Big DATA – Breaking Through The Noise

Getting consumer attention has become more of a challenge than ever. In an age of constant disruption, many brands look to big data to provide a competitive edge to survive the pace. The next frontier of innovation, data driven marketing has become a key focus for many companies looking to better understand the patterns and fluctuations of both consumer behavior and the trends that shift their thinking and buying decisions.

To many marketers though, the conversation about big data is just noise and not the game changing asset all of the buzz would lead you to believe.

SIMPLE DEFINITION

Large in volume, broad in variety, big data is information taken from multiple sources and analyzed to create better efficiencies, tap into consumer insights to better position products, launch new ones and maintain competitive edge. Sounds great, right? The question you probably have, is how as marketers take a buzz word like big data and effectively use it as part of our Marketing Strategy.

BIG DATA – THE BIG PICTURE

THE AGE OF SMART MARKETING

One of the key steps in transforming big data into a strategic reality is consumer management technology, platforms that aggregate and centralize fragmented customer data across multiple channels, including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile technologies as well as social platforms. Integrating these data points delivers a more holistic view of the Customer and their journey. Syncing up this data results in more sophisticated and intelligent segmentation and design which allows marketers to create more engaging and personalized campaigns, ultimately delivering a higher ROI. A synthesized data set allows marketers to gain a better grasp on brand affinity beyond just purchase value and history, helping to build more campaigns that foster advocacy and increase loyalty. Creating an influencer strategy is contingent upon accessing and understanding cross channel data. The consumer is constantly shifting as are their perceptions. The ability to stay top of mind requires rapid decision making in real time. Consumer management technologies are allowing marketers to move at the speed of life, allowing brands to engage based on customer preference.

WHERE YOU GO, WE GO

Retargeting has become a central focus for many brand marketers. The ability to compile and understand data gained from online interactions (search queries, keywords, clicks, and impressions) is a must and the information can be leveraged in many ways. Online data can tell you which of your campaigns and content is working best as well as point to new areas of interest from your customers or users. Retargeting based on site data is an effective way at a low cost point to drive brand awareness, increase overall engagement and the success rate of your SEO / PPC. While customers want a personalized experience, brands need to dig deep to define where the line is as many of these tactics could be deemed creepy by consumers. The challenge for marketers really lies in finding the balance so both the brand and the customer get what they want.

ACQUISITION

We’ve talked about your existing customers, driving loyalty and increasing brand affinity through smart targeting but what about getting new eyes on your brand? How does big data support your acquisition goals and foster brand growth? Understanding site data is the best approach and the difference between getting the attention of a general audience and the ideal audience. Not everyone comes to your site and converts, moreover not every user that does convert – does so in the same manner. Using tools to analyze the different triggers and piecing them together gives you the ability to focus more on quality users. Understanding the dominant demographics and primary referral sources to your site will help you decipher where you focus your traffic driving efforts most, whether ad campaigns or social networks. User flow data is key in building a more robust cross-channel marketing strategy. Of course there will always be an ebb and flow in user data but understanding the patterns and staying on top of them drives higher acquisition. The right audience, at the right time.

FINDING A FIX

As marketers, we, our clients and/or the brands we work for face problems whether decline in positive customer sentiment, product issues and negative feedback or brand reputation and/or crisis. In a recent blog, we talked about social listening and why it’s imperative for brands to get in the game. Data from social listening platforms and understanding it is key in finding the solution to many of the problems faced by brands today. In the past, we would spend a significant amount of time and effort, trying to draw conclusions from various different data sources. In this day and age, the consumer is telling us daily how they feel, what they want and when they want it. To many brands the idea of monitoring that has become cumbersome, but for marketers the ability to do so means quickly identifying the problem and rapid deployment of the solution.

CONCLUSION

We talk a great deal about the customer experience and in short, beneath mountains of data lies the clues that help us all improve it. The process is simple, identify the goals and use data to drive them. Consumer demand for personalized experiences makes data your biggest asset. Understanding the data is an integral part of any Marketing / Advertising Strategy, applying it is the key to a seamless and relevant customer experience.

“Real-time relevance is moving to become table stakes, and the quickest to move will win,” notes analytic data platform Teradata in its 2015 analysis of the industry.

From learning about the best data management technologies on the market to unlocking the Gates by understanding the story in your data Wilson is the Strategic Partner that can help you break through the noise. In upcoming posts, we drill through emerging data platforms and analytics tools, how to use them and share case studies on brands putting big data to big use. If you’re interested in learning more about data driven marketing and how we can help, contact us today.

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