Small Biz in a Digital Age: Analytics - Know Your Options

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Monday, February 23, 2015

GoLocalWorcester Business Team

The world of business is moving faster -- hyper fast. Small businesses face the challenge of trying to keep up and innovate their business to create an advantage.

This week, GoLocal brings you a look at how to select where to get your analytics data from and the different options and implications of data use for your small business. This series is sponsored by Countybank of Worcester - but know they have no editorial review or control. The goal is to help small businesses compete and grow in a period of tremendous change.

The Importance of Analytics Data

Understanding your options and outlets for running analytics reports can help your small business keep track of the impact its marketing has on customers, and give you insight into what you can do to improve your reach online. Analytics platforms allow you to cull and analyze your social media data, website SEO, and traffic from new and returning business.

Many sites are streamlined to produce real-time data that is digestible for the busy small business owner, despite shocking statistics of their underuse: according to a recent survey by Small Business Group 18% of small, and about 57% of medium businesses utilize "business intelligence and analytics solutions" which puts most companies at a disadvantage because about 90% of prospects will visit your website before they call your office.

This means that a wealth of untapped information about where your customers are coming from, what they are interested in purchasing and how many eyes are on your business’ website is being ignored by many business owners. 

Analytics Trends

IBM recently announced that it will be providing businesses of all sizes with free data and prediction analytics with Watson Analytics. The cloud-based service will be in the public beta with the option to buy more data later on - allowing small business owners to try out the system before they invest. 

"Small businesses think long and hard about where to invest the resources they have," says John Mason, general manager, midmarket at IBM. "[This includes] where they can make the most impact and best deliver real innovation to the market. For most small businesses, this means not investing heavily in an IT department."

This trend is not uncommon among other analytics sites who often allow small business owners to take advantage of their data software as a sort of “freemium” service.

Spyfu for example, offers a free version of their services that allows you to keep an eye on competitor advertisements to see what keywords overlap from your site and theirs when customers perform organic searches - helping your company differentiate. Woorank is another service that allows you to run reports on your website traffic, demographics, and SEO analytics for free before you decide to buy. 

Bottom Line

Be selective with your business’ analytics services and see what each different platform offers before you decide to shell out monthly for data. It’s always a good idea to investigate the type of analytics that services or social media platforms may already offer if you already use their websites or advertising options - Google Analytics is one of the most user-friendly options, especially if you are already promoting your business through their organic searches.  

Most importantly, focus on what information will suit your business’ needs: if your company is looking to get more new viewers to the website - find a service that tracks “unique” visits, and if your business is looking to expand - think about getting some data on where your customer’s purchase orders are going, or coming from, geographically. Analytics services can only be as helpful as the data they provide - it’s up to you to put it to good use and implement your data to help your business improve.

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Related Slideshow: 20 Ways To Support Small Businesses in Central MA

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