There are two aspects of business that are clearly receptive to new technology – finance and marketing. Efficiency counts for a lot in every aspect of a business, but managers find it easier to justify investments in technology when it helps the business make more money or save more.
That’s what makes the oncoming wave of big data a perfect match for the still-nascent digital marketing sector. Big data tools can now be used to slice through the glut of customer data and find insights that can be used to drive marketing. A clever algorithm can scroll through a whole SEO movie to collect all the data, compartmentalize it, and apply it to improve sales within seconds. Tracking user sentiments, opinions, demographics, and behavior in real time is no longer science fiction.
Executives understand that Big Data could be as revolutionary for marketing as the internet was just a few decades ago. Here’s how it’s already changing the way businesses sell online:
Optimized Pricing
Pricing services and products is a balancing act. Getting the price right in today’s hyper-competitive economy is tricky for businesses without the right tools. Big data analytics can help businesses fine-tune their pricing and even offer customized pricing on the individual level for best results. McKinsey found that minor improvements in the pricing strategy could have a tremendous impact on the bottom line.
Customer Insights
Knowing and understanding your customers better is the key to forming long-term relationships. There’s no doubt better online tracking and web statistics will help shape an online marketing campaign. Better, bigger data is helping businesses create better experiences for their loyal customers.
Service Innovation
A study by Datameer found that one of the key areas of use for big data tools was product and service innovation. Businesses can now go beyond simply watching and learning more about their customers. CMOs can now dig deeper into customer data and figure out where the services can be augmented, where the pain points are, and which new products will perform best. A data-driven product development strategy could soon be the norm for all businesses.
Social Networking
Digital marketing has moved from search engines to social platforms. These social networking sites are thriving with key interactions, opinions and general consumer sentiment which makes them fertile ground for big data tools. Not only can businesses use these tools to target individuals based on their personal information, but they can also track down key influencers in certain markets, schedule automated content for their followers, and analyze triggers that determine customer satisfaction.
Granular Targeting
Gone are the days when CMOs would pick out the top ten keywords and formulate a strategy to target them. Now, with endless data at everyone’s disposal, creating marketing strategies is a lot less involved and a lot more meticulous. Managers can target thousands of niche keywords and automate the process of dynamically switching between them based on performance. Search engine optimization can go deeper with geolocation data and activity patterns within certain regions.
Most experts agree that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Marketing has always been deeply involved with verifiable data and consumer insights. Big data will fundamentally change the way businesses sell online.
Last Updated on August 11, 2019.
