Using weather analytics, a retailer and pharmaceutical company now can strategically time the promotion of an allergy medicine based on weather patterns and when pollen counts are beginning to peak that season. The result: The medication is top of mind when customers are making buying choices and sales soar.

At Marco, we process data to predict when traffic is the highest and lowest on our LAN (Local Area Network) so we can more effectively optimize its use and refrain from overspending or not having enough bandwidth to support our users. The result has been better service and bottom line savings.

So, how is this possible? It’s called “big data” and it has applications for small businesses, too.

What’s the Buzz?

Recent breaking news about the U.S. government’s collection of data from popular platforms such as Facebook, Google and Yahoo and carriers such as Verizon and AT&T recently catapulted big data to the forefront of conversations.

But even before the news broke last week, I was asked again and again by business leaders what it means for them and their local small business.

Data is a natural byproduct of what’s been called an “everything Internet” world and the exponential growth of information. Essentially, data is available on everything. That’s great news for business because data typically drives better decision-making.

Meet Zetta

The challenge is that there is so much data. It’s overwhelming for businesses to sift through, but it’s only going to become more difficult. By 2020, it is estimated that a zettabyte of digital information will be transmitted every day. That’s the equivalent of creating a stack of books to Pluto and back. 

What does that look like? 1 ZB = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes. A zettabyte of information is like talking about “gazillions” of dollars. It’s impossible to wrap the human brain around it.

In today’s business world, it’s no longer about collecting data, but rather determining what data to analyze and establishing specific analytics for your business.  At Marco, we can collect data on virtually anything connected to the network. But that does not mean we should.  

What It Means for Business

The ability to effectively sift through massive amounts of unstructured data and harvest vital information is the new competitive advantage in business.  At Marco, we’ve used data to predict call volumes to our Managed Services Help Desk and staff accordingly. Most businesses see a peak on Monday mornings. But by processing our data, we’ve also learned about other peak times that we would not expect.

Big data is already changing the way businesses can market. Using sophisticated audience expansion techniques, businesses can identify specific groups of potential customers who have the same or similar behaviors (act alike audiences) or profile characteristics (lookalike audiences).

TruSignal, based in St. Cloud, for an example, builds highly accurate and scalable custom lookalike audiences that businesses and marketing agencies use for prospecting and branding campaigns. TruSignal combines 40 sources of user profile data and predictive analytics to build a custom formula.

Having the right data is important. Identifying how to collect the data is key. At EMC Corporation, based in Eden Prairie, employees used a mobile app to voluntarily share their personal health information, such as “I ran six miles this morning.” The company then packaged and shared the data with prospective insurance providers. EMC cut their health care costs almost in half by having hard data, instead of the just demographics.

Through the app, EMC also enables employees to carry their personal health information with them. That means if an employee is having a health issue while traveling for work, they can give first responders specific information that could save their lives.

The applications for big data are limitless.  Every business stands to gain. The key is knowing what data to pull and analyze to make your business better.