Typically, when you think analytics you think big data, and when you think big data you think enterprises and medium-sized businesses. The idea is that analytics software needs a great deal of data from which to derive insights on trends. However, small businesses can and should use automation and analytics tools. The reasons are simple: automation saves time, and analytics software can thrive on small datasets that are highly relevant. It’s better to have a limited amount of relevant, proprietary data regarding a single issue than it is to have a ton of data with irrelevant, bad data in the mix.
In 2019, startups will understand the value of their proprietary data and will use analytics and automation tools to compete at capturing niche audiences. If you’re a small business owner, you’ll discover that 2019 is the year to take your business to the next level in the following ways:
They’ll Use Inventory Management and Analytics to Drive Remote Sales
Small businesses can tackle inventory management in a brand new way: they can store inventory in a climate-controlled storage space wherever one is available in the country. Then, they can tag it, scan it into an inventory management software that tracks location, and distribute it remotely. Storage facilities are less expensive than commercial warehouses and they’re a good starting point for someone who wants to scale their small business.
This opens up the playing field to a brand new business model. Through e-commerce, small businesses can sell to anyone, anywhere. With remote inventory management, they don’t have to have a brick-and-mortar storefront and they can do same-day delivery. All they need is the inventory management software and contractors who can deliver on-demand. A customer makes an order online. The gig worker picks it up from the storage space and delivers it. The business owner tracks the delivery through their inventory management software, which is keeping tabs on the location of all merchandise at all times. The sale, of course, takes place on the e-commerce site.
The only missing piece in this puzzle is analytics software. Kristin Eberth reminds us of the Pareto Principle, which states that roughly 80% of effects result from 20% of the causes. This applies to both inventory and customers. The small business owner can be relatively certain of two things:
- About 20 percent of inventory will account for 80 percent of sales
- About 20 percent of customers will make 80 percent of purchases
With this information in mind, small business owners can analyze the purchasing trends of the customers who buy the most merchandise. They can get demographic information through web traffic analysis and can gain further insights on customers and target market through social media data. Then, they can use this data to be targeted when they establish small distribution centers in other cities, and they can understand which items they should order the most for these remote locations.
Furthermore, their online marketing efforts can be highly focused on the target market in new cities. Even further, analytics can tell them where everything is working, why it’s working, and the likelihood of continued success. Based on this information, owners can scale up or scale down operations in different markets.
They’ll Combine Digital Asset Management (DAM) with Analytics
By now you’ve realized this article is targeted at small business owners who want to scale their business. If you don’t want to grow and are not interested in making the most out of your assets, you won’t need DAM, nor will you truly need analytics. Since many small business owners do want to scale, DAM and analytics solutions are becoming an attractive proposition for 2019.
The biggest trends in digital asset management reveal the following:
- Small business owners can use automation in concert with digital assets to increase brand recognition.
- Entrepreneurs, who are increasingly reliant on digital video for branding and marketing, can use a DAM system for storage, organization, and retrieval of large amounts of digital video data.
- Small businesses that are going to open up new locations in different cities can use geotagging to catalogue and organize all digital assets based around locations.
- Small business owners can use DAM tools to automate categorization metadata whenever they add a new file to the system.
Business owners and entrepreneurs who want to quickly advance their digital branding and marketing efforts will use DAM systems to save time and stay organized. Essentially, DAM allows small business data to get big, fast. Small businesses that want to improve cyber security and provide easy asset access to multiple approved parties will also benefit from DAM.
An entrepreneur who wants to scale quickly could do the following:
- Use analytics to get data about the deployment of digital assets ” what’s working, what isn’t, who’s clicking, when they’re clicking, and what they’re doing after the click.
- Use analytics insights to determine which digital assets they want to capture in the future, and tell automated DAM systems to capture those assets (such as specific types of Creative Commons photos).
- Use analytics to get an overall workflow efficiency picture, from asset capture, to deployment, to return on investment.
All told, DAM and analytics will allow small businesses to scale digital operations quickly and efficiently.
Before inventory management software, DAM, and analytics tools became inexpensive, this was the domain of big business. In 2019, expect to see more small businesses breaking through with help from these tools.
