Big data analytics might be changing the way businesses look at data, but how much can be changed without a deeper understanding of what causes these trends? Your business model has everything to gain from understanding why and how big data trends come to be. In essence, understanding how the trends behind big data work is arguably more important than the statistics of big data itself.

Big data is, more or less, meant to help you determine your target audience and shape your current approach to meet one that is more friendly toward those who are most interested in your product. Understanding how big data works, and the trends behind big data, are two very different things. If your business can learn to understand how big data trends form and operate, you can anticipate changes in your market before they even happen. This helps you make educated guesstimates concerning the future of your marketing endeavors.

Of course, you also want to improve performance and sales. This makes understanding the problem more important than ever before. If you can understand what’s behind the data, you can find more efficient ways to resolve faults in your current practices. This is why it’s imperative that you understand why consumers are drawn to your products so you can better leverage your practices to suit new onboards.

Here’s an example, as explained by Inc:

If 30% of the people who engage with the content on [a] sales page leave, for example, there's a big difference between knowing whether they leave because the sales package is unclear or the price is too high. Or many of them simply can't figure out how to buy. Or whether they were serious shoppers in the first place.

Granted, it’s easier to discuss identifying consumer trends than it is to actually uncover them. One simple way of doing this is by integrating a customer survey into your strategy. This makes it simple to gather information concerning how your consumers react to the product, and gives them a chance to tell you how to make it better.

But, as always, there’s a reason that such a simple tactic doesn’t always work. Consumers don’t necessarily feel that they have to respond to a survey, and they see it as a waste of valuable time that would be better spent doing something else. Requests to respond to a survey might even annoy them, and force the consumer to mark the email as spam. Other times, the consumer might lie about their experience, which can obfuscate the results. Even though they might not have a valid reason to lie, the Internet fosters fudging of the facts, and online surveys can be bogged down with joke answers that can be misleading (or simply annoying).

One of the simplest ways to get honest and helpful answers out of our consumers is to offer an incentive to make responding to a survey worth their time. Both parties will be happy; you get your answers, while they get a little something that sweetens the deal. Examples could be a 30-day trial of a service, or a sample of a new product. Who knows; they might even turn into repeat customers. Of course, there will always be those people who take surveys simply for the incentive, so you should be prepared to take these answers with a grain of salt.

So, in essence, data analytics are only as effective as the trends behind them are in helping you achieve your goal. By leveraging this knowledge to your advantage, you can make prospective clients sign up more effectively and, in turn, earn more profits.