Value of Big Data in Marketing

As the numbers in customer output characteristics increase, companies today are faced with massive amounts of data, both structured and unstructured. Such sizes in customer outputs make it impossible to ignore the potential effects on a company’s success that the efficient management and use of this data would have.

Big data allows the possibility for leading marketers to deliver a consistent customer experience across all channels. According to McKinsey & Company’s latest article on Omnichannel Personalization (February 2020), companies that can personalise customer experience across physical and digital channels (omnichannel) can achieve a 5-15% increase across their customer base.

Listed below are some areas in which big data is revolutionizing sales and marketing.

1: Customer Loyalty: Big data is allowing companies to locate loyal customers who they believe – due to their buying behaviour – do not plan to switch. Based on this information, clarity surfaces on which strategies are best suited to maintain their loyalty.

1.1: Example: Online bakery SugarCourted, after identifying that a large portion of their customer base was loyal, introduced a discount card which offered a free cake on every third purchase. This move not only helped maintain its customers, but also regained a share of its lost customers.

2: Cost Efficient Advertising Campaigns: Due to big data analysis, companies are able to gain an understanding of what their customers desire. This understanding allows the company to implement advertising strategies which can better communicate the ideology of their brand.

2.2: Example: If a company split tests an advertisement on different social media platforms (Facebook alone + Instagram alone), and data shows that 90% of sales came from Facebook, the company can choose to discard the Instagram ad and use that budget to double down on the Facebook ad. Thus, increasing the effectiveness of their budget.

Another example of big data’s impact on marketing is that it allows a company to increase its competitive edge. By understanding what feature of their product most attracted the customer to purchase it, companies can focus their marketing campaigns on highlighting this specific feature.

The evidence showing how big data is impacting marketing reveal one important truth, information is power. But only in so far as the insights reveal. The unfathomable amounts of data generated today is useless unless it is broken down into manageable and actionable insights. According to a TechJury report in 2019, every person will generate 1.7 megabytes in just a second. This kind of consumer output is demanding the attention of marketers and cannot be ignored. It also brings justification to what Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm, tweeted back in 2012 – “Without big data, you are blind and deaf and in the middle of a freeway.”

References

1: How Can Big Data Contribute To Digital Marketing Success? Jas Saran, 2018 Report: https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2018/11/08/how-can-big-data-contribute-to-digital-marketing-success/#296a50a21ca8

2: The end of shopping’s boundaries: Omnichannel personalization, 2020 Article:

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/the-end-of-shoppings-boundaries-omnichannel-personalization

3: How Can Big Data Benefit Marketers? Sidjah Hussein, 2019:

https://readwrite.com/2019/06/13/how-can-big-data-benefit-marketers/

4: TechJury, Big Data Statistics, Christo Petrov, 2019: https://techjury.net/stats-about/big-data-statistics/