How to Use Big Data Analytics to Grow Your Marketing ROI

Every form of marketing is aimed at getting the attention of prospective customers. The effectiveness of every marketing campaign is thus determined by the response gotten from customers as well as the prospects. The response of clients would then determine the returns on investment of the marketing endeavors. Do you know big data analytics can help you grow your marketing ROI significantly?

Generally, data informs decisions that are made across all forms of organizations. Existing data would inform the executives on what has worked in the past and what could work in the future. Data plays a particularly strategic role in marketing, as marketing simply requires engaging the target audience in a way that inspires the needed reaction. The best way to engage a client could be developed based on insights gotten from available data.

Also Read: Big Data Analytics in Government: How the Public Sector Leverages Data Insights

Big data and digital marketing

Big data present a large volume of data from a variety of sources: data that can be analyzed to determine the most effective way of engaging clients. Data analytics is, thus, critical to the marketing efforts of the 21st century. A significant proportion of this marketing is digital marketing, which includes all methods of reaching out to a target audience through the Internet. Data analytics particularly drives digital marketing.

Even with the large volume of data made available with big data, the needed results could not be achieved if the available resources are not applied appropriately. Research has established the effectiveness of big data analytics in improving the marketing ROI of organizations. A study carried out by McKinsey & Company showed that an organization in the insurance sector improved its marketing ROI by 15% within four years without expanding the marketing budget because of the utilization of big data analytics.

The proper application of big data to achieve the necessary results is driven by the ability to identify the right data and be guided by insights gotten from the analysis of that data. Marketing campaigns aimed at a specific demographic is best guided by data specific to that target audience.

Identifying the target audience, extracting data that applies to the target audience as well as analyzing such data is thus critical to the success of every marketing campaign.

The application of big data as regards marketing should thus be strategic. We focus on how to strategically use big data in this article.

Why big data is important in digital marketing

Digital marketing targets users of the Internet, presenting products and services to them in the most appropriate way. The insight needed to achieve this task is provided by big data market tools.

Big data marketing tools have proven to be cost-effective measures of carrying out digital marketing effectively because of the extensive reach provided. Big data marketing tools provide insights based on a large volume of data at a fraction of the cost of achieving such impact through other measures. Big data insights improve the cost-effectiveness of digital marketing, which is a cost-effective marketing option in its own rights.

Digital marketing, especially with big data analytics provides small businesses with a level playing field because of the extent of the reach that could be achieved. Small businesses are presented with opportunities to significantly improve their reach with digital market backed with big data analytics.

How to use big data in digital marketing

Marketing decisions: The marketing ROI of an organization is bound to grow when the focus is on data-based findings. Research has indicated that, even with the volume of data available since the advent of big data, organizations still tend to make marketing decisions on features that are not data-driven. A marketing campaign could be approved, for example, because it seems attractive without data confirming its viability.

The impact of big data on digital marketing is significant, and this effect can only be achieved when decisions are driven by insights gotten from big data analytics.

To effectively use big data analytics to grow the marketing ROI, it is imperative for every campaign to be backed by insights gotten from big data.

Global Reach: The Internet changed the way interactions can be made, turning the world into a global village. The world is thus so small that marketing efforts could be targeted at a global reach.

A major role which big data can play in the marketing activities of organizations is driving global reach. Big data analytics empower organizations to establish a global reach. With big data analytics, an organization is empowered to reach out to an audience in a different country or continent. These organizations would be able to identify parts of the world where their products and services are needed and make moves towards establishing a relationship with prospective customers.

The combination of big data and e-commerce provides organizations with the necessary insight and means for establishing international as well as intercontinental presence. Simply put, every organization is empowered to improve its reach with big data analytics.

As regards establishing a global reach, it is also noteworthy that the application of big data includes carrying out marketing activities effectively across different social media presence. With big data analytics, organizations are able to manage activities across different social media platforms towards establishing a global presence and engaging with the target audience in the most effective way.

Consumer behavior: The performance of organizations is driven by their knowledge of consumer trends. Whether the consumer of a product or service is a business or an end user, the knowledge of the trend of activities of the consumer plays a major role in determining how well the organization will be able to engage the end user.

Consumer trends change consistently. An organization that is able to adapt its operations towards this change would achieve a better turnover than an organization that does otherwise.

Big data analytics allows organizations to monitor the ever-evolving behaviors of their consumers. In the media industry, for example, there has been a shift in consumer behavior from print media to more mobile forms over time. As a result, organizations have had to modify the way services and products are offered to accommodate the change. Organizations that were able to modify their operations effectively have been able to adapt to the change.

Other notable changes in consumer behavior over time include the emergence of influencer marketing as an effective means of engaging consumers. The influence of the different social media platforms on the buying decision of the average consumer is another major consumer trend that has developed over time.

With big data, organizations are even able to predict future trends from developing activities. Identifying and following consumer trends is thus an effective way of utilizing big data towards improving the marketing ROI of an organization.

Customer targeting: Big data has such an influence on the marketing activities of organizations because of the volume of data it makes available. This volume of data could be effectively applied in consumer targeting to identify the most appropriate target for a particular product or service.

Although other tools are available for targeting the consumer base, a lot of these tools are very limited when compared to big data-based tools. These big data-based marketing tools identify the most appropriate target audience for a product.

The specific target audience for a tool or service is determined based on analytics on the activities of a large scope of audience and then streamlined based on established criteria.

When effective consumer targeting measures are applied, marketing campaigns are bound to be most effective because marketing activities will be targeted at the most appropriate audience.

Marketing activities are most effective when they are targeted at the required audience. With big data analytics, this audience is not as broad as it could be because of the large volume of data analyzed.

Customer engagement: The rules of engagement differ across the different categories of customers of every organization. Organizations are better equipped to engage their target audience in the most appropriate manner, with insights gotten from big data analytics.

Consumers will gravitate towards an organization that they believe engages them in the most appropriate manner. Big data thus changes things from a “one size fits all” approach to a strategic approach that will be targeted at engaging the client in the most appropriate way.

Big data provides insights on consumer activities such as the social media platforms they use the most as well as the websites they visit more. With big data, organizations can also tell, from the online activities of the consumer, the best time to contact them. With the information provided by big data analytics, organizations are able to tailor and create the most appropriate marketing approach.

Once an organization is able to create the most appropriate campaign for a client, they are able to gain the trust of the client and are bound to establish a long-lasting relationship with such a client.

Simply put, with big data analytics, an organization is able to relate with a customer on the terms of the customer. When the focus is on the customer rather than the organization, the customer becomes inclined towards establishing a relationship with the organization.

Customer retention: Marketing ROI is determined by old customers as well as new customers. While the focus should be on reaching out to more clients and establishing a wider reach, enough attention should also be paid to the existing customers.

Big data allows organizations to achieve these two important purposes for improving marketing ROI. Organizations are able to utilize big data towards customer retention because of the insights they get on consumer preferences with big data marketing tools. These tools drive prioritizing existing customer based on insights on their preferred products and services as well as their preferred modes of interaction.

Big data allows organizations to engage clients more effectively, too because of the automation of interaction processes.

Target consumer engagement: With big data marketing tools, organizations get insight into the most appropriate way to break into new grounds. Apart from identifying prospective consumers of products and services, big data tools also provide organizations with the necessary insights on engagement.

Organizations are thus equipped to convert a target with big data marketing tools. The applicable methods of engaging a prospective vary widely if a general method of approach is applied in reaching out to prospective consumers; results obtained are bound to be significantly lower.

By engaging a prospective client in the most effective way, organizations are sure of earning the trust of the potential client and converting them.

Performance analysis: In improving the marketing ROI of an organization, performance analysis is a necessary process. Performance analysis compares the outcome of activity with the expected result. Big data analytics drive performance analysis providing insights into areas that could be improved.

The expected outcome of marketing activities does not always align with the actual outcome. Customer profiles could indicate a different direction from the path taken by the customer.

With big data marketing tools, the marketing team of an organization can place the expected outcome and the actual outcome side by side and extrapolate how consumer behaviors differed from the expected behavior. The insight gotten from performance analysis could also indicate developing trends in consumer behavior.

Predictive analysis: Big data tools also enable organizations to carry out predictive analysis for specific periods. Consumer behaviors are bound to be influenced by seasons. Although consumer activity is naturally expected to follow certain trends during specific periods, these trends could be influenced by other factors which could be predicted by big data marketing tools.

In the holiday seasons, for example, consumers are expected to buy more of certain products. Over time, the preference for such products could decline. Guided by big data analytics, organizations are able to make necessary changes based on predictive analysis for specific seasons. The predictive analysis could also be applied to products and services.

Over time, with the insight gotten from performance analysis, organizations would be able to tailor marketing activities better.

Conclusion

Generally, big data analytics provide insights that would not be available otherwise. The insight then guides the activity of the marketing activities of the organization to ensure that it is aimed towards attaining the most benefits.

The effectiveness of big data analytics is dependent on appropriate applications, and the areas highlighted above are specific areas where big data can be applied for the most impact.