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By Joscelyn Bivins

Who  collects  it,  why  they  collect  it  and  how  this  affects  Advertisers.  

Big Data is phenomenon that is being used in every industry. With Social Media becoming an industry that is here to stay, advertisers are now beginning to wonder what exactly is Big Data and how can we implement these strategies into our business. Because the advertising industry realizes the importance of Big Data, they have begun to use the four V’s of volume, velocity, variety, and veracity to make sure they are reaching consumers in an innovative way.

To find Big Data you usually need to be apart of a major organization that conducts their own research or buy the data from a larger company. However, every industry collects data in its own way. Where Big Data comes from can also be interesting. Companies obtain data from streaming services, social media data and publicly available sources.

What is Big Data?

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In recent years, Big Data is a term many professionals have begun to hear throughout their

industry. This is especially true for those who work in customer based industries. Big data describes the large amount of data that is being collected and stored for eventual analysis (What is Big Data?). The concept of Big Data became mainstream in the early 2000s when industry analyst, Dough Laney, expressed the now mainstream definition of big data as the three Vs: Volume, Velocity, and Variety.

Volume in terms of Big Data stands for the amount of data organizations collect from several

sources. Whether it’s from transactions, social media, businesses or machine-to-machine data,

companies are storing this data and it is no longer an issue to consumers. Most consumers do not even realize the extent of data that is being collected on them.

When it comes to Velocity, data streams have to work in real-time in order to drive data and

deal with transactions and advertising in a timely manner. Ever wondered why an Advertisement showed up on Facebook for a pair of jeans you were looking at 10 minutes ago? You can thank Big Data for that.

Data comes in a mixture of forms, which leads me to Variety. Numerical data, audio, financial

transactions, email, and documents are all forms of data that companies could have access to. There is no longer a traditional form of data that is safe from Big Data companies.

Who Collects Big Data? Financial Institutions

Big Data is a multi billion-dollar industry that is used by all industries across the globe. Banking uses large amount of information from multiple sources. Banks are forced to find new way to manage how they go about managing the data they obtain. Because of this, banks must find ways to combat the risks of fraud while also maintaining regulatory compliance. The financial industry is forced to stay one step ahead of the game when it comes to how they hand their advanced analytics. Education

By analyzing big data, the education system can identify students that may be at risk and make sure students are progressing through the program. Big data can assist the education system in implementing better systems to support students, teachers, and principles if they feel their institution may be at risk. Government

We could consider the Government the largest collector of Big Data. When the Government can analyze and apply the analytics to gain insight as to how they should go about managing utilities, running various departments, dealing with traffic and preventing crime. While Big Data can be useful, the must remain transparent due to it being a public entity. This may not always happen. Health Care Industry

With Big Data, health care providers can find any hidden details that may improve patient care. Whether its through patient records, treatment, or prescription information, health care providers need Big Data to make sure everything is done quickly and efficiently to meet the needs of patients and industry regulations. Manufacturing Industry

In order to minimize waste, manufactures often use Big Data to boost the quality of their products. Manufactures are becoming analytics-based to solve problems faster make business decisions.

Retail Industry

The retail industry is huge on Big Data. Big data can be extremely useful when it comes to building and maintain customer relationships. It is vital to know how to reach and market to your customers in order to have a successful business. Big Data uses past transactions as well as other tools to create strategic ways to boost sales of retailers (What is Big Data?).

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Big Data works in various ways and to fully understand how it works, it is important to know

where it comes from. Usually, Big Data falls into one of the following categories. Steaming Data

Steaming data includes data that IT systems obtain through various systems from the Internet and connected devices. Through streaming services, you are able to analyze the data as it comes and make decisions on what data should and should not be kept, as well as what data needs further analysis. Social Media Data

Marketing, sales, and customer service departments are finding social interactions a great way to fid information on a particular demographic. The problem you run into with this data is it is often unstructured and could require a large amount of time for analysis. Publicly available sources

Due to sources like the US government, CIA Factbook, and European Union Open Data Portal, substantial amounts of data are made available to corporation through these government resources.

When Is Big Data used? For the most part, Big Data is used for predictive analytics. Predictive analytics assists different

industries in using data to make predictions about the future based on historical and transactional data that has been obtained over the years. In the business industry, predictive models are used to capture relationships that may assist in making decision on particular conditions. You will find that predictive analytics is used in marketing, insurance, healthcare and more (Eckerson).

Why is Big Data Useful? Big Data is being interlaced into every sector and function of the global economy. The use of

Big Data is quickly becoming the basis of growth for firms, productivity, and value for the world economy. Major companies are using Big Data to outperform their competitors. In most industries, data driven strategies are used to compete and capture valuable customers. As data becomes more transparent, companies will be able to develop products and services that are innovative. For example, manufacturers have begun to distribute technology that contains embedded sensors to obtain after-sales surveys on whether or not a product was useful (McGuire).

How Does Big Data Affect Advertisers? Big Data’s ability to will make technology innovative enough to cut down on the waste of advertising and make it more precise (Barns). This will assist advertisers in having more efficient and precise advertisements that will drive up your return on investment. With a higher ROI, advertisers will then be able to invest more. According to Mitch Barns, enterprise-marketing platforms will be able to take in data and feed it into software that will create models that will assist in making predications in a more precise manner. “These results will be fed back into the predictive models in real-time. The models get better with each cycle. The waste goes out. The ROI goes up. And the money comes in,” said Barns in regards to how Advertisers will be able to increase their cash flow utilizing Big Data (Barns). Digital Advertisers are able to better target their users as well as personalize what they want them to see utilizing Big Data. For example, Google and Facebook are experts when it comes to delivering appealing ads that its users are interested in utilizing past searches and profile information. Our mobile devices also assist advertisers in creating more targeted advertising (Philip). Through social and location data, advertisers can target these consumers with advertisements on their phones by providing them with on the go coupons via their cell phone (Barns).

How Facebook is Using Big Data

Facebook has been extremely successful in gathering data from its consumers and turning it into a profit. Over the years, Facebook has angered many of its users due to its privacy settings and protection of data. According to the Philip Sherwell, writer at The Telegraphy, Facebook has carried out unethical psychological research without the permission of its users (Sherwell). The experiment was to see how Facebook could alter its users mood by showing specific posts. Although there has been some backlash, Facebook’s main motivation for collecting the data has been to sell it to advertisers (Marr).

References

Barns, M. (2015, June 23). News Center. Retrieved March 06, 2016, from

http://sites.nielsen.com/newscenter/big-datas-big-impact-on-the-future-of-advertising/

Eckerson, Wayne (May 10, 2007), Extending the Value of Your Data Warehousing Investment, The Data Warehouse Institute

Marr, B. (2014, July 16). How Facebook Is Using Big Data: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Retrieved March 5, 2016, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140716060957-64875646-facebook-and-big-data-no-big-brother

McGuire, T. (2012, July). Ivey Business Journal. Retrieved March 06, 2016, from

http://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/why-big-data-is-the-new-competitive-advantage/

Philip, N. (2014, March 14). The Impact of Big Data on the Digital Advertising Industry |

Qubole. Retrieved March 06, 2016, from https://www.qubole.com/blog/big-data/big-data-advertising-case-study/

Sherwell, P. (2014, July 3). Facebook ‘conducted widespread experiments’ on user data to ‘alter

people’s behaviour’. Retrieved March 06, 2016, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/10944613/Facebook-conducted-widespread-experiments-on-user-data-to-alter-peoples-behaviour.html

What is Big Data and why it matters. (n.d.). Retrieved March 06, 2016, from http://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/big-data/what-is-big-data.html