A recent Gartner Survey, “Predicts 2013: Information Innovation,” reveals 42% of respondents have either invested in big data technology or are planning to do so within a year. The popularity of big data technology can be attributed to the many possibilities it brings about for businesses.
Big data integrates data from diverse and disparate sources and subjects it to advanced analytics. The most apparent benefit of these analytics for marketers is newer and faster insights into prospects and customers, facilitating better engagement. Big data also offers rich insights into not just the customer, but also internal processes. With big data insights, the marketer can undertake many actions in real-time, thereby providing scope to change business processes for the better — faster and more efficient than before.
Big data provides answers
Instead of basic information that merely informs, big data allows the marketer to extract specific information aligned with business goals. This allows for the focus to be placed on innovation and improvement. For instance, simple analytics extract information, such as the growth in business volumes this year. Big data analytics make use of broader, deeper and more real-time data, and answer questions such as “how to increase online sales by 25% and loyalty by 50% by better understanding customers’ individual preferences.”
Big data also has the scope to generate big ideas. It offers the potential to identify new markets and sub-marketes, opportunities for completely new offerings, scope for personalization and customization in existing and new marketes, and a host of other information that facilitates informed decision-making.
And finally, big data helps marketers understand how customers prefer to interact with them. By customizing these interactions, real-time, organizations can build a greater bond with their customers.
