Optimizing the growth of your startup is crucial for both immediate profitability and long-term success. While tapping into the “secret formula” for lasting growth may seem like a challenge, today’s founders actually have more resources available than ever before to help drive growth.
You can achieve reliable growth by tapping into the data that is readily available at your fingertips. By leveraging your existing data in the right way, you can optimize several facets of your startup so that it is better positioned for lasting growth.
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Identify your best- and worst-performing pages
Because a web presence is so crucial in today’s world, one way to start putting your data to work is by evaluating the performance of different pages on your website. Diving into the data will allow you to look at traffic sources, bounce rate, conversion rate and so on.
Use this data to identify pages that are performing well, as well as the pages that are underperforming. If a particular product isn’t selling, you might require higher-quality images or better keyword usage.
Alternatively, a landing page could underperform if its content doesn’t match the corresponding ad a user clicked on to get to your site. Performance data is the starting point for determining which individual elements of the page need to be changed.
A/B testing can prove vital in optimizing web performance. In a case study from VWO, software company WorkZone increased its lead generation by 34 percent simply by adjusting the colors on its testimonials page. Comparing proposed adjustments to your original “control” page can reveal surprising insights.
Related: 6 Performance Metrics Your Startup Should Track for Success
Improve the segmentation of your target audience
Social media and search engine marketing allow you to break down your target audience like never before, using information like interests, purchase history and demographics to give you a better understanding of what appeals to them.
A study from Bain & Company revealed that 81 percent of executives see segmentation as “crucial” for profit growth. Over a five-year period, companies with strong segmentation strategies also experienced 10 percent greater profitability. The better you understand your customers, the faster you can accelerate sales growth.
Evaluating data from current customers, Facebook followers and other sources where you can capture customer information will allow you to better understand how to appeal to your target audience. Breaking segments into measurable and accessible groups can help you fine-tune everything from the tone of your messaging to the communication channels you use.
Tap into the power of automation
As valuable as data can be, there is no denying that much of data entry and analysis can be tiresome and time-consuming.
In fact, a white paper from business intelligence software company, Sisense, reports that “80 percent of data scientists’ work is data preparation, and 76 percent of those polled reported that it was their least favorite task! […] Forcing them to deal with rote, annoying tasks like data preparation reduces morale and takes data experts away from the higher-value work that they could be doing to benefit the company.”
You will have a much easier time using data to optimize your operations if you allow AI to do much of the data collection and analysis for you. Machine learning-enhanced intelligence can automate these mundane tasks and it can even be configured to deliver insights based on your startup’s KPIs.
For best results, use a data analysis platform that collects information from all facets of your startup. Sales and marketing data, website statistics and even your logistics data are all related, and they can unveil how an issue in one part of your business is impacting your startup as a whole.
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Develop data-driven strategies
As valuable as data is, it won’t do your startup any good if it doesn’t become a central part of your company’s strategy.
According to the NewVantage Partners Big Data and AI Executive Survey 2019, 77 percent of businesses report struggling with “‘business adoption’ of big data and AI initiatives,” and only 31 percent of companies describe themselves as a “data-driven organization.”
Make sure everyone on your team understands the value of the data you’re collecting, and encourage them to use the findings to improve the overall performance of your company’s operations.
Better data leads to more dependable growth
By taking advantage of the data that is readily available to your startup, you and your team will be better equipped to identify both current inefficiencies and potential opportunities for growth. As you adopt a system that allows you to regularly review data related to your company’s performance, you will gain the insights needed to improve your bottom line and achieve continuous growth.
