We are living in a world of BIG data. 

Large companies have access to data points that can help drive their marketing strategies and make them as efficient as ever. 

If you are a small business then you might not have a large quantity of data – but that doesn’t mean you can’t find value in the simple data points that you do have access to. 

Use what you have

Here are some of our favorite ways to take advantage of big data as a small business:

• Most large scale companies offer bite sized data for their users. Take Hubspot and Mailchimp for example: users can compare their performance against averages compiled by data from these large corporations to see how they compare. We use this for many of our clients, giving us insight into where opportunities lie for improvement. In addition, MailChimp and Hubspot provide best practices to help enhance performance. 
• Make assumptions. Rather than needing to know every detail about your ideal customer – think bigger. Create a clear idea of who you think could benefit from your products or services and then make assumptions about their habits, wants and needs. 
• Test, test, test. You might not have the bandwidth to run regular A/B testing methodologies – but surely you can make assumptions about an ad with two different ad copies or images. Try different things, see what works, do more of that. Rinse and repeat. 
• Google Analytics and many other tools are free! Even if you don’t know what you’re  looking for, you have to start with something. Check out website visitors each month, understand where your users and conversions are coming from. Look for opportunities  to improve and make the necessary changes. 

Lastly, remember that too much data can backfire. Small data is readily available to businesses of all sizes – take advantage of it where you can! 

Need help determining which small data points you should be referencing? Let us know, we would be happy to discuss!