenue from its social channels.
How can you do this? Start tracking mentions, comments, replies, clicks, and image views to measure engagement rates and traffic peaks (this will vary by social channel). Also, track site visits, page views, orders, and revenue that come from your social channels in order to track conversion and revenue. Then, just like ThinkGeek, tailor your content to your users’ behavior by posting, retweeting, repinning, etc. at peak hours and at the frequency preferred by your followers.
What is your company’s approach to big data? Do you have the time, resources and tools to take a meaningful approach to analyzing the organization’s data? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section of this post.
Obtain a complimentary download of the LGK white paper, In the Thick of It: Big Data versus Gut Instinct, here and read our previous posts on big data.
- Small Business Primer for Success in the Era of Data Democracy
- The Uncertainty of Big Data -Guidance for Small Businesses
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