Everybody keeps talking about how great big data is “ particularly for marketing. And, of course, it is great. It offers some fantastic opportunities, as has been shown over and over again. This is particularly true as the Internet of Things comes online, which offers an ocean of new possibilities. The thing is, if you don’t handle your big data carefully, then it can do a lot of damage as well.
Here we’re going to explore some of the biggest big data marketing mistakes that can cost you a lot of money. In that way, you’ll know what to look out for and you’ll be in a much better position to avoid them. Sound good? Let’s get started.
Low advertising conversions
The entire point of big data marketing is to convert lots of people. Of course, sometimes that doesn’t happen. Sometimes there are low conversion rates. That in and of itself isn’t a mistake. That’s just grounds for looking to improve your big data marketing strategy.
The mistake sits in the fact that some marketing teams don’t do anything about it. They continue on in the way they’re going, creating more ads and hoping that somehow the problem will fix itself. Which, of course, it won’t. The lack of conversions isn’t about the ads. It’s about something inside the site or the strategy that isn’t working properly and needs to be addressed correctly.
And so, when conversions are low, it is vital that the team refocuses on finding out why that is the case. They can try some different strategies, A/B test the results and then get back to creating ads. This will push back up the conversion rates and not cost you the huge slew of customers that you otherwise might have had.
Customer disconnect
GIGO “ or garbage In Garbage Out is very much a reality in big data. Big data is only ever as useful as the data that you supply it with. If your numbers are inaccurate or have lots of mistakes in them, then that means that the results you get from there are going to be off as well. One of the biggest ways that this can manifest itself is that you simply don’t have the right information about where your audience and your customers are at in life.
So, you might think they’re all middle-aged moms when really your product is mainly used by teenagers. That can have serious ramifications, as you try to sell them products that they’re in no way interested in.
If this happens several times, then not only will your advertisements, coupons, and newsletters not work, your audience will also lose interest in your brand, stop opening the messages that you’re sending them and go look elsewhere. AS you can understand, when that happens that can be devastating for your brand.
For that reason, always test your data “ particularly when you notice engagement among your audience starts dropping. Yes, big data is great, but don’t be afraid to back it up with the occasional questionnaire, outreach program or another method to see what’s actually out there.
Only in that way can you check the validity of the data that you’ve got.
The spam trap
Email newsletters can be incredibly effective ways to reach your audience and make them aware of the options you’ve got. The thing is, this can quickly backfire as well. For example, if you incorrectly segment your market, then you can end up hitting people with emails for products that they’re not interested in and find annoying.
When that happens, they’ll very quickly hit that spam’ button. That can be an absolute disaster for your brand, for when you’re hit often enough with that reply, then there’s a good chance that a lot of your emails doesn’t get through.
Even worse, when your platform has been marked as a spam platform by email providers, then you might as well throw in the towel. You’re going to have to start up again, win people’s trust and in other ways work to reestablish your email outreach.
For that reason, the moment that you see the engagement rate of your email campaigns drop, then you need to stop and roll out a new idea. Even worse, if anybody reports your email as spam, you have to take action immediately. That number is ridiculously low, by the way, if you’re getting two people to mark your content as spam it’s time to pull on the emergency cord.
Mobile what?
Yes, it’s understandable that many big data marketing companies focus on desktops and similar devices. It’s also a horrible strategy. For though it’s true that most purchases are still made on desktops, that doesn’t mean you can just ignore mobile.
In fact, there is plenty of evidence that people will first consider a purchase on their phone and the, once they’re sold, they’ll go over to their bigger devices to buy the product for real. This is often because desktops and laptops are just much easier to work with when trying to buy products.
The thing is, that means that if you hit them only when they’re on their desktop, there is a real chance that you’re too late. They’ve already decided what they’re going to buy and it’s not your product.
For that reason, make sure that your big data strategy also has space for a mobile strategy. That means, creating content that is always configured in a way that’s friendly for the smaller screens that many people have on their small devices.
Poor data verification
Before we talked about GIGO. Of course, that’s not the only thing that can go wrong with big data. Sometimes, the wrong information gets used by the algorithms and really embarrassing (And sometimes hurtful) things happen.
For example, OfficeMax sent coupons to Mike Seay, daughter killed in car crash’ which was unfortunately true. Mike’s daughter had died in a car crash only a year earlier. To receive that was obviously devastating for the father and not very good publicity for the company.
Of course, it’s very difficult to set up a system to verify if the wrong things are being added to emails, particularly if you’ve got systems that are sending out thousands of emails. At the same time, problems like this can be avoided. The main thing to look for is that your computer system flags any incidents where there are multiple English words in the supposed last name of a person and have people check that this is emails, okay to be sent out, after all.
Figuring things out too early
Big data sometimes allows you to know things before anybody else does. This can be a great strategy for making lots of money, but it can work negatively as well “ particularly if you’re in sensitive areas. For example, you might send an email to a pregnant woman before she’s admitted to anybody else that she’s pregnant.
This actually happened to Target, who sent coupons to a teenager for baby clothes and a crib, before she’d told her father that she was pregnant. Naturally, people were outraged (and very much crept out) that the company was aware of these things before anybody else was.
It’s always a good idea to get to your customer early, but it can be incredibly damaging if you get into early. This is particularly true if the products that you’re selling are related to things that people don’t necessarily want to admit openly yet.
For that reason, if you’re in the business of babies, sex, relationships or employment to name but a few examples, then think very carefully before you send emails or coupons to people who might not be ready to receive them yet. For in this day and age those kinds of things can very quickly go viral and severely hamper your company’s reputation.
And that can naturally cost you a fortune in lost costumers.
Last words
Big data has amazing potential. The problem, of course, is that it can very quickly be used in the wrong way. This is because computers don’t have red flags where they go okay, this might not be a good idea’.
Don’t let that happen. Make sure that there is still a human element that can double-check the worst situations. Always run what’s the worst that can happen’ scenarios when you’re planning these kinds of things. And always make sure that there are other people from other divisions who will get involved and ask the important questions. This might be a nuisance to the data team but can quite possibly save you from a huge amount of problems down the line.
