With all of the data that is available nowadays, it becomes difficult to find the right niche for your product. Consumers are constantly discovering ways to browse the internet and its many services, making it the entrepreneur’s job to make their product stand out among the rest. Bridgette Bean, entrepreneurship manager for Google, shared her expansive knowledge on data at Cocoon, the largest co-working space in Hong Kong.  She talked about how certain aspects can really drive your business (or even hurt it.) Different levels of attention—whether macro or micro—influence revenue, popularity and overall success of the business you are trying to cultivate. Google offers a plethora of tools to help track trends, monitor markets, and understand customer needs. Google Public Data Explorer accumulates data from around the world, visually displaying it with line graphs and scatter plots. With this tool, you’ll be able to chart when it is the best to time advertise your product as well as where to sell it. For those of you who need to do market sizing, this tool is your friend. Google Trends keeps a record of what the popular searches are on the web, constantly keeping you up-to-date with your consumer’s interest. Because this data has a tendency to fluctuate, Bean recommends checking in on this information monthly. With the use of these tools. you’ll be able to predict what your customers want and need, probably before they even know it!

One aspect Bean stressed was to listen to your consumers and be open to new ideas. Nothing can stifle revenue more than a stubborn approach to an ever-changing atmosphere. Tiny details can also affect the outcome of a business, all the way down to the color of a button. It is surprising how much more popularity a certain picture can generate versus a similar one with a different layout. Guide the customer through your site so as not to get them confused or distracted. Paying attention to detail whether it is a global shift or tracking what a customer is searching for on your site will enable you to tailor your business to your target audience.

Bridgette (Sexton) Bean:

LinkedIn:linkedin.com/in/bridgettesexton

Twitter: twitter.com/bridgeabroad

Google Plus: plus.google.com/101612693270078027339