One of the best ways to stay up to date on what is going on in any industry is to read white papers and research reports distributed by major companies in the space. For example, in the digital marketing world, Experian is one of those companies that works with both small and large advertisers to implement digital marketing campaign and strategies.They recently released their "2014 Digital Marketer" report which is packed with information (138 pages to be exact!). (Click here to view it.) Out of this large report, one particular section I really found interesting is regarding the topic of 'Big Data'. This is a buzzword in the industry, but it doesn't have much meaning unless there is more definition and context around it. In this section, Experian explains how 'Big Data', or all of the data exhaust that exists because of consumers utilizing multiple channels and devices on a daily basis, needs to be made actionable. If it is not, then companies are losing out big on additional revenue, and I mean big revenue.
They estimate that retailers in the US alone lose nearly $100 billion each year because they haven't harnessed their data to execute intelligent cross-channel (online & offline) campaigns. I'm sure everyone can think back to a time where a brand has sent you an irrelevant message because they didn't leverage the information they had already collected about you. I don't want my insurance company showing me online ads and sending me prospecting emails that say 'Switch and Save with us!'. That's what I (and other consumers think), "Hello! Don't you know I'm already a customer?" It would be much more effective for that company to show me marketing messages that tell me how I can bundle other products with my current auto policy.
By combining the 'Big Data' that is collected across a company, whether it's from a website form, an online sale, an SMS subscriber or in-store purchases, to create a single view of the customer, advertisers can recognize significant growth in revenue from delivering personalized one-to-one content to customers and prospects.
If you take a few minutes to review the Digital Marketer report, I would love to hear what facts and trends you found valuable.
I think that you make a great point about not wanting to see ads for things you already have but I personally do not think that any more data needs to be collected. We already live in a world that looks at everything we do. Companies look at everything if they can get a hold of it. I just feel that if any more of my personal information is collected they might as well just tell me things about myself that I do not know already. Although it would be nice to not see ads for things that I already have but I would rather see those ads then let companies get ahold of more of my information.
ReplyDeleteBig data has certainly been a trending focus on recent business analytic activity. Years ago (circa 2008), most investment firms (about 98%) did not utilize any kind of social media date (referred to as unstructured data), but based on recent data – more than 50% of investment firms utilize and monitor data obtained from these social media outlets (Kudyba, 2014). In fact, the World Economic Forum has now classified this subset of data as an economic asset – tracking things such as tweets, scanning comments on buyer sites, and processing job offerings on Web sites such as TheLadders and Monster.com (Kudyba, 2014). That is a lot of information – even from this smaller subset of data. It is no wonder to me that the biggest challenge facing marketers (per the Experian survey) is collecting and managing structured and unstructured data, as well as possessing the correct CRM system to effectively manage customer interactions.
ReplyDeletehttp://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=nuoxAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=big+data+marketing&ots=6S8ivpjFxc&sig=GXMq3m0FPzJNdfmvkscUOm_J07M#v=onepage&q=big%20data%20marketing&f=false
Nice post – there is a lot of good information available here!
Hi Eleise, I've definitely noticed and increasing number of white papers being released by one of the companies I service at work. Granted these documents are on financial investing & life insurance for the most part, I think your claims still holds true. I really enjoyed viewing the attached document you linked to in your post. I think in terms of marketing, especially e-marketing, pages 27and 28 were particularly interesting as they provides some great data on the apps and websites users are using & viewing the most. I think all of the data that is being released surrounding the use of mobile phones & tablets goes a long ways to show just what direction we are moving in as consumers & how we want our information delivered to us. This information would definitely be useful to CMO's that are looking to get ahead of the curve when it comes to their e-marketing strategies.
ReplyDeleteThat was a really interesting read! I agree with you that I am tired of seeing ads for things I either have, or just do not apply to my life. I really do not have a problem with more data being collected by my searches to personalize ads for things I might actually use or want.
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