Before we get into the meat of this topic, let’s establish a few definitions first.
Big Data: Enormous data sets brought in from a large variety of sources in a rapid manner, used to analyze trends, associations, and patterns, for the purpose of understanding how people think and behave.
Content Marketing: Any strategic marketing approach using the creation and sharing of media, including the publishing of content designed to attract and retain customers.
All right, we should all be on the same page now. Here we have two major forces in today’s world of e-commerce, and as may be expected, one is influencing the other and changing the way things are done. How is Big Data doing this? Here’s how:
Big Data Gives Your Business A Clear Picture
The article “4 Ways Big Data Can Take Your Content Marketing Strategy to New Heights” points out that the information gleaned from Big Data can help your marketing people ascertain what content on your site works, and what doesn’t.
Marketing isn’t exactly what you call an exact science, so any data that can track patterns that show what customers approve and disapprove of should be more than welcome. Website metrics, provided by our new friend Big Data, shows you which bits of content more people click.
It doesn’t stop there, though. If your data is comprehensive enough, you can even get a breakdown on demographics, seeing what content appeals to what age group, gender, income level, and other factors. That leads to the next point.
Big Data Makes It Easier To Identify Target Audiences
A business equipped with detailed information can successfully identify specific targets and tailor content to fit each group. This gives businesses more flexibility with their content marketing since they can engage in multiple campaigns simultaneously, each one aimed at one target audience, whose identity has been ascertained via Big Data analytics. So maybe your business could have two concurrent promotions, each crafted to the particular needs of say, single women under 21 and parents who have children in middle school. Yes, it can get that exact.
No More Wasting Resources On Lost Causes
Conversely, while Big Data shows you what works and who likes your offerings, you can also use that information to conclude who has little or no interest in what you’re selling. Consequently, you can cut back on content marketing promotions aimed at underperforming groups, if not eliminate those efforts altogether. Now you no longer have to throw good money after bad.
Once You Got ‘Em, You Can Better Keep ‘Em
Finally, Big Data can show you what types of your content ends up keeping people around. After all, marketing isn’t just attracting new customers; it’s keeping them around after that initial approach lured them in.
Have you ever heard the phrase “When I find something that works, I stick with it!”? Well, Big Data is the means of finding out what keeps working so that you can better stick with it.
By analyzing things like buying habits, broken down by various aspects of demographic data, a business can see which products sell best, and, therefore, tailor their content specifically to complement those products.
Bottom line, Big Data eliminates guesswork and helps your marketing department focus their efforts in ways that have a greater likelihood of yielding favorable results. For more insights into the topic, check out “How To Make Big Data Work In Your Business.”
