What's all the fuss about big data?

"Big Data" is an interesting topic because many use the term, but not many actually use "Big Data". For that matter, not many use "Data" period.

Data is pretty much every where now... Look at a company like Google... they are literally a DATA Collecting company, and all of their "Products" are simply displaying data they have collected. I would say that your average Joe only really has access to "Small" data. "Big Data" you pay for in todays world - Enter IBM's Watson as an example.

I'd say lets start with "Small" data first. Google Analytics is Data.. and there is lots of it. I would not consider this big data... because it is simply a set of data related to a website, be it yours or a clients. The data gets better if you join Google analytics with the search console.

If you have both of those joined on an account you can jump to "Acquisitions" then "Search Console" and the "Queries" you can get a snapshot of what terms your page is getting impressions for and see a terms rank. Something I look for is Terms that are ranked lower ( IE page 3 10 or 15 ) that have a high number of Impressions. This can be an indicator that the content ranked above you is not that strong, and some tweeking on your page could create better rank. And that's just one way to use that data.. there are many more ways to extract more specific data out of the GA Console.

There is A/B testing, literally live data YOU create while running the test ( you can run this type of test using Google Analytics for free ) I believe this should be in EVERY marketers tool bag of "Tricks". It is literally the separation between success and failure - unless you are just plain out lucky ( and no one is THAT lucky )

The next jump in data is your Sites Log file. And this is wicked old school, but the amount of information there can be overwhelming. There are a few extractors out on the web you can find, but to get the most out of this data knowing how to program Excel is a real plus.

The first jump into "Big Data" as I see it, is Demographics. And really its as easy as typing in "<insert topic> demographics" in google and having the ability to read scientific reports of studies that will tell you what the demographics are. A random search "Internet marketing Demographics" and here is a sample result ( https://www.omnicoreagency.com/digit...ng-statistics/ ) More data than you would ever need LOL

Getting beyond A/B testing where you are creating data at a local level you can get into "Big Data" such as the IBM Watson service that has data for days - literally. Once you get here, your programming skills had better be on point... because they provide the raw data...you have to have the ability to pull it out to make sense in relation to what you are doing. I believe there is a millionaire created every day using Watson Data.. its THAT insane

My overall take on "Big Data" is that most will never use it. BUT, I believe as in some of the examples I have left here, there are data pools that are far more approachable to the average marketer. Big is great... but data directly relatable to YOU and your success makes more sense.

In short, big data makes processing real time behavioural marketing more accurate and efficient. And behavioural marketing is the golden boy of today's consumerism.

The more data a company has, the more analytical sets they can run to better serve customer needs or better yet, create greater monetization opportunities for clients or even the companies themselves.

Data driven decision making is actually very helpful. For instance, data allow you to test different hypotheses you may have about your customer, the product, and the market!

Big data is already used by most (if not all) big companies. Data is VERY valuable, and companies that know how to use it properly have a big competitive advantage. This is why so many companies are investing in data scientists.