Big data ushers in a new age of insights. Marketing benefits from this especially because it is trying to achieve personal connections on a mass scale. It is impossible for a human to go through each data point in a population of millions and decipher what is most important. Tools like artificial intelligence and data mining software help marketers effectively achieve their goals. Here are some of the ways that big data is becoming an indispensable tool for marketers.
Targeting
Using big data, targeting is made more effective in two ways. First, target market research is more robust and still conclusive. With large samples, finding common values is more probable. The number of data fields with each sample is larger than ever before today with information on shopping history, website history, income levels, and more. Finding new connecting insights within a target market is a huge benefit from big data.
Second, targeting within different ad platforms is more effective. This goes hand in hand with the first way that big data affects targeting. After you have researched who your target market is, the trick becomes how do you reach them. Using platform integrations with big data you can often use social media to accomplish this. Facebook and LinkedIn have robust targeting and analytics systems for posting ads. These are prime examples of how big data is used to accomplish better targeting. Other industries lean on direct mail for targeting or other traditional advertising mediums.
Personalization
People want to see more and more personalization today. They like to see themselves reflected in the brands they shop from. They like to see characteristics of their personality in the products they buy. More opportunities for customization appear in every industry. One size does not fit all anymore. With big data, personalization becomes more of a reality. It fits hand in hand with targeting because you can use big data to find patterns, particular target demographics, and then customize messaging and products for those groups. You can use email newsletter templates with data fields to automatically populate the email newsletter with your customer’s name, address, and perhaps a recent product bought. Use your target market research from big data to personalize your business towards key audiences you have found.
User Flow
With resources such as Google Analytics and Chrome extensions, you can understand user flow at a deeper level. Visualizations within Google Analytics, for example, show how users come and go through a website. Depending on your business type and website function, this may be the beginning of Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) research for you as well. Using big data for CRO leads to more accurate results as you perform A/B tests. A/B testing is really only possible with big data, or else your conclusions may prove false. Make sure that you have a platform that can properly track and assess test outcomes.
Semantic search is another example of how user flow will be improved by big data. Individual keywords can often lead to incorrect search results. By paying attention to semantics, search engines can understand more natural search terms. There is a mix of artificial intelligence and page ranking algorithms that will contribute to this. With more and more traffic to your site, the information is catalogued and collected as big data to inform you on user search queries. Artificial intelligence finds patterns in this big data and recognizes true search intent, despite any previously difficult semantic queues.
Artificial Intelligence
I’m not exaggerating when I say that absolutely any analytics using big data can be improved with artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is itself always improving by nature and by advancements in technology. Insights can be difficult to find but rely on patterns. Artificial intelligence sifts through big data to find patterns that humans may struggle to think of. It takes out a lot of the guesswork previously required and performs numerous calculations and tests within seconds. You may have seen recent examples from IBM Watson that find relationships in all categories of business and life. You can even ask Watson questions, and its machine learning system will correctly interpret what you are asking and return the data or answers requested.
Reporting
There are a few already mentioned factors that contribute to better reporting using big data. Big data means more conclusive data because you have larger sample sizes and data to work with. With artificial intelligence, you may arrive at insights that you didn’t anticipate before. With more insightful and conclusive company reports, big data means better profitability for your company. Fill your white paper template with the insights and supporting research from your data. Then, get ready to publish. Promotions and bonuses might be in your near future. That is if there are some big data insights to support that.
Final thoughts
It would likely be surprising to see how big data is used in marketing just five years from now. The progression of technology makes marketing more effective because we are now better informed and more capable. Mass communication feels more and more personal each day it seems. Next time that you see a social media ad or piece of mail that looks like it was made just for you know that it probably was. Or at least for like-minded individuals in your same demographic. Targeting and personalization are more possible than ever before.
Who will be the ones to capitalize on big data in marketing? That’s ultimately up to each. Education systems will likely incorporate more technology classes to create the marketers of tomorrow. Marketers today will need to continue to stay on top of their game to compete with other companies and organizations. Online courses make using big data within marketing easily accessible and usually for fairly cheap. Knowing how to use big data in the marketing field is already often required for large company roles. Small business will still benefit greatly from marketers who have an understanding of how to use big data in their practices. How have you seen advances in the use of big data for marketing? What stories of success with big data marketing do you have?
