There has been a lot of anecdotal evidence of businesses whose marketing efforts have benefited by properly leveraging a big data platform like Hadoop. A survey by Forbes in partnership with Rocket Fuel provides quantitative data to back up those examples. The survey asked 211 senior marketers about their perceptions of the success of marketing initiatives specifically in relation to the benefits of big data. Respondents were also asked about the impact of artificial intelligence in keeping up with today's consumer. Here are some of the key findings of the survey.
The More You Use Big Data the More Success You See
Using big data more often will lead to more success may seem like an intuitive conclusion, and in fact, the numbers do show a stark difference. Companies that use big data often experienced much more success than companies that used it sparingly. For example, among businesses that used big data 50 percent of the time or more in their marketing initiatives, 60 percent indicated that the initiative exceeded the business goals. In contrast, of those businesses that used big data less than 50 percent of the time in marketing efforts, only 30 percent indicated they had exceeded business goals.
Sufficient Use is Key to Meeting Business Goals
The more likely that companies felt that they had sufficiently used big data, the more likely they were to exceed their business goals-92 percent of those surveyed who felt they had made sufficient use of big data either met or exceeded their business goals. This finding suggests that companies need to embrace big data if they want to meet or exceed their marketing campaign goals.
Big Data Improves Measurement
The ability to measure ROI is important for CMOs trying to improve marketing campaigns. But sometimes demonstrating ROI is easier said than done. The good news is those organizations that used big data were able to measure marketing campaigns more often. In fact, 75 percent of companies that used big data 50 percent of the time or more were able to measure ROI of multi-channel campaigns. In comparison, those companies that used big data less than 50% of the time were not able to measure the effects of multi-channel campaigns as often.
Lack of Familiarity is a Key Challenge
In the survey, just under half of the marketers indicated that they did not have a good understanding of big data and its benefits. This may explain why only 10 percent of those surveyed said that big data was used in most marketing initiatives. In order for marketers to continue to find success with big data, organizations will have to become more familiar with it and the benefit it offers.
Artificial Intelligence is an Important Tool
More than 40 percent of those surveyed said that artificial intelligence, also known as machine learning, would be a critical tool in their future efforts. This is especially true in providing real-time data. Artificial intelligence is able to keep up with the rapid pace in which data is generated. This provides a clearer picture of consumer behavior so marketers can adapt campaigns accordingly.
Businesses that are taking full advantage of big data are seeing po
sitive results - many of which exceed their goals. As marketers become more familiar with how to use big data and machine learning to improve marketing initiatives and measure results, the use of big data will only continue to grow and become an integral component of marketing teams.