The use of big data in marketing

Big Data is the solution to the unlimited desire marketers have to know more about their targets.

According to Amy Mushahwar, counsel and chief information security officer with ZwillGen PLLC, the number of internet users will reach 5 billion users in 2020.

The explosion of the number of users will automatically lead to an even bigger volume of data. While it can be seen as a huge opportunity for marketers, it might also be seen as a risk for companies as well as people.

How marketers pull Big Data into their marketing strategy?

Use of Big Data to clearly define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

Times have changed and you can now take advantage of the huge amount of data gathered over the years. In years past, marketers tried reasonable guesses to identify their ICP. Now, ICP can be extremely targeted as well as data-backed.

Use of Big Data to Create real-time personalisation to buyers

The job of the marketer is to send the right message at the right time. Every good marketing campaign aims to have the perfect timeline with the best relevancy.  This will increase email click-through rates and engagement with your brand.

Thanks to Big Data, you know who must be interested and when you should reach them to have the best conversion rate. Give an incentive to the people interested in your products or services at the specific moment when they are hesitant and you will ensure a new sale.

Use of Big Data to Analyse which of your content generates revenue

We are now able to analyse what blog content or what page on your website generates revenue. Thanks to Google Analytics, for example, you can now understand what topics your audience is most interested in, and which ones generate the most traffic on your website. This leads to a smarter marketing strategy.

What are the risks of Big Data?

The reputation of your company

To gather data, companies don’t hesitate to ask for personal information in exchange for a discount, or a free service. But consumers almost never read the “terms and conditions”. Therefore, they may never know what the data will be used for.

You may be legally allowed to do whatever you need with their personal data, but what really matters is what they expect you to do with it. Indeed, you wouldn’t like your prospects to feel their trust and confidence breached.

The building of sensitive databases

Sometimes, by collecting low sensitivity data, you may come up with a correlation that is sensitive itself. By collecting just an e-mail, you may have access to a First name and Surname. With malicious intent and using Google, you may then have access to way more data than the one originally collected.

Did you know that the “triple identifier” of birthday, gender and postcode allows anyone to identify 87% of US citizens in publicly available databases?

A risk of discrimination

An increase in segmentation could lead to discrimination as much as non-discrimination. We are now able to precisely target our prospects, but it also means we can precisely discriminate. Again, it is a question of intention.

Is the B.I.G Workshop for you?

All businesses face similar frustrations: weak brand distinction, inadequate prospect conversion, client retention, unenthusiastic employees and insufficient profit growth. Brand strategy & action plan never seem to get made, or, once made, fail to be properly implemented. But there is a solution. It’s not complicated or theoretical. The B.I.G workshop™ is a unique practical workshop for achieving the brand success you have always envisioned for your business. Successful companies have discovered it, applied it with ease and you can too. Click here to find out more.