At the moment, most, if not everyone, uses a smartphone, computer, and other device that can access the internet. Through the use of smartphones and other devices, we all generate data in the form of texts, phone calls, emails, photos, videos, internet searches, and music. A single mobile phone user generates a lot of data through their daily activities while using his or her phone.
You can imagine the amount of data generated daily by everyone on their phones with more than four billion users. The data generated daily is more for the human mind to process. This large amount of data is too large for conventional computing systems to handle. This massive amount of data is what is known as big data. In a nutshell, big data is described as the act of collecting large data sets from traditional and digital sources. This data is used to identify trends and patterns.
Big data is something that some businesses have not experienced before. Because of advancements in technology around the world, we all leave a digital trace in the things we do online and through our phones. With the huge volume of data comes several business opportunities. Advancement of technology has been at the forefront in helping businesses solve different problems. Many companies are currently utilizing big data because it offers businesses so many benefits.
Where Does Big Data Come From?
Big data, just as the name suggests, is generated from a lot of sources. Some information is from sensor data. This includes information from weather, smart grids, and atmospheric science. Application server logs of websites, internet, and games also offer valuable information. Other sources of big data include images and videos, which are from security cameras and traffic cams. Most of the data utilized by businesses tend to be human-generated, and this includes blogs, reviews, and emails. Information from all of these sources is collected and analyzed by big data technology. Here are the ways businesses are utilizing big data.
Decision Making
The decision you make as a business owner or manager will affect its performance. Running a business is challenging for many people, and this is because risks may be involved. Among the many ways companies are using big data is when making decisions concerning their operations. Through the information from big data, a business will know the steps to take. Through what people write on different online platforms and other sources of big data, companies can know the right decisions to make. Through big data analytics, companies can now predict what will happen in the future, and this ensures that they can plan for future events.
Finding New Customers
For any business to make a profit, it needs to get more consumers to purchase their products. There is a reason why advertisement is an industry that is worth a lot of money. Businesses are willing to spend a significant amount of money on marketing with the sole purpose of reaching more people. For a company to get the attention of potential customers, it needs to have some information about them. Through big data, different companies can know who may be interested in their products and services. Potential customers are identified by what they like and the subjects they are interested in, which can be movies, songs, or different products.
Improving Customer Services
Business needs customers to buy what they are selling for them to make a profit. How a given company treats its customers will determine if they can be loyal to the business. Customers want to feel special and appreciated by the businesses they buy from. In today’s world, many things are done through the phone. What an online user says about a company may affect it negatively or positively. Offering your customers good service is crucial in aiding the business to have good rating scores online. Through big data, enterprises can identify their customers. A given company can know how their customers want to be treated and their likes and dislikes. This is crucial in ensuring that customer service is improved, thus helping the business to have good ratings online. Businesses with good ratings attract more customers.
Improving Sales
The sales a business makes will determine if it succeeds or not. The main goal of most companies is to make huge sales each year. Many companies have been forced to take different measures to improve their sales. This includes the hiring of a sales team that can utilize big data. Businesses can now find much-needed information on ways to improve their sales by using big data. Big data offers important information about different people. This information can be used by businesses to make strategies on ways to improve their sales. It can be used to focus on a specific demographic of people who are most likely to purchase a given product. Through big data, businesses around the world can now correctly predict sales trends.
Personalization
Marketing has been made a priority by many, if not all, enterprises. Because many people are online users, most marketing is done through online platforms. If you are a user of Facebook, you are most likely to come across adverts when using that platform. Many people tend to dislike adverts that are the same all the time. Sending the same advert to many people is most likely to make a large number of people dislike your brand. Through learning about the personality of a customer through information from big data, businesses can now personalize advertisements.
This means that a given company can send personalized adverts that are meant to capture the attention of specific people. Personalization is not just used for marketing purposes, either. Business can now even personalize the service provided. Companies that are providing personalized services are having more loyal customers compared to others. We all know that loyal customers act as ambassadors for businesses and are essential in the growth of the enterprise.
Understanding Performance
For a business to grow, it is essential to know how different departments are performing. Though it may seem like an easy task, knowing and understanding what each department brings to the table can be challenging. Through data from big data, it is possible to know the performance of each employee and department in a business. As a business owner, you can know if the marketing team is productive or if they need to put in more effort. Knowing the performance of each employee is essential in helping the business to reach its goals quickly. Through big data, businesses can identify problems and find effective ways of solving them.
Competitive Advantage
Competition is good for business. It is what makes a business grow to its full potential. However, competition can also destroy a company or at least make it lose a lot of its customers. Both big and small businesses are using big data to get ahead of their competition. Through big data, enterprises can create strategies that will help them to get an edge on their competition. An example of how a business can utilize big data when dealing with their competitors is by analyzing what works for their competitors.
Companies can now analyze the outcome of launching different products and ways they can be used. Businesses can now calculate customer loyalty and predict the outcome if some changes were made. This ensures that a given business is a step ahead of their competition. Businesses are now competing using data-driven strategies.
New Business Opportunities
With the development of technology comes new business opportunities. Many people may be surprised that various businesses were not existing some years back. Some time back, there were no IT companies or internet providers. Many companies in different fields owe their existence to technological advances. As a result of big data, many business opportunities have come up. There is a new type of business where some companies are offering other business management and analytic services by utilization of big data.
Communicating with Customers
As stated earlier, consumers are essential for an enterprise to succeed. As a business owner, your main goal is to find ways to reach more customers. Companies are looking for ways to effectively communicate with their customers to help improve the customer-business relationship. Since many businesses have an online presence, many people tend to look through different businesses online before making a purchase.
Big data allows companies to know customers who are interested in some of the products and services they sell. Once these potential customers are identified, businesses can go forward and gather information on their wants, hobbies, and other interests. Using the information gathered, businesses learn ways to dialogue with their customers. This ensures that a company only sends adverts to interested people.
Developing Products
It is essential to know what is in the mind of the consumers you are targeting. Companies value the feedback from their customers on specific goods and services. Through feedback from consumers, companies can know what they need to improve. When developing a new product, a lot of research is involved. Businesses need to know if the product will sell or not. This can be determined by the needs of people in a given demographic. As a business, you can identify what your targeted consumers want in a product or a type of service they are interested in. Using information from big data businesses can develop or redevelop products they can be sure will make them a profit.
Risk Analysis
Taking risks has become part of running a business. Because of advancements in data technology, companies can now avoid risks, which was not the case some time back. For a business to succeed, several factors play a significant role. It can be the rules of the country the business is located in, the weather, or social and economic factors. Through big data, enterprises can analyze information form online platforms and news feeds across the globe. Through the information, businesses can assess all the risks involved when making decisions.
Data Safety
Data is gradually becoming a crucial asset to businesses in different industries. Ensuring the safety of data has been made a priority by most companies. At the moment, having certain information may be a guarantee for success. You can be sure that different businesses are trying their best to safe guide some information. Many companies are relying on big data technology to aid them safeguard vital data and information. Data like financial information of a business or its customers are kept safe through big data.
Reduces Cost
Storing data can be expensive, especially if you are using traditional means of storing data. Many businesses are spending a lot of money when it comes to storing data. Many are forced to purchase a lot of paper for those who still store their information on paper. Some end up relying on technology that is expensive to manage and maintain. Companies that are utilizing big data have saved a lot when storing large amounts of data. Furthermore, big data technology is crucial in helping businesses to find ways of reducing costs when running their operations. Companies that want to save money should consider using big data.
Saves Time
When it comes to business, the way you use each period is crucial to the success of the company. Businesses are forced to spend a lot of time trying to gather the information that is used in making strategies and analyzing ways to help the business grow. This includes analyzing risks and making marketing strategies. The advancement of technology has been crucial in helping enterprises save time they would have spent in collecting and analyzing data. By utilizing big data, different businesses can now make effective decisions quickly compared to some years back. This, in turn, saves a lot of time, which is used in doing other duties that increase the productivity of the business.
Understanding of the Market
The market is currently relying on data collected from the majority of the people. For any business to succeed, it needs to understand the market and how it works. We are in an era where technology is changing how things are done. There is a reason why many businesses are trying to build an online presence, and this means having many followers and subscribers on different online platforms. Big data has proven to be crucial in aiding different companies to understand the online market and find ways to attract more customers online, thus growing their influence. Things are now done differently. Many people prefer purchasing different products online and having them delivered to their residence rather than going to where a business is located to make a purchase. This shows that the market has changed and utilizing big data is the best way to understand the consumer.
Online Reputation
As mentioned above, many companies are trying to build an online presence. As a business, you need to be seen as a favorable business by the public, and this means that the majority of online users say good things about your company. Having a good online reputation means that many people will trust your company, thus helping the business get more customers. By using big data, a company can know what people are saying about them online. Through feedback from their customers, enterprises can now areas to improve, thus giving them a good online presence and reputation.
Hiring of Employees
Businesses are looking for people with expertise that will be beneficial to them. Unfortunately, the hiring process can be tiresome and usually takes a lot of time. This is mainly because many people tend to apply for different job opportunities and finding the right person for the job can be challenging. Through big data, companies can identify specific people who offer what they are looking for. The process can only take a few minutes by using big data technology. Using big data in your hiring process will ensure you get to hire the right person. Having people with the needed experience and expertise will be crucial in helping a business grow.
Understanding the Customer
Understanding the customer is significant in increasing the sales productivity of a business. It is essential to know the customers of the business and to understand them. Through big data, businesses know who their customers are. With the right big data tools, a given company can identify its customers and have information on their online activities. A business can create a profile on individual customers and gather information about them. This information can then be used to form an analysis of customer behavior and wants.
Conclusion
Businesses are currently utilizing big data because it provides a cheap way to store and process a large amount of data faster. In the past, there was the capability to store data, but there was no infrastructure to process the data and make sense out of it. Big data plays a crucial role in ensuring different businesses succeed. Big data is not just meant for big companies and cooperation. No matter the size of your business, you should utilize big data technology.
About the Author
Liam Peng is a data analyst at https://www.tropare.com with a Marketing Degree from the University of Australia. He has worked alongside many notable brands. Peng is also interested in Forex trading, and when he’s not working, you’ll catch him reading about financial markets.
