http://blog.digit-ally.com/index.php/blog/how-to-make-your-analytics-work-harder-in-5-easy-steps

Make your analytics work harder for you with these 5 steps

The amount of data available to businesses in the age of smart phones, HTML 5 and the internet of things means there is an unprecedented amount of raw data that we can all use to gain greater insights in our areas of Business.

Many companies out there want you to use their tools, services and expertise, my business Digitally Limited is no different, but what I and other businesses can't do is make your business become more data centric, it's all down to you. The thing is analytics and insight are going to be useless if your buisiness does not support the decision to make changes and improvements based on the data you should be collecting.

I have met a lot of small businesses who think analytics, data and insight are beyond their reach financially and skills wise, but this is simply untrue. Whilst large companies may have large teams solely dedicated to analysing data and generating insight. You too as a small business can do equally as well and compete on a similar level without the large expenditure on resources.

As a small business all you need to do is these 5 simple steps and you too could be on your way to becoming an analytics ninja:

1. Set yourself business goals
   There is no point in spending time collecting and analysing business data if you have no goals , it is important that every part of your business is signed up to and are working towards an organisational wide set of goals. Your business goals may be to increase and monitor online sales or generate x amount of sales through social media.
2. Identify your business KPI's
   Knowing what metrics are important and what should be monitored can appear to be very complicated and frustrating. Your analytics tools will be absolutely useless if you have no KPI's (Key Performance Indicators). KPI's are groups of important metrics that contribute to positive change within your business, website or apps. They could be downloads, sales maybe even signups to e-newsletters. Make sure you choose metrics that truly contribute to your businesses bottom line and be wary of vanity metrics like Facebook likes that only appear good on paper.
3. Be realistic
   The amount of data you could have access to in your business could be vast and somewhat overwhelming, it can be quite easy to give up in the data deluge, so be realistic and start small, choose the most important KPI's first, monitor and analyse them over time, when you are comfortable with these measurements you can start adding more into the mix. Think about creating a 12 month measurement plan.
4. Think before your jump
    You can't even begin to imagine how many different analytics solutions are out there, believe me there are thousands. Some solutions are free and some are paid for services, some require little investment and some require large budgets.
   Make sure you spend the time to do your due diligence and choose the right tools for you, if you think you need help choosing the right solutions for your business then Digitally can work with you to identify the best solutions for your business needs and your available skill sets.
5. Manage data disruption
   Data can make such a big impact oln business operations, marketing and direction, data can be quite disrupting to business. If you are not willing to embrace data disruption then analytics and business analysis in general is probably not for you, you are probably quite happy with the status quo. But if you want your business to grow then you will to be prepared to mnake some tough decisions depending on what your data is telling you.

Digitally has a wide range of resources that could you on our website, we offer a variety of services aimed at helping you to increase your analytical capabilities and maximise your online marketing efforts to improve your digital outcomes for your business, why not see how Digitally could help you today.