Traditional data collection and processing was expensive to implement and maintain, and therefore, out of reach for most small and medium-sized businesses. However, today there are cloud services for data capture, storage, analysis, querying, etc., opening doors for smaller firms to enter the information age. In essence, cloud solutions are giving businesses the ability to capture and crunch data without expensive infrastructure.
So how can Big Data help your business?
Better Decision Making
More and more decisions are made using data mining, machine learning, and predictive modeling, helping decision makers make better decisions by processing and analyzing historical data (internal and public). Also, freeing decision-makers’ time to focus on genuinely unique problems, rather than issues which are not unique and can be predicted and resolved using predictive modeling.
Meaningful & Targeted Marketing
Understanding customers’ behavior is key to any successful marketing campaign; therefore, the ability to collect, store, analyze, and use customer data is essential. And it is the most powerful tool you can give your marketing team to make them more successful.
Drive More Sales
Today’s buyer’s research products/services before making any purchase decisions, and with so many touch points (e.g. Google Search, Website, Email, IOT, Social Media, etc.) deconstructing the customer journey is almost impossible without the use of Big Data tools. Also, with advanced analytics, you will not only give your sales team a greater insight into customers, but can predict where they are in the buying cycle, and how likely they are to buy from you. These are just a few examples of how you can give your sales team the tools to drive more sales.
Improve Efficiency
Many businesses still analyze data manually, such as having employees analyze CRM and Website Analytics data manually. In essence, asking them to extract and filter data into meaningful reports. Today, with the help of big data, we can automatically collect data from business solutions such as Salesforce, QuickBooks, or Google Analytics and automatically extract actionable information in a matter of seconds.
Summary
Cloud services democratized big data and made it accessible to all businesses. Old barriers such as “high cost”,”inadequate resources”, and ”complexity” do not apply anymore. We are in the middle of the information revolution, and to stay competitive and relevant your business will have to take full advantage of big data. Your competition is already using big data, and in today’s global economy you cannot compete without it.
