Five simple steps marketers should take when employing Big Data

Andy Wood tells how marketers can avoid the pitfalls associated with Big Data.

Big Data has gone from collected and managed within individual departments – product data for the product development team, contact data for the marketing team, finance data for accounts – to being used collectively to deliver organisation-wide success. Many marketers have already woken up to the huge possibilities Big Data can offer, especially when it comes to employing newer streams of information such as web, mobile and social data.

However, the huge amount of data available to companies can sometimes be more daunting than it is helpful, especially in the digital age where people are sharing information with companies online at an unprecedented rate.
So where should marketers begin?

1) Start by outlining your marketing objectives

There is no point in aimless marketing. Set clear goals and objectives to establish exactly what it is you wish to achieve. Most of the time, the end goal for the marketing database will be an increase in revenue and there are three useful points to consider here:

• Increasing customer spend
• Increasing the frequency of customer visits
• Reducing the number of lost customers

Setting out concise and achievable aims makes the marketing process a lot easier, but it is also essential to put a clear data management policy in place to properly regulate Big Data. All data must be complete, consistent, accurate and up-to-data for it to be analysed properly, so having the necessary procedures and infrastructure is vital.

2) Prepare for a data cull – what is helpful and what is useless?

Once you have set out your objectives, it is easier to see what kind of data will help you to meet them. Inaccurate, incomplete or outdated information can be a huge waste of time, so it pays to make sure all data held is as current and accurate as possible. When going through your data ask yourself the following questions to determine whether it is essential or not:

• Does it further your relationship with the customer?
• Is it in a functional condition?
• Can you link to a known customer?
• Will employing this data boost profits?

If the data does not tick all of these boxes, you need to decide whether it is needed. If any of the information that falls under the Big Data umbrella in your organisation does not help to achieve its marketing goals, it is safe to say this data can be set aside – at least when it comes to marketing communication and other elements of customer relationship management (CRM).

3) Find the best way of capturing the essential data

Now you know what kind of data is most useful, the next step is to determine the best way of capturing it. CRM systems and loyalty programmes have proven themselves extremely effective ways of capturing accurate and up-to-date information. They can show you detailed customer trends and also encourage consumers to keep their information updated to make sure they receive the most recent and relevant rewards and special offers.

4) Secure data permissions and trust

Ultimately, Big Data will only work in the long run if consumers feel the benefit from sharing their personal information with the brands they deal with – otherwise the well that keeps useful customer data flowing into companies will dry up. Trust is vital to keep the relationship between company and consumer going, so any and all customer data has to be used responsibly and effectively, or your business will lose customer trust.

5) Put an SCV database at the heart of your activity

A single customer view (SCV) ties together customer details, and from this you can develop a customer journey. It is critical to remember that ‘Big Data’ needs to not just be about digital data and this is where an SCV comes in: pulling together store transactions, mail responses, logged calls, application forms and other organisable customer interactions to create an actionable set of information on the customer.

In summary: focus on what matters

Big Data will prove an indispensable tool when it comes to marketing and the key point when handling it is to focus on what really matters: value for your customer and value for your business. Many marketers have fallen into the trap of getting caught up in Big Data and losing sight of the end goal – and, with the vast amount of information that is available now, that can be dangerous.