Unlocking the Huge Untapped Potential for SMEs through the Superior Use of Data

All CEOs face many challenges, perhaps those of small and mid-sized companies more so than others. However, the current data-rich environment offers an enormous untapped potential for SMEs. Let me explain.

Today’s technically advanced and data-rich environment makes the strategic use of data a crucial element for success. While many companies recognise the importance of its leverage for marketing purposes, an often overlooked aspect holds immense potential: the comprehensive and superior use of customer-centric data. This is what I want to cover in this post.

If you would rather listen than read:

 

Understanding the Potential for SMEs to Use More Customer-Centric Data

Superior use of customer-centric data means going beyond basic data collection and analysis to integrate customer insights into every facet of a business. This holistic approach uses data to enhance product development, service enhancement, operational efficiency, and strategic planning.

Let’s look into each of these in more detail.

Why the Superior Use of Data Matters

1. Personalised Customer Experiences: Superior data utilisation helps all organisations, especially SMEs, create personalised experiences that resonate with individual customers.

Businesses can tailor their offerings, communications, and engagements to create meaningful connections by understanding customers’ preferences, behaviours, and needs. According to a report by Epsilon, 80% of customers are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that provides personalised experiences.

2. Predictive Insights for Proactive Strategies: Leveraging data allows SMEs to anticipate trends and predict future behaviours.

This foresight enables proactive strategies, such as developing new products or services that address emerging needs or adjusting marketing tactics to stay ahead of the competition. Gartner predicts that by 2025, AI-driven businesses will be able to capture up to $2.9 trillion in business value.

3. Enhanced Decision-Making: Data-driven decision-making eliminates guesswork and reduces the risk of costly mistakes. SMEs can make informed choices based on concrete evidence, leading to more effective resource allocation and improved outcomes. According to McKinsey, data-driven organisations are 23 times more likely to acquire customers, six times more likely to retain customers, and 19 times more likely to be profitable.

4. Operational Efficiency: Analysing customer data has huge potential for SMEs to identify inefficiencies and streamline processes. This enhances productivity, contributes to cost savings, and improves the overall customer experience. A Forrester study found that organisations leveraging data effectively see a 10% reduction in operational costs.


If you are an executive who believes you have untapped potential in your own organisation and would like to discuss your current challenges in data usage, innovation, or marketing, then why not CONTACT US? In a 30-minute CALL, you will walk away with at least three suggested actions immediately impacting your business.  


Transforming Marketing with Superior Data Utilization

The power of superior data use cannot be overstated for marketing heads. It revolutionises how marketing strategies are conceived, executed, and evaluated.

However, this means that they can no longer rely on creativity alone. They need to

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Market Research & Insight’s New Role is Customer Centricity Champion

I’ve just returned from a trip to Belgium. Apart from the greater presence of armed military personnel, it was business as usual. On Tuesday, I presented at BAQMaR, the Belgian very innovative and forward-thinking research community. What a fantastic and inspiring experience!

My talk was on how market research and insight teams could further progress the industry and their careers, by becoming the customer’s voice within their organizations. Here are my three Big Ideas and three New Skills that will enable market research to make a bigger and more valuable impact on business.

Big Data is not the star of the show, it’s just the support act

Everyone seems to be speaking about big data these days. Not a day goes by without an article, podcast or post about the importance of big data. I don’t dispute the new opportunities that information from smart chips, wearables and the IoT provides. However, data remains just a support to business and decision making. It’s what you do with all the data, how it is analyzed and used, that will make a difference compared to past data analysis.

Business doesn’t get what it needs

One of the problems that has been highlighted by BusinessIntelligence.com is that business leaders and especially marketing don’t get what they need. Executives still struggle with email and Excel spreadsheets whereas what they want are dashboards. They want someone to have thought about their needs and to provide them with the information they need, in a format that is easy to scan, easy to review and easy to action. They also want mobile access, so they can see the I formation they want, where and when they need it.

Information must become smarter

The current data overload means marketing are overwhelmed by the availability of data, especially from social media. They need help in organizing and making sense of it all. My suggestion is to use it to better underst and the customer. The who, what, where and above all why of their attitudes and behavior. This will certainly enable them to start targeting with more than the demographics that a frighteningly high number are still using to segment, according to AdWeek.

Information needs to become useful

While big data can have many uses, it is often so complex and unstructured that many businesses are unable to make it useful for business decision-making. My suggestion would be to start by asking the right questions of it. Data, both big and small, is only as useful as the questions we ask of it. (>>Tweet this<<) If we ask the wrong question we can’t get the answers we need. Therefore start by considering what attitudes or behaviors you want to change in your customers. By bringing the customer into the beginning and not just the end of the analytical process, we will make better use of the information available to us.

Market research and insight teams need new skills

In order to satisfy and leverage the opportunity that … Click to continue reading

Market Research, Business Intelligence & Big Data: Have we Forgotten about Human Data?

The annual pilgrimage to the ESOMAR Conference took place last week in Dublin. I heard that there was much discussion, both on and off the stage, about Big Data and the future of market research. Hopefully, the whole profession will get behind one initiative, instead of each individually trying to “solve world peace” on their own!

This week sees the second Swiss BI-Day taking place in Geneva and there will no doubt be similar discussions about Big Data and the future of Business Intelligence.

It appears that Big Data is not just a buzzword or a commodity that has been likened to oil; it has become the centre of a power struggle between different industries. Many professionals seem to be vying for the right to call themselves “THE Big Data experts”.

This got me thinking about the future of data analysis in general and the business usage of Big Data more specifically. There seems to be no stopping the inflow of information into organisations these days, whether gathered through market research, which is proportionally becoming smaller by the day, or from the smartphones, wearables and RFID chips, that get added to every conceivable article, more generally referred to as the IoT (Internet of Things). Who will, and how are we to better manage it all? That is the question that needs answering – soon! (>>Tweet this<<)

Data Science Central published an interesting article earlier this year called “The Awesome Ways Big Data Is Used Today To Change Our World”. Already being a few months old probably makes it a little out-of-date, in this fast changing world we live in, but I think it still makes fascinating reading. It summarises ten ways that data is being used:

  1. Underst anding and Targeting Customers
  2. Underst anding and Optimizing Business Processes
  3. Personal Quantification and Performance Optimization
  4. Improving Healthcare and Public Health
  5. Improving Sports Performance
  6. Improving Science and Research
  7. Optimizing Machine and Device Performance
  8. Improving Security and Law Enforcement
  9. Improving and Optimizing Cities and Countries
  10. Financial Trading

Many of these are not new in terms of data usage nor business analysis. What is new, is that the data analysis is mostly becoming automated and in real-time. In addition, the first and second items, which were largely the domains of market research and business intelligence, are now moving more into the h ands of IT and the data scientists. Is this a good or bad thing?

Another article posted on Data Informed a few months after the above one, talks about The 5 Scariest Ways Big Data is Used Today   and succinctly summarises some of the dynamic uses of data today. The author of both pieces, Bernard Marr, wrote that “This isn’t all the stuff of science fiction or futurism. Because the technology for big data is advancing so rapidly, rules, regulations, and best practices can’t keep up.” He gives five examples of where data analysis raises certain ethical questions:

  1. Predictive policing. In February 2014, the Chicago Police Department
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