Questions that have their answer in Big Data, a trendy concept among tech companies, and in particular in the Big Data Marketing. But can IT businesses alone benefit from it? Actually no, there are companies like GroupM, one of the largest advertising agencies in the world, that has centralized their Big Data in a single office located in New York, which has allowed them to save 120 million dollars. Macy's, the American department store company, has reduced the time to optimize price changes from 27 hours to one hour, but bear in mind it has 73 million items!
This is what shows the scope of the Big Data. Companies that use Big Data to understand who their potential customers are and what they need, are able to better respond with their products and / or services. But what does digital marketing have to do with it? Everything, Big Data can contribute to the online marketing with methodologies and tools necessary to improve results.
How?
The difference between the applications of analysis and management and what is understood by Big Data is that the latter can be really useful for online marketing, because a lot of data is needed to better understand users, generate greater engagement and sell more. Big Data features that can help us are:
Volume
Because regular software cannot handle the large amount of data we're talking about. In fact, Big Data is defined as a complex data set that is difficult to process only with the use of database management systems and traditional processing applications. The volume of information that comes to us from users is fundamental for all digital marketing actions.
Variety
Because there are different information formats to keep in mind and that Big Data handles (texts, graphics, images, videos, multimedia, etc.). Because the information comes from a lot of devices. And because the digital sources of information are diverse. Big Data needs a different technology than the information processed in the Datawarehose. In order for the variety to be useful for online marketing, it is necessary to be able to structure this information with tools that help its registration, analysis and interpretation.
Speed
Because the data moves fast and decisions can be made almost in real time. For this reason, companies also have to be prepared to react and respond with the best strategies. Consumers' habits and preferences may change from one day to the next, and managing this information can help bring about high-speed solutions. Does the last crisis of Samsung sound familiar to you?
Veracity
Because you have to be able to extract relevant data that you can trust. If data were unreliable, no matter the volume, it would be useless for your business. For this reason we need to be able to measure and evaluate the quality obtained from Big Data.
In 2008, the article “Big Data Computing: Creating Revolutionary Breakthroughs in Commerce, Science, and Society” stated that: "Just as search engines have transformed how we access information, other forms of Big Data computing can and will transform the activities of companies [...]. Big data computing is perhaps the biggest innovation in computing in the last decade. We have only begun to see its potential to collect, organize, and process data in all walks of life [...]".
If information is power, in the world of marketing it is even more than that.
What is Big Data's contribution to digital marketing?
Moving the Big Data features to online marketing we find that it has great practical applications to carry out more precise, focused and productive campaigns:
Structure and make the data profitable.
Have you ever lost information between departments? Unfortunately it is a fact in many companies. To generate content for our strategy, we need quality and up-to-date information. Losing information is a luxury that we cannot afford today. Big Data is able to create a unique data structure, so that each department takes advantage of the information it needs at any given time.
Segment your contact base.
Segmentation is a fundamental practice in any digital strategy. It is important to divide the contact base into groups or segments based on similarities and trends, to create more attractive and relevant content for them. Today, with Big Data, you can know the evolution of these contacts each week: what and how often they buy, how much they spend, what is their response to your brand, etc. Thus we identify their consumption patterns to classify them into justified segments.
Customize marketing strategies.
From this segmentation derives personalization, which is the future of marketing. Knowing your ideal client or buyer persona, as we usually say, is imperative. Big Data offers the great possibility of analyzing data that are not only demographic, but has to do with tastes and preferences to personalize the experience that the contact has with the product and / or service of the company.
Get more sales opportunities.
Having more information allows you to generate more targeted content for your potential customers. If these consumers are satisfied with the way you meet their consumption needs, it will be easier to get a greater number of sales opportunities, thus also avoiding the loss of customers.
Guide consumers.
Are you familiar with the buyer's journey concept? This is the buying cycle that every consumer goes through. In digital marketing it is crucial to know what the buyer needs persona or potential customer needs at every single stage. With Big Data you can extract key data from each contact to guide him through his purchase process.
What types of data should you keep in mind?
In marketing the practice of discrimination is a constant. It may seem negative, but the reality is that by being clear about the objectives we can think of the kind of information that must be analyzed to solve problems and improve strategies. Big Data offers an enormous amount of data, for this reason bear in mind.
Web and Social Media. It is the web content and the information that is obtained of the different platforms of social networks and blogs.
Machine-to-Machine (M2M). Are technologies that allow you to connect to other devices such as sensors or meters that capture data that is transmitted to other applications that translate this data into meaningful information.
Big Transaction Data. Includes billing records, telecommunications detailed call records (CDR), etc.
Human Generated. Users also generate large amounts of data such as information stored by a call center, voice notes, emails, digital documents, etc
Como ves hay por donde empezar. Apóyate en herramientas de análisis y gestión y piensa que invertir en conocimiento siempre beneficiará a tu empresa.
