The reality of Big Data has arrived

Large data sets, known as Big Data, are becoming an increasingly frequent topic in the industry. The trend has even created a new profession – Chief Data Officer. Over the coming years, more and more advanced algorithms and tools will appear on the market to enable customers to receive personalized, behaviourally-targeted advertising in real time.

Large data sets, known as Big Data, are becoming an increasingly frequent topic in the industry. They featured in many annual summaries and trend forecasts published by national experts. Big Data is also a central theme in the reports of global research and consulting companies. Gartner reports that by 2019, 90 percent of large organizations will employ a Chief Data Officer, but only half of them will achieve success. The most likely cause of failure will be simply too much data to analyse. Anyone who thinks it will get easier is sadly mistaken.

It is unlikely to get easier because the amount of data will multiply extremely quickly. The American eMarketer, which predicts trends for the coming years, has just published a report called ‘11 Key Digital Trends for 2016: Our predictions for what will – and won’t – happen next year’. The report shows that people from the Millennial Generation (11 million Poles), as well as the following generation, the so-called Centennials, have no problem – generally speaking – with sharing, even more, data. And what are the most frequent reasons for sharing data?

57 per cent of respondents mention promotions, coupons, discounts and product recommendations, 32 per cent talk of ‘information that helps decision making’, and 31 per cent say they share data if it allows them to solve a problem or get access to somewhere they can get help. Respondents are saying outright that if there is something that will help them save money or time spent searching for the solution to a problem, they will ‘say’ a lot about themselves (e.g. by logging in via Facebook, completing surveys, performing specific activities, etc.). On the other hand, we see the arrival of companies who are keen to kill two birds with one stone. They offer help in solving customer problems (e.g. via content marketing), thereby building trust in the brand while also gaining information that they can use later in ad targeting. All to be able to target customer needs more accurately while simultaneously optimizing ROI. This trend is becoming more visible – there is no question that advertising and Big Data have a common future ahead of them. Today, however, Big Data is still more of a buzzword than a real value used by companies on a suitably large scale.

I have no doubt that the effectiveness of campaigns conducted on the basis of Big Data will result in us having to deal with an increase in the number of customers interested in Big Data, as well as growing demand for professionals who can analyse large data sets (and there will be much fewer of the latter). We will certainly see more and more advanced algorithms and tools that enable customers to receive personalised, behaviourally-targeted advertising in real time. In fact, this is already happening, although not yet on a mass scale. However, the trend is clear.

Article originally published on Gemius.com