Big data is the new buzzword every marketer is throwing around these days; apparently, this new tool is capable of revolutionizing the way companies operate in terms of boosting their profits. However, just how does big data impact companies and their customers, and how can marketing teams use this information to drive sales? We’ll be taking a look at this, as well as why you should refocus your marketing efforts to reflect this.
1. Big Data Gives You Raw Customer Insight
Big data is closely tied to social media – we’re talking about Facebook posts, tweets and content shared on Pinterest and other social media platforms. These avenues give you an easy way of analyzing what is being said in regards to your product, and what people really want out of the products they see in the market. A sub-section of big data has to do with a phenomenon called ‘social listening.’ This is when a marketing team sets out to analyze the different conversations taking place in social media, then using the information they have garnered to mirror it back to their customers in the form of formulating a product or service that acts as a wish fulfillment strategy. This information is free of charge, and can be quantified by doing a cursory Google search, as well as using analytics tools such as Google AdWords.
2. Big Data Helps You Predict Your Customer’s Needs Ahead of Them
Big data is at a point in its evolution where it can analyze customer data (think Amazon.com) and predict what kind of products the customer might need in the future. One company actually came up with a way of recording customers’ screens as they shopped, and used this data to strategically target different customers based on their shopping habits. Additionally, companies can track the movements of shoppers by use of data points, and get to see where these shoppers pause, helping them stock certain points of this conversion tunnel with products, increasing the chances of these shoppers purchasing a particular product.
3. Big Data is Big On Customization
Every customer is different, and offering the same deals to all customers across the board is counter-intuitive and suicidal to any company that is serious on fostering trust and loyalty. Big data allows you to study the different trends of each and every customer and almost instantaneously show them something that is aligned to their previous behavior in terms of shopping habits. When a customer feels that he is understood, chances are he’ll come back again to purchase your goods or services. This creates a habit-forming cycle that in turn leads to loyalty.
Summary
A 2011 report by McKinsey Global Institute found that retailers are able to increase their revenues by up to 60 percent by using big data. Big data can also help you assess promotional effectiveness in real time, thus helping refine your marketing strategies and reducing losses or excesses in terms of advertising budgets put down for a particular campaign. Your customers would like transparency, as well as the ability to access exclusive offers; big data gives them this. Make both your life and theirs better by embracing this powerful tool today, and watch as the profits grow in no time.
