Business organizations have relied on various types of data for ages. However, only large organizations had the means to analyze and use hips of data. In the recent years, the rise of the internet and the mobile technology has made it possible for small firms and businesses to gather, analyze, and use data to their advantage. Yes, I am talking about Big Data.

Big Data can provide your business, irrespective of its size, the cutting edge advantage to stay relevant and updated in this ever-evolving market. We have become a society of data producers. The data we produce is doubling in size every two years. By 2020, the  digital universe will reach 44 zettabytes or 44 trillion gigabytes.

If you want to make sense of this information and wield it to make the profit, your business will need to employ Big Data right here right now.

Here is why jumping on Big Data train is essential for small businesses. 

Decode the DNA of Your Potential Customers

When it comes to getting a better understanding of your customers, nothing is as efficient as big data. Big Data is like your go-to guy for getting all the information you need about your potential customers. It is a lot easier than you would imagine.

You can collect the information about consumer behavior, buying patterns, social preferences, location, and other demographics directly from your website or social media accounts. For brick-and-mortar stores, data-based POS systems will do all the legwork in real-time. They can help you figure out which products are trending, seasonal changes in the market demand for all your products, daily footfall in your store, and purchasing cycle of your customers.

You can also use Big Data to decipher old customer data such as foot traffic records, loyalty program records, and other information available in the non-digital format. Most Big Data tools allow you to create customized metrics for every step of the customer's journey. Thus, you can play around with the data and use to identify the most suitable market segments.

Launch Tailor-Made and Insight-Drive Marketing Campaigns  

This may sound obvious, but the more you know about your customers the, more effective the marketing campaigns will be. You will be able to create highly tailor-made and insight-driven marketing campaigns to get maximum return on every penny you spend for customer acquisition.

Big Data can help your small business to decide when, where and how to target your potential customers and to create the content that best suits your their interests. In other words, Big Data allows you to focus on your local environment. The data can be used to optimize the in-store shopping experience and improve product discovery, both online and off. Combine this with the personal touch often seen in case of small businesses, and you have a recipe for a tremendous success. 

Capitalize on the Latest Market Trends

Small businesses have two distinct advantages over their large-scale competitors. They have closer customer relations as they know most of their customers personally. But most importantly, they can quickly adjust to the changing market conditions. With the help of big data, you can take this ability a step further.

You can adjust your entire production line according to the insights from your potential customers. Not just sales data, you can also monitor social media conversations to find out what your customers are thinking. You can create a personalized shopping experience that evolves according to the behavior of the customer, which in turn, is based on the latest market trends. Using this tactic, you can also cut back losses resulting from stocking up excess inventory or outdated products.

For example, Piper's Cafe, a small local vegan ice cream and sandwich shop from Covington, Kentucky, started using Big Data to find out the daily footfall in their shop. They compared the sales summary for the day with the weather report. To their surprise, they saw a drop in delivery sales whenever the temperature changed quickly in two consecutive days. Naturally, they decided to put this data to work to improve their output and efficiency accordingly. Now, the owners want to use Big Data to learn more about their customers and their needs.

Cut Back on Time-Consuming and Repetitive Administrative Tasks

Every small business owner knows that daily administrative work is both time-consuming as well as expensive. Sometimes, the manual errors can lead to a substantial financial loss. But, Big Data can also help small businesses to automate administrative tasks to a great extent and reduce manual errors and excessive labor costs.

Twiddy & Company Realtors, a small family-owned business from Duck, North Carolina that manages 998 vacation rentals on the islands managed to increase their inventory by 10% and cut maintenance costs by 15%, all thanks to a Big Data analytics software. They have also started offering pricing recommendations to the homeowners according to market conditions using the same software.

We are leaving in a world, where every small business has to compete with the big brands in their niche. With Big Data analytics, your business can get critical performance insights in real-time. Thus, you can continue to improve on the areas that need work.

Easy, Fast, Reliable, and Affordable  

More often than not, the perceived difficulty of adopting new technology, not to mention the cost, hold small business back from investing in technologies such as big data. However, as a small business, you can use a Big-Data as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution at a remarkably affordable cost.

It is also easy to use such tools, even for people with no technical background whatsoever. You can also add customized metrics to your dashboard that give you real-time access to the data you need. Big Data can also segregate vast amount of data into meaningful chunks in real-time. So, combing through the 3.5 billion Google searches per day to find out the ones relevant to your business isn't going to be a big deal. In short, it is easy to use, fast, reliable, and affordable.

Parting Words

The benefits of Big Data are crystal clear. Still, many small businesses owners think this fancy tool is for the big players. However, the small enterprises can use Big Data analytics and solutions in several different ways to gain a competitive advantage in today's fast-paced and tech-savvy market. Hopefully, the above arguments will encourage you to take the next step in this regard. Have you used Big Data to help manage your small business before? Share your experiences and ideas with us!