Big data refers to a collection of any information, including insights. It consists of all the data in huge volumes and is used by marketers to check on their sales and customers. It is too large and complex and cannot be managed by several management tools, especially traditional data tools.
Big data is also a collection of data analytics. They can be either of the user’s behavior or different predictive analysis.
It is formed when different organizations collect information in massive amounts and then integrate the data. All the information is analyzed and processed, and then it is collectively known as big data. It consists of different characteristics and features.
Four Main Features of Big Data
Big data has four main features. Namely, these are Velocity, Quantity, Variety, and Veracity.
Let’s discuss each of these features further.
Velocity
Velocity is the speed at which all the information is formed and stored.
The time taken by all the processes like analysis, generation, and integration is calculated, and then meantime is considered as the velocity of big data. It also includes the time at which all the information or data is utilized.
Quantity
Quantity or volume of the data is generated both by the user and with the help of machines.
If a machine is doing it, then it is an automatic process, and if it is in the hand of users, then the case is different. It is a collection of all kinds of movements, including the mammoth values and all the financial transactions.
Most of the volume of big data is generated in petabytes and terabytes.
Variety
A variety of big data includes two different things. One of them is the type of data, and the second one is the sources of data. There are three types of data:
- Structured data
- Unstructured data
- Semi-structured data
All three types of data are part of big data, and they collectively make it. And when it is about the sources of data, then the list goes on because social media have extended too many apps and websites. Therefore, there are a variety of sources from data that can be collected. The sources can be emails, apps like Instagram and Facebook, different websites, smartphones, and different appliances connected to IoT. Sometimes the information that forms big data is gathered from wearable devices and other social media sources. All the data from these sources make up the big data and are the backbone of all the information.
Veracity
It describes the quality of data and how accurate the information is.
Big data and its accuracy and uncertainty of all the information composed of big data depend upon this feature. It tells how trustworthy the information and its source are.
Big Data and Digital Marketing
Big data plays a key role in digital marketing as it helps the marketers and the business determine their business’ insights. It gives all the required information regarding their highs and lows, including customers’ behavior towards their business.
All the businesses that are into digital marketing pay keen interest towards big data and look up to it. Digital marketing is done to increase sales and to attract customers as much as possible. It helps marketers in increasing their traffic by making new plans and ideas for attracting people. And this is all impossible without the help of big data.
Big data and digital marketing are closely related to each other because of their goals. Big data works on increasing traffic by targeting the right people. It also helps in arranging campaigns for the targeted audience so that they can come and become permanent. And the same is the case in digital marketing. The main purpose of digital marketing is to increase sales and the number of customers by using new marketing strategies and tactics. Both of them are interconnected because of their purposes, mainly to engage as many people as possible.
Role of Big Data in Digital Marketing
When it is about what will last long in business and marketing, then data stays constant. Because there is no replacement of information and the words and fact figures stay as facts figures. You might create videos and other forms of marketing techniques, but what stays there is the data you shared in them, and that is why data is considered the king. An image or some other thing can’t replace because the data collected or the present cannot be transformed into another form. So big data is of great importance and is used in digital marketing to make it authentic and trustworthy.
Now that the digital form’s information is of great importance and is trusted the most, big data has become much more important for digital marketing. Big data helps find new strategies for digital marketing, and all of those techniques improve your marketing. It helps provide the insights of customers, and in this way, the marketers get an idea of how marketing is working and what things need to be improved. Your customers’ reactions to your marketing strategies can be identified, and in this way, mistakes can be improved.
New ideas can also be formed to make digital marketing effective, and traffic can also be increased. Big data provides all the required information to marketers to work on their ideas and plans and improve their customers’ lists.
Customer Insights
What matters in business is the sentimental attachment of customers with the company. If you are the company’s owner, your company’s branding is the most important thing that matters. And your branding is only going to be successful if you will target the right audience. The right choice of people will help you in increasing your sales and will make your business successful. And big data helps you in finding the right audience. In this era, where completion is so high, and people invent new digital marketing ideas, it is important to increase your traffic. And this is possible by having a healthy interaction with your customers. It is important to keep your interaction with customers strong from the beginning and this is possible by understanding their demands and modifying your company according to their demands.
Big data helps in doing sentiment analysis, which is the process of analyzing the demands of customers. Sentiment analysis gives you all the information regarding your customers’ insights, like how they feel about your company and their likes and dislikes. In this way, you get your audience’s opinion regarding your brand or your company, whether positive or negative. Customer insights give you the following benefits.
It gives you all the information regarding your weakness and strength. It helps in improving the quality of your products. It provides you with all the new information regarding new options or opportunities for your business.
Audience Targeting
When it comes to increasing their data, big data also helps marketers. The most important thing about customers’ engagement is their consistency, which targets the right audience. Digital marketing is all about increasing customers and gaining more traffic, and this is only possible if your audience’s choice is right. If you will target the irrelevant people who have nothing to do with your company, there is no way of going far in marketing and business. But big data is there to help the marketers select the right people and arrange personalized campaigns for them.
Personalized campaigns are all about sending your offers to the people you want. These campaigns can be done either through messaging or emailing those people your offers. And finding the right audience is done with the help of data analysis. Data analysis gathers all your customers’ information from their browser history and the apps and websites they visit. In this way, from data analysis, you can select the people who could show interest in your offers, and this way, you send them your offers in different ways.
Sales Increase
With the help of data analysis, big data gives you all the information about your customers. And then, digital marketers can get to know what are the choices of their customers, how often they buy products, and what are their payment methods.
By gathering all this information, the marketers can set their offers and give them to their audience and increase their sales. Sales depend upon customers’ interests, and interest is to be built by digital marketers by making strategies that can be beneficial for both the company and the customers.
Price Optimization
Big data gives the right choices for the prices of products. It also helps the companies in identifying their profit and loss. It favors the marketers in selecting the prices for their products and suggests the prices that will benefit their profit.
Big data suggests them after keeping everything under analysis, including the customer’s demands, the benefit of the marketer, and the company’s profit. After processing all the factors, it gives the marketer the right price for their product, and this, in the end, makes digital marketing successful.
Author bio
Sheikh Adil is a keynote speaker on social media strategy, LinkedIn marketing & social media marketing trainer, MediaHicon digital marketing author, and SEO consultant for global organizations.