SMBs Taking Advantage of Analytics

Small businesses may not be taking advantage of big data, however, a new survey from Constant Contact reveals that 79 percent are using reporting and analytics to inform their business decisions.

The survey shows that 73 percent of SMBs believe that data can help them grow their business by finding new customers. That said, 60 percent of the SMBs surveyed do not use big data tools, while 25 percent of respondents reported they weren't sure if they are using big data tools. This suggests that SMBs are still uncertain when it comes to big data.

It is important to note that the survey found that three quarters of respondents believe reporting and analytics give them a business advantage. In fact, 67 percent believe their business data can help them retain existing customers, while 65 percent believe they can use data to improve the customer experience. When it comes to the most popular uses of reporting and analytics during the holiday season, the survey found that the majority of SMBs (66 percent) are using data to identify which products and services to market, while 52 percent are using the data to identify where to market and 51 percent are using the data to identify when to market.

According to the survey, SMBs are more likely to look at easily accessible, activity-oriented data, In fact, 83 percent of respondents use email marketing reports, while 64 percent use website analytics and 52 percent use social media analytics. Moreover, the survey revealed that the two top roadblocks to data usage for SMBs is not knowing where to begin (49 percent) and not having the time (40 percent).

"The fact that so many small businesses use reporting and analytics is promising, as the better they know their customers the better they can target their marketing and vie with bigger competitors," said Christopher M. Litster, senior vice president of sales and marketing, Constant Contact. "Big Data insights can also be quite helpful but because small businesses lack the necessary volume to generate those insights, the responsibility lies with big companies serving them to make that kind of data available and easy to use. At Constant Contact we look in aggregate at data we compile from the 60 billion emails we send in a year on behalf of our 600,000-plus customers and share actionable insights on their online marketing campaigns. We can tell them things like the best time of day to send an email campaign and the optimal number of images and text lines to include in an email. These types of insights can help our small business customers market like their much bigger competitors."