6 Data Analytics Growth Hacks for SMBs

In coming up with the best growth hack as a startup, it is vital to tap into data science. This is all about collecting raw data and sieving it to find any valuable insights you can use to create functions and strategies for your business to grow.  

For many companies and SMBs, the ultimate goal of data analytics remains a nightmare because of their struggles in transforming raw information into practical insights. Investing in the right resources is the only way for small and big companies to reap the benefits of data analytics.

Small businesses facing problems with data analytics can still fix their problems and remain on the right track. Here are six growth hacks with data analytics that business owners should follow: 

1- Examine Your Current Data Capabilities 

Most companies today are indeed living a fallacy that they are in the data race - but are completely out of the hook. There is that fear in companies of being compared with those who have not made any effort to embrace data analytics internally and externally. They have to prove that they have been successful in adopting data-led decision making.

Honestly, for such companies to avoid wasted investment, they need to be upfront about their organization's data capabilities.

According to a recent Forrester report, at least 41% of companies are still struggling to use data in decision making.

The first steps companies can take to gauge their capabilities include conducting a complete audit of their data capabilities and benchmarking their data best practices. This way, they can understand how the journey will look once they become a data-led decision-making organization.

2- Set Intelligent and Achievable Goals

In most cases, companies will attempt to address the challenges they face in data analytics by investing a lot of money in substantial transformation projects. However, it is more effective for such companies to start with small and easy to manage projects and quickly deliver them to the market.

This means a simple shift from hierarchical and centralized planning toward a culture of experimentation and iteration for most companies. Most companies will be able to provide evidence of data effectiveness by starting small and scaling up despite the challenges they may be facing.

3- Enforce Website Analytics

Website analytics is one effective way of applying data analytics in your company. By conducting a full website audit, webmasters can easily determine all the on-page errors that may be making their site rank low on search engines. 

Website analytics is one way of improving user engagement with business, especially if a company is targeting online buyers.

There are advanced website analytics tools that offer full-cycle data management that involves the collection, processing, and instant data mapping. You can leverage such powerful data analysis tools to optimize your sales funnel for maximum conversions.

4- Provide Data Insights When There is a Need 

Most companies that have already adopted data capabilities are still reluctant to apply them in various departments. Ideally, for effective decision-making and data-driven intelligence, data scientists in such companies must deliver insights to all teams, from the CEO to the junior staff.

When the data insights are kept in one division, the business is not making any progress in applying data intelligence. To break this barrier, those in charge of data analytics in the organization should find ways to infuse data into the company's DNA. This way, anyone in the company that needs valuable insights can easily access them.

Today, most companies are already embracing embedded analytics which allows employees to access relevant data on their workflows without switching to a different application.

With easy accessibility to data insights, companies can improve their chances of achieving business goals, attaining high customer acquisition rates, and even increased profitability.

5- Focus on Data Visualization and Human-led Designs 

One of the most essential ways to drive business intelligence is through data analytics. It’s no wonder why the need for professionals skilled in data analytics is constantly increasing. There are so many career paths that one can choose after a specialization in analytics. Businesses should hire candidates who are skilled and have enough experience handling data. 

The ultimate aim should be to fuse embedded analytics with human-centered designs. However, small businesses executives should recall that users usually are multi-tasking and under time pressure, which means they need to gain access to trends quickly. 

The core challenge businesses face is applying insights to improve the user experience that enables users to access and navigate through data easily. In this kind of mix, companies should consider data visualization a tool they can deploy across all sectors.

Companies like DHL are already using this approach to increase efficiency and identify significant risks in their supply chain. The company uses data visualization concepts like graph analytics and live dashboards to combat issues like supply chain weakness and long lead times.

6- Embrace and Fuse a Data-powered Policy 

With the right data analytics tools, a company can improve its performance. However, sometimes executives are forced to make unpopular decisions. Therefore, for organizations to embrace data-led intelligence, most C-suite executives should foster a data-powered culture in their organizations. The company should have employees and teams that believe in the ability of data to deliver results.

C-suite executives in an organization should consider using people analytics to enhance employee well-being and address the data-powered culture.

Managers in a company can identify trends and respond easily to emerging issues when they develop a picture of employee engagement and categorize their findings based on divisions and location.

Final Thoughts: Data Analytics 

With powerful, well-designed, and accessible data analytics platforms, a business can gain useful insights for planning in every functional unit—the benefits of data analytics span beyond that. In fact, by adopting business intelligence, data analytics can help most companies to decide the exact moment when they should pivot to grow in a highly competitive market.

By applying data analytics, companies can easily spot new revenue streams to venture. For instance, through data analytics, Netflix was able to adopt live streaming and turned its back on mail-order DVD delivery. Businesses should embrace data analytics to pave the way to new products, discover new ways of customer engagement, improve customer service, and realize business growth.