It’s no secret that marketing has undergone a major transformation since the advent of the Internet. Now that the majority of consumers own a smartphone, Big Data makes it possible for marketers to engage consumers across a variety of touchpoints and influence every stage throughout the buyer’s journey. Big Data has, essentially, driven the transformation of marketing from what was once an art to a science, or as some may say, from soft science to hard science. Here’s a look at the biggest ways Big Data has reshaped marketing.
From Intuition to Data-Driven Decision Making
Traditional marketers had access to basic data, but before the Internet, smartphones, and sophisticated behavior tracking technology, this information didn’t reveal insights that marketers could use to shape marketing campaigns. Instead, they often relied on instinct alone “ and great instincts once separated exceptional marketing professionals from the average.
Today, marketers have access to valuable data, often in real-time, revealing how consumers are responding to everything from messaging to the color scheme used for a landing page. They have access to sophisticated search engine optimization tools with built-in analytics that can help content creators develop more human-friendly content, suggest keywords, improve page loading speeds, and much more “ all things that weren’t even on the radar of a marketing professional just a few decades ago.
No longer do marketers have to make an educated guess about what influenced the outcome of last quarter’s campaign; they can run A/B tests and determine which color, which headline, which call to action, and which offer will generate the most conversions before the campaign is fully launched. Keyword research and competitive analysis provides data that can inform content creation.
Previously, these types of insights could be gained from surveys and focus groups, but these tactics can be too time-consuming when you need insights on the spot. Prescriptive analytics make decision-making a scientific process based on data, not emotions or gut feelings.
Today’s Marketing is Personalized, Thanks to Big Data
Marketers have always needed to have an awareness of the target buyer. Where does the ideal customer shop? What are their pain points? How much income do they earn annually? Where do they live? What is their level of education? These types of profiles, or buyer personas, enable marketers to tailor messaging to the ideal buyer as a group or segment, but getting more granular data about individual consumers was a challenge.
Even if it were feasible to gather data on every individual audience member, options for delivering personalized marketing on an individual level were practically non-existent before the digital age. Everyone reads the same version of the local print newspaper, after all.
Today, segmentation is even considered an outdated approach to marketing personalization thanks to the ability to collect and analyze a vast volume of data on every individual consumer, track their behavior, and monitor every interaction with a brand across every channel. This granular data allows for true personalization “ targeted to the individual’s needs, wants, and preferences. With seemingly endless ways brands can engage with audiences these days, from two-way conversations via live chat or on social media to interactive quizzes, there’s ample opportunity to deliver unique, immersive experiences tailored to each individual.
Silos No More: Analyzing the Big Picture Provides Actionable Insights
The elimination of data silos further enhances the ability to influence consumer behavior. By examining the bigger picture and analyzing data to identify relationships between variables that otherwise may go unnoticed, marketers can more readily influence consumers to reach desired outcomes.
These actionable insights inform marketers about the best channels to reach a prospect, the best time to engage a prospect on a specific channel, and how to influence a prospect’s behavior. Lead-generation and lead management software has risen to the challenge, with a variety of software platforms now offering built-in analytics tools to help marketers nurture relationships throughout the buyer’s journey. Often, lead-gen software is integrated with additional analytics tools to enhance data even further.
Today’s Marketers Must be Data-Savvy
Marketing professionals have undergone a transformation, as well, all the way to the C-suite. Today’s CMOs, for instance, are increasingly data-oriented; in fact, an increasing number of marketing executives have a background in data analysis or other technical fields. The marketing function has expanded so drastically that it’s necessary for marketing leaders to build teams consisting of marketing professionals with myriad skill sets, from search engine optimization to pay-per-click advertising, content marketing, social media, and more.
Big Data has blurred the lines between marketing and advertising, bridged the gap between marketing and sales, and necessitated relationships between IT and marketing executives. Big Data analytics has made it possible for marketers to influence buying behavior, generate more revenue, and make smarter decisions to get desired outcomes from every interaction.
Make no mistake: marketing is still a creative pursuit, and it’s a field in which professionals have ample opportunities to flex their creative muscles. Marketing campaigns still must be conceptualized, planned, and executed; creative assets still must be produced; and content still must be developed with finesse. But thanks to data science, these creative efforts are now driven by science, giving marketers the power to make a bigger impact and generate better results than ever before.
