So technology is flying, right? We see huge changes every day, especially to how we receive and process information. Until recently, there’s been a lag in the time it takes for these changes to affect where we work. But now, with data technology changing faster than the speed of light, important shifts are happening in the workplace. Role boundaries are blurring. And it’s not just about giving IT and information officers more to do – big data is also revolutionising the marketing department.
Where there’s money, there’s marketing
The simple fact is this: with the super-sizing of our access to data, and the breadth and depth of analysis now available, we’re more informed than ever before about how we market, what we market, and to whom. We have shiny new tools with which to enhance information accuracy, recognise consumer shifts and, most importantly, predict and forecast the future.
Big data, cloud and real-time analytics
Some industry estimates claim that in the past, corporations have only effectively been able to use about 20% of their data resources. A massive amount of information has regularly gone to waste. This is big data: the stuff that continues to accumulate and grow, that swells like a tsunami with every tweet, Facebook post and online consumer transaction. Social media in particular has multiplied the quantity of online data far beyond the realm of profitable access.
Well, not any more. Cloud technologies are opening up this vast universe. It’s a mobile, fluent world now, with information freed from hardware-based storage and slow-upload streams. The big data, like an ever-expanding alien blob, has been transformed into instant data: lean, precise and targeted; opening up never-before-seen marketing opportunities.
Speed has made things real-time. Real-time analytics provide up-to-date precision and help you see into the future. New technology allows you to harness big data information and turn it into practical marketing strategies – that means analysing product demand, identifying thousands of potential buyers, contacting them instantly on their mobiles; and monitoring the resulting purchases minute by minute. Just like that. And all before your lunch break.
What does it mean for marketing?
In a nutshell, big data means access to (and knowledge of) a hugely extended audience. It means enhanced professionalism, through marketing based on digital precision. No sales calls, discount offers or last minute desperation. It means fantastic numbers on the quarterly report.
But most importantly, it’s a marriage between technology and marketing – a happy union whereby IT intelligence and technical know-how skip along merrily with marketing strategies and communication channels. We’ve entered a world where marketers can use technology to, say, isolate hundreds of thousands of buyers of a particular product, draw statistics that illustrate possible trends, target the buyer and – zap – make the offer while they’re on the bus. And that’s why big data is making a big difference.
