Big Data
The term “big data” covers all data collections that cannot be analyzed using conventional data processing methods. On the one hand, this is due to the large volume of data and the complexity, as well as the constant changes. However, big data refers not only to the data, but also to its analysis.
Scope
As we are dealing with big data, i.e. particularly large volumes of data, special data storage systems are required to process the mass of data. It will soon be commonplace for companies to store their data in petabytes and process it in terabytes. Furthermore, the amount of data is constantly growing, as calculations from 2011 show. These showed that the amount of data doubles every two years. Of course, this has to do with technical progress as well as the automated generation of data. This makes it possible to collect and store more and more data.
Normally, big data technologies are tailored to the relevant area of application. Hadoop, Mongo DB, Pentaho and Infobright are the most important of these. These technologies enable the processing of countless data records and units, as well as the import and export of very large volumes of data. With this type of technology, there are no problems in terms of complexity or parallel queries.
Areas of application
Just like the technologies used to collect and process data, the sources of big data are very diverse. Such sources are, for example from:
- Weather satellites
- Technical networks
- Geodata
- Social media channels
- Medical test series
- Sensor data
Big data is particularly extensive in the fields of business, technology and science. Everything is included: intelligent energy control, medical diagnostics, the evaluation of web statistics and much more. The purpose of data collection differs depending on the area of application. In business, it is particularly about profitable developments that benefit the company. In online marketing, they provide insights into the characteristics and interests of the potential customer.
Advantages of big data in online marketing
Big data offers enormous potential for online marketing in particular. Thanks to the wealth of data available on the Internet, marketing managers have the opportunity to carry out an exact analysis of the target group. The interests and wishes of potential customers are taken into account, which are geared towards an individual and optimal offer. This variety of data on the Internet includes page views, purchases, shopping cart content, activity on social media channels and much more.
Marketing is all about tailoring offers perfectly to the customer and personalizing campaigns so that the customer has a positive experience and ultimately buys the advertised product. Forecasts about the future behavior of customers are particularly important for this. The result is therefore not just any useless product, but a product that is tailored to the customer’s interests and is also of interest to the customer.
Online Marketing can obtain the required data from the following locations:
- Social Media
- Mobile usage data
- Competitions
- Online purchases
- Visitor behavior of the websites
- Surveys
- Search engine queries
- Website visits
The data collected can ultimately be used for the following activities:
- Targeted e-mail marketing
- Trend analyses
- Service optimization
- Customer loyalty
- Targeted use of company resources
- Demand and sales analyses
- Cross-selling measures
- Website design (e.g. personalization of the website by region)
- Customized control of marketing campaigns
In order to be able to use big data successfully in online marketing, the prerequisite is a precise collection of questions, which precedes the collection of data. It is only a targeted data collection if it is known what is to be analyzed and what the actual goal is. These evaluations can be carried out with the help of Google Analytics.
Points of criticism
Despite all the positive aspects, big data is not flawless. This often raises the question of who collects the data and what it is to be used for. Private content is repeatedly accessed without the user’s consent. It is a constant challenge for companies to exploit the economic benefits of big data while complying with data protection regulations.
Another point of criticism is the type of data evaluation, which is purely technical. It is said that not enough attention would be paid to quality in a technical evaluation. Of course, a large amount of data cannot be compared with a good basis.
Targeted and purposeful data collection is also part of big data. Above all, this saves IT infrastructure costs and simplifies instructions to users on data processing.
In order to store the data, attention must always be paid to legal certainty with regard to German data protection law. In addition, companies are obliged to take consumer protection into account and prevent data manipulation.