How can small businesses effectively use business intelligence to boost their success? Small businesses play an important role in the US economy, providing jobs and contributing significantly to their local communities. However, it can be challenging for small businesses to grow, compete and gain new customers against much larger competitors. In this article, you’ll learn about different aspects of business intelligence, as well as how small businesses can apply them to improve performance and increase profits.
What is business intelligence?
Business intelligence (BI) is the process of analyzing data to gain insights that will help you make better decisions. By understanding your customers, your competition, and your own business, you can make informed decisions that will help your small business grow. What are some ways a small business owner can use BI? One way is by looking at customer behavior patterns. For example, if you notice an unusually high number of returns in a certain time period, then it could be because your product has changed or something else has changed in the market that may be affecting sales.
Another way to use BI is by examining your competitor’s performance. If you find out that they’re doing well with a certain strategy, then this could provide inspiration for your own marketing campaign. The third way to use BI is by examining your own operations, such as how much inventory you have on hand. You can even look at historical trends over time so that you know when you need to order more inventory or adjust prices accordingly.
Four ways small businesses can use BI
- Set up Google Analytics. This is a free tool that will give you insights into how customers find and use your website.
- Look at your social media analytics. See which posts are getting the most engagement and adjust your content strategy accordingly.
- Use data from customer surveys to improve your products or services.
- Keep track of your competition. See what they’re doing well and where they could improve, then use that information to make your business even better.
Measuring marketing effectiveness with Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that can help small businesses measure the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. By tracking website traffic, conversion rates, and other key metrics, businesses can get a clear picture of what’s working and what isn’t. Plus, Google Analytics is free to use, making it a great option for small businesses on a tight budget. As long as you’re willing to put in some effort up front to set up your account, you’ll be able to monitor important performance data without spending any money at all. You can even sign up for Google AdWords, which lets you advertise on search engines like Yahoo or Bing, as well as partner sites like YouTube or DoubleClick.
Integrating Mobile into Marketing Strategies
In order to better understand how to use business intelligence, it’s important to first understand what business intelligence is. Business intelligence (BI) is a process for turning data into insights that can help inform and guide your business decisions. BI typically involves the following three steps:
First, identify the desired outcome and develop a plan to get there; second, collect relevant data from all sources; third, analyze the collected data with specific goals in mind. The end result should be strategies you can then execute.
In addition to understanding what BI is, it’s also helpful to know why small businesses might want to take advantage of this type of technology. One reason is those small businesses are often restricted by budget limitations when it comes to investing in the newest technologies. However, since BI requires little up-front investment on behalf of small businesses, those businesses are able to access these insights without breaking their budgets.
Tracking sales KPIs in Google Analytics
If you’re a small business owner, you know that every sale counts. That’s why it’s important to track your sales KPIs (key performance indicators) in Google Analytics. By tracking your KPIs, you can see which marketing channels are bringing in the most sales and adjust your marketing strategy accordingly. Here’s how to set up tracking for your sales KPIs in Google Analytics
8 business intelligence tools every SMB should know about
As a small business, you may not have the budget for a full-fledged business intelligence (BI) solution. But that doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of BI tools. There are a number of BI tools available that are designed specifically for small businesses.