Business Intelligence Reporting Drives Profits

SMBs should be using their data to drive business.

These days, it is common knowledge that data is a humongous resource for businesses. Large corporations are using the data they collect, and even buy, to their advantage to market more effectively to consumers and achieve exponential growth.

But it hasn’t necessarily become common for the smaller business owners of America. Small and even medium-sized business owners don’t yet leverage their customer data to gain insights and marketing resources. For one, large corporations have a lot more resources and profits at their disposal than small businesses. 

Small business owners tend to be plagued with both limited time and limited resources. But that is not the only reason some businesses are not taking action. It’s also partly the perception small companies have that Big Data is reserved for Big Corporations.

It’s not that small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) do not recognize how important data is. They do. They just may not realize there are affordable resources available to them. Small business owners often think they lack the technical experience to analyze the information they’re collecting or how to put it to use. They just don’t realize they actually can afford to collect and analyze their data. And that there are some very simple yet powerful ways to turn that knowledge into a marketing resource.

How can data analytics benefit the small business owner?

There are many ways smaller businesses can benefit from integrating business intelligence tools. SMB owners can often have tight profit margins. Access to important data and information can help you reduce advertising costs and see a greater ROI. Following trends helps show which campaigns are working and which are not. This will help you weed out non-performing marketing efforts much quicker. 

Merchants can do all this once they see their customer data as a marketing resource, and not just something they must store.

Although, merchants do need to be strategic about the data they collect and how they use it to create marketing. For example, you may want to only market to a specific geographic location, or to customers with specific interests or buying habits.

The right kind of data can give business owners interesting insights into who your customers really are, and where they are. Data allows you to better know your actual market and not just the target market. It can also help you see what to change in order to reach the ideal customers or target market.

The insight business owners get from watching consumer trends can help streamline operations, better manage inventory, forecast more accurately, and balance costs. And they can benefit from all of this with the right Business Intelligence Reporting tools.

SMBs can affordably begin leveraging their own data as a marketing resource, right now!

If you are just starting out, you can set your business up with the best Business Intelligence tools from the start. You will have a leg up on a business owner that’s been operating for many years, but is only now trying to implement an effective data collection and management program.

But that doesn’t mean it needs to be overwhelming for those long time business owners either. Business Intelligence tools are for all businesses, old and new, large and small.

There has been a growing emergence of self-service solutions for gathering and analyzing data available to businesses of all sizes. These solutions give SMBs the ability to gather insights and data through user-friendly business intelligence tools. BI tools aim to collect information in an organized manner, making data analytics more user-friendly. Then they present that data in streamlined and understandable reports.

By making the data more presentable to the layperson, businesses do not need an IT specialist on staff to interpret the information. This way, any business owner can capture more data and then leverage that information in their marketing endeavors.

Tapping into the data you already have is a great start.

Gathering and analyzing your customer data gives you compelling insights that can then be used as a powerful marketing resource. Business Intelligence tools will perform data analytics to show business owners what is working and what isn’t. This way they can more quickly see where their business is most profitable. Being armed with this knowledge will help you make better and faster decisions on how to maximize each area.

Data can also help you see what customers don’t like. Where exactly are you losing them? When customers do not complete a specific action on your website, you need to know why. Then can you take steps so there is less friction at that particular stage. With less friction, there’s a greater chance they will complete that action instead of jumping from your website. 

Once you have data at your disposal, how will you interpret that data? For example, knowing how much website traffic you are getting is really great. But knowing exactly which demographic the majority of your customers are coming from is awesome! And actionable. Because data won’t do you any good if the information is not actionable in some way. 

Analyzing the various points of information will, in turn, help to steer you in the direction in which ways you should put it to use.

Big Data is NOT reserved for Big Corporations.

Business owners need only to decide to put their data to use to begin leveraging it as a resource to drive profits. From there, you can start as big or small as you need to remain within your budget. 

To start small, begin right away using a free tool you already have at your disposal. Google Analytics is a free digital analytics platform available to everyone. Begin extrapolating information immediately using Google Analytics on your current website. Google Analytics tracks visitor behavior such as where your traffic comes from and how long consumers linger on a specific page, topic or item. It also allows you to track the traffic you receive through your social media outlets revealing which campaigns are working and which are not. 

Ready to dive in a bit deeper? With MonerePay, your merchant account includes robust Business Intelligence software and a detailed back office. 

Your back office will have a full Business Intelligence dashboard where you have access to detailed reporting with actionable insights. And our BI software is cloud-based, enabling business owners to access information from anywhere whenever they need to. Robust reporting tools also conveniently organize your data, making it easy to quickly sift through. This way merchants can take actions on only the data needed at the time. Cloud based systems also tend to be scalable, allowing you to enhance features as your business grows.

There are cloud-based POS systems that offer limited Business Intelligence reporting. But the data they gather isn't as in-depth as BI software that’s integrated with your payment data. 

Turn your merchant account into a data mine and data analytics tool to drive profits.

When business decisions are based on data, you make smarter choices with confidence rather than just taking a shot in the dark. Leveraging the information you collect every time a customer walks through your door (even your virtual door) will lend to your success.

At MonerePay, we’re not here simply to sell you a merchant account. We are here to help provide solutions that aid in your success as a business. We want to help you gain new marketing resources by learning to leverage your customer and sales data. 

We have many options for integrating with your gateway, point of sale, and/or current software. Whether you are looking for a CRM, POS, or robust Business Intelligence reporting, call MonerePay today. Let us show you how to integrate tools along with our cutting edge payments solutions for a complete recipe for success.