Introduction to Big Data in Business Strategy #
To stay competitive, today’s businesses – small, medium or large – must seize the best of what the data revolution has to offer. Called digital black gold, gray gold or even new oil, we understand why this mine of information that is big data can become profitable. However, you have to know how to use Big data and know how to extract its full potential to integrate it into your digital strategies. Processed at incredible speed, data can save time and money if it is analysed and used at the right time (A, 2019). If your organization develops this agility, you will be able, for example, to know why you gain or lose customers at a certain time of the year or even why a product or a service has exploded your turnover.
The migration of economic and social activities on the Internet and the management of data are revolutionizing business practices and processes. This new reality requires increased attention from leaders in all sectors of activity in a context where data and business intelligence are closely linked to the growth and success of companies.
How to use Big Data in Business Strategy Formation #
Analysing all the data your business collects risks wasting more time and money than saving you. In today’s digital age, timely information, not time, is money. In this sea of information, it is companies that are able to turn data into relevant business information at the right time that will be competitive against those that do not master the art (Holwerda, 2021). The main stake of the data revolution is the transformation of the customer relationship through:
- better knowledge of the customer;
- anticipation of their needs;
- prevention of attrition (loss of clients);
- the development of new products or services;
- knowledge and mastery of analytical tools; etc.
First and foremost, you will need to target a gap that you would like to correct. For example, are your visitors and contacts rarely converted into customers? If this is the case, by intelligently using the data collected, you will be able to anticipate their behaviour and encourage their movement in the conversion funnel. A big data analytics strategy can help you do two things: keep your customers happy and maximize your return on investment (ROI). To achieve these two goals, you must at all costs provide individualized service and consider the customer’s lifecycle to move them up the sales funnel (Patel & Sharma, 2020). By segmenting and analysing your data, you will be able to make better business decisions.
How Big data can be useful to customer relations #
As you know, recruiting a new customer is expensive: six times more expensive than retaining one. However, if your company is storing customer data while continuing to prospect for new ones, it allocates precious sums in the storage of information and in the acquisition of new customers rather than working to retain its current customers. Thanks to the data collected on your various platforms, you will be able to retain your audience and your potential customers, but attract new ones at the same time. One stone two birds.
The digital footprints left by your social network subscribers and by visitors to your website for example (Patel & Sharma, 2020), you make it possible to identify the behaviours and preferences of your target audience and to personalize the offer and the communication.
Solutions that can be Useful #
Solutions like Criteo, with a retargeting feature, allow you to connect with prospects who have expressed an interest in your company’s product or service. Google Analytics (audience measurement) and Xiti are other decision-making tools. Domo and Periscope make it possible to carry out follow-ups, but also evaluations.
Working Example #
Thanks to its marketing strategy focused on the collection and analysis of internal data, in particular deployed in personalized form, Netflix has grown from 75 to 94 million subscribers between December 2015 and December 2016. For its part, the sports giant Under Armor discovered a new market segment interested in their products, yoga enthusiasts, through an interpretation of data external to the organization (Holwerda, 2021). Thanks to the analysis of your data, you will be able to implement actions to converge your customers, online and offline. Your findings will allow you to move your visitors through the sales funnel. The different customer relationship management (CRM) solutions are powerful tools to bring your contacts or customers together. To be able to allocate the right resources and the right amounts to the right channels, and ultimately, maximize your marketing ROI.
