Big Data's Big Impact

Big Data is extremely prevalent in today’s world of digital marketing and social media. In the last few years that Big Data has become even more relevant and it has grown exponentially as a way to infer about consumers. According to Jonathon Stuart Ward and Adam Barker from The University of St. Andrews Big Data is ”a term describing the storage and analysis of large and or complex data sets using a series of techniques.” In its simplest form, Big Data is gathering information from behaviors and actions on the internet in large portions and using it to better understand the consumer when relating it to marketing purposes. Regular data being obtained from the internet has now grown into a massive consumption of information that impacts how companies make a large portion of their marketing decisions. This directly impacts marketing efforts by giving departments the ability to know more about how users interact with companies online, as well as providing demographic and behavioral information when it comes to consumers. 

One of the biggest areas big data has impacted is the realm of social media. Companies are now able to target consumers based on their interests and behaviors, leading to better targeting of audiences and more successful social media campaigns. Facebook ads are a prime example of this, as well as ads on Instagram. Users often can recall seeing ads that relate to something they have previously searched or something they are interested in. Most social media users see a majority of ads that are relevant to their lives, rather than just completely random. Rather than solely targeting large groups of people, Big Data has given companies the ability to target specific behaviors and demographics to spend their money more wisely and for a better return on investment. Big Data can help companies to understand more accurately how consumers behave and think. This not only makes it easier to target the consumer more precisely, but can also impact the mission of a company as a whole. Companies can use this information to alter their goods and services to more accurately fit the needs of their target audience.

When it comes to analytics, Big Data’s ability to sort and understand large arrangements of data gives companies the ability to see how users are interacting specifically on their websites. Big Data makes it possible to see how people respond to websites and how they interact online. Martech today discusses how Big Data helps companies understand consumers during each process of the customer life cycle and how to appeal to each stage better. Big Data also gives the opportunity to determine a customer’s “Life time value” (LTV) to see how much they are worth to your company. This makes it possible for companies to spend time and effort on the most valuable customers, rather than those that cost more than they are worth.

Big Data’s impact can be seen in programs such as Google Adwords and Analytics, and especially in Facebook’s power editor. When creating ads in Facebook, the power editor gives you the option to select not only demographic information regarding your target audience, but the ability to select particular interests and behaviors, without the consumer even manually entering that information into Facebook. When building an ad in Facebook’s power editor, an objective for the campaign must be selected. Options vary between reach, brand awareness, conversion, traffic, and more. They are each an option within the categories awareness, consideration and conversion. After selecting an objective, then a campaign name must be entered. If one was creating an ad campaign for a Fashion Blogger the campaign could be titled something like “Fashion Blog.” After the name is entered, then a target audience can be selected. Audiences from previous campaigns can be reused and chosen in the beginning of the process if you know you want to use the same information. The first place that is customizable is the location. If you wanted to reach users in a certain area this is where you can select that location. Age, language and gender can also be chosen in this part. The next section is detailed targeting, where you are able to enter in specific interests, demographics and behaviors. This is a prime example of how Big Data is used in the power editor- it gathers information about the users and provides the capability to sort users by these specifics. After this you can enter connection type. You can also select placement type- choosing how you ad appears to your audience. The final step of the process is budgeting and scheduling. A daily budget can be entered and you can select when your ad will run. The final large step of the ad making process is regarding the ad itself- the identify, format, and text of the ad can be personalized to best appeal to your target audience. Power Editor makes it possible to manage multiple ads at once, and according to Facebook it can save time by making bulk edits to your campaigns. Facebook also provides a blueprint E-learning course that gives step by step instructions and further details on how to more effectively use the Facebook power editor to it’s greatest advantage. 

Big Data is changing the face of advertising and making it much easier for businesses to reach more appropriate audiences for their goods or services. Entrepreneur  talks about many ways in which Big Data makes it possible to target the right audience. Big Data has made it possible to gather information on user’s previous behaviors and gives the ability to predict their future behaviors. Companies like Netflix use Big Data to determine what people may want to watch next based on what they have previously viewed. Big Data can specifically help companies remarket to previous customers and have them continuously using their services. When business know more about the consumer, they can market smarter not harder. Big data makes it possible for businesses to spend less money but get a much higher return on their marketing efforts.