With big data dominating so much current digital discussion, we ask whether size really matters
“It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data,” wrote Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. “Insensibly, one begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts.” To which it’s worth adding Albert Einstein’s observation, “Information is not knowledge.” The challenges associated with data – regardless of size – are nothing new.
And yet in the short period of time it’s taken for ‘big data’ to enter the mainstream marketing lexicon, it’s generated a buzz so deafening that it can be hard to figure out what we’re actually talking about. Analyst Doug Laney at Gartner coined what’s become known as the ‘3Vs’ definition back in 2001. Updated in 2012, here’s Gartner’s current description: “Big data are high volume, high velocity and/or high variety information assets that require new forms of processing to enable enhanced decision-making, insight discovery and process optimisation.” Admirably concise – but what does that mean for marketers wrestling with the daily deluge of information generated not just by online activity, but offline as well?
Channel surfing
As Hari Saini, Director Client Success at StrongMail, pointed out at the recent Figaro Digital Marketing Conference, while consumers may not care which digital channel or device they use to interact with a brand, for marketers that information is vital. “Traditionally,” says Saini, “Every bit of information we have in our organisation about a person would be lumped together. But as marketers, we want to be able to glean the information which is specific to our marketing needs. That’s the challenge, because data exists in so many channels, and also across time.”
As Saini points out, in addition to all that explicit information about users, there’s a second layer of implicit data: what else did your customers look at while they were on your site – and elsewhere? If all that information is siloed between different teams within an organisation, joining the big data dots becomes even more of a challenge. The solution? Saini advises the right choice of infrastructure, analytics and execution tools, but acknowledges that resources may not always be available. Nevertheless, he says, everyone should observe the following guidelines. Whether you’re moving, cleansing or aggregating data, he says, double your timeframe. Invest in a technology backbone; it’s an enabler. Think about whether your company’s culture is geared up to meet the demands of big data analysis. And pair your technology solutions with the right people and processes.
“Integrate web analytics with email behavior,” he says. “That’s a quick win. Use dynamic targeting to personalise. Strategise about lifecycle value creation. Get more advanced over time. Prioritise channel data integration. And the most important thing – test and test again.”
Economies of scale
However marketers choose to approach big data, the figures themselves are dizzying. Two and half exabytes of data are created everyday, and to set that in context, five exabytes is popularly reckoned to represent every word ever spoken by human beings. That may well strike most of us as too much information, but it’s only by understanding the context in which big data exists that we can begin to assign its value. As the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein noted in 1953, “Problems are solved not by giving new information, but by arranging what we have always known.
Article by Jon Fortgang