Identifying Micromarkets Through the Analysis of Big Data
As marketers, we all want to uncover untapped markets that we can tailor our message to, but as content on the Internet grows, the specifics of those markets becomes more and more difficult to uncover. Greater participation on social media channels is a good thing, but it doesn’t make our job of weeding through the information any easier. That’s where analytics comes in very handy. As data becomes more and more difficult to break down and contextualize, the analysis of it is becoming more sophisticated. As marketers, we can benefit greatly from doing analyses of big data. However, studies show that only 11 percent of marketers are doing this. Therefore, those that have access to and can analyze big data have an advantage over those that do not. It not only produces insights that drive business growth, it also helps us to identify micromarkets that represent untapped opportunities for growth for our clients. As the information on the Internet grows, we’re going to see more and more talk of big data, analysis of big data and “micro-targeting” with the use of this data instead of relying on past experiences that are increasingly unreliable. In today’s ever-changing business environment, once valid assumptions can quickly become outdated.
This post was written from information contained in Mining Big Data to Find New Markets, an HBR.org webinar summary, and is meant to break down how smaller companies can take advantage of this influx of data use it to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their sales and marketing efforts.
Who knew that the influx of information on the Internet would lead to an entirely new industry called big data. These “big data” companies collect, and then sell or provide data to companies those that use it to improve sales, marketing and advertising. Big data has been proven to be highly valuable and is used to create finely tuned and targeted ad campaigns (think Facebook and LinkedIn advertising).
Big Data Can be Used to Unlock Deeper and Deeper Insights
“Data from large data sets can take the guesswork out of selling. People have always talked about the “art” of sales. But with Big Data, art is being replaced by scientific analysis.” –Homayoun Hatami
Mining big data helps companies get marketing right by going after a select, targeted group. Marketers can use this information in a multitude of ways to drill down to specific targets in existing campaigns that are supported by analytics. Granular analytics yielded insights, and then each insighted further analysis and even deeper insight. As a result, a company can develop specific actions to drive growth.
Here are some examples of ways that companies can do this:
- Identifying Micromarkets – An example of this is specific customer segments or geographies.
- Focusing on Opportunities – Instead of focusing on customer data from past results, companies can can create goals, budgets and plans based around the opportunities that exist in a market; big data will help identify new markets and opportunties that companies might not know even existed.
- Maximizing Sales and Marketing Effectiveness – Using big data, an organization can assess the targets it is pursuing, the way sales time and resources are being allocated, and define which promotions are working best.
Big Data is a Journey – Don’t be Overwhelmed!
“When you look at the data as individual bits, it can be very overwhelming. Successful marketers are staring to use predictive analytics to bring order and meaning to the data.” — Brian Kardon
Business of any size can embark on and realize value from this journey. A good starting point is to determine a few outcomes that could be improved through analysis and do determine what data is needed to support this analysis. No company will have all of the data it wants, but that shouldn’t preclude the need to get started. The best way to do this is to focus on the goals that your company has set around the reason for mining this data in the first place. In addition, do your best to be comfortable with the ambiguity contained in this large amount of information. When you’ve gotten comfortable and acquanted with the data, start asking strategic questions based on the data. Once you’ve spent adequate time with the data, your company will start to uncover goals that they can then go after.
As marketers get better access to raw numbers over time, and big data keeps growing, the ability to filter through it will be of increased importance. Our advice – get started now. Big data will only get bigger over time. We’re here to help! Leave comments below or contact us anytime with questions.
