Big data is the use of aggregated data from multiple platforms – social media, internet usage, email engagement, etc. – and dictates how most advertising platforms operate. As a business person, getting to grips with this can be somewhat overwhelming when trying to figure out the smartest way forward, so here is our advice on how you can use big data to do wonders in your business.
Hire a Professional
This is one thing that always makes digital marketers irritable – why should I hire you because I know how to use a specific social media platform/digital analytics platform? Congratulations you installed Google Analytics code to your website and you know how to use Twitter Analytics. That’s great but unless you can operate the data and use it to your advantage, then you are better off hiring an expert and letting them leverage the data to maximize your growth.
Most digital marketers can go a+b+c+d=Q which is the same for any technical specialist in your business. If you are a new business owner and funding is tight, why not take the time to sort out your own personal finances first and then concentrate on your business finances? Look into a home equity loan and see if you are eligible to take out one. Doing so will give you more money to sort your personal finances and you may be able to inject some of the excess cash into your business to hire the professionals you need.
Know the Legalities
At present, the legal situation around big data is highly changeable because while Amazon, for example, have patents on technology that would make the CIA weep due to how invasive it is, GDPR has allowed for major jumps forward in terms of privacy law. The point here is you need to know what is permissible with your platforms, what you are using the data for, and that, by and large, it is stripped of specific identifying information like names, phone numbers, and emails. Again, if you don’t know how to navigate the legalities, hire a professional who can help you.
Use Analytics Platforms
This is probably the most important point on this list because, if you don’t have access to the data, you can’t use that data to advise on key messaging or site usage. If you are an internet-based seller then using Google Analytics will help you figure out where your traffic is being directed from and how you can either maximize that or push it in a different direction. This is one of many things to remember before even starting your business because it can influence your marketing strategies from the jump.
Similarly, if you are an in-person seller then you can use your social media platforms’ data analytics to advise on what kind of posts are successful and easily identify if they have engaged in person or not. Install all the major analytics platforms and find out which ones are benefiting you most. One thing to be aware of is that it is easy to fall into the pitfall of obsessing over your engagement statistics and, if you are more involved in the client attraction side of the business, you need to relinquish control to someone else as you’re going to drown in statistics.