Analytics gives you the power to grow in two strategic areas. It helps you understand the growth your business has had and forecast the direction your company can take in the future. It is one of the hottest topics in business today. While it has always been a growing focus, the pandemic rapidly pushed it to the front of business strategy
The challenge for most companies is where to start? Studies show that people often feel overwhelmed about where to begin and how to apply analytics. The good news is analytics are way less daunting than they are perceived. “It’s a lot simpler than it sounds. And there are a lot of great tools to make it so,” said Kit Kiefer, lecturer at UW-Stevens Point (UWSP) School of Business and Economics, chief polymath at Polymath Research + Marketing, and CMO for Agency 81.
“The most important analytics are the ones that specifically measure progress toward the goals you’ve outlined in your business and marketing plans,” said Kiefer. “If you say you want to increase your sales by 10%, are you actually increasing your sales 10%? If you want more people to interact with your brand are they doing that?”
Three areas Kiefer suggests a business to focus on for analytics are as follows:
- Market Analytics: This is the analysis of the size of your market and how much of your market you can reasonably capture. Understanding your current and potential client base will help to make business decisions that align with target audience.
- Performance Analytics: Are you getting the results from your efforts that you wanted to get. For example, are you making the money you wanted? Are you actually getting the results from your effort that you initially planned to achieve?
- Marketing Analytics: Is your target audience actually responding to the message you are sending out? Is the customer perception of your business aligned with your perception?
“The more small businesses move to customer relationship management systems, social-media tools, and data-aggregation platforms, and the more heavy lifting those platforms do, the better small businesses will become at making big decisions,” said Keifer. “And that’s great news for everyone.”
Are you looking for assistance to expand the use of analytics in your business? First, reach out to the Small Business Development Center at 715-346-3838 or via email at uwspce-bus@uwsp.edu and find them online at uwsp.edu/sbdc. Also, consider hosting an intern to help you structure your analytics system. Contact Associate Professor Ricardo Boeing at 715-346-2736 for a consultation to explore and create a customized internship plan.