Applying Big Data to this years' Christmas Campaigns

The world of commerce is going through its biggest structural change in history. Although technology is posing challenges for traditional businesses, those willing to adapt see it as an opportunity. Data-based marketing campaigns are one example of taking advantage of tech and big data.

Christmas brings with it the holiday shopping frenzy and puts traditional brick and mortar stores to the test. To reap the complete benefits of the season requires operational control across all aspects of the business. Applying big data to digital marketing enables such control, placing it at your fingertips.

About Big Data

Big data is about accumulating a lot of data for analysis for optimization of our campaigns.

Almost everything is connected to web where every instant data on our preferences in fashion, computer, sport, etc. is being pulled. Big data is responsible for analyzing large data sets to adapt the organizational strategy to reach higher conversions and sales.

Big Data is evolving fast. Data is collected from customers at all times by social networks, web page visits, etc ... which makes it more difficult to analyze and extract meaning from. Deciphering the truly relevant information requires focus.

How to use big data marketing in your pricing strategy

When we hear "Big data marketing", we tend to think of large corporations with limitless budgets. But if you manage your firm through cloud-based platforms, chances are that the information you need is already within your reach. Sales data, customer profiles, inventories, orders, suppliers ... in short, you have all that is needed to see if you have managed to meet your KPI's or how to get on track to reach them if it's not the case already.

Take advantage of big data for your Christmas campaigns in the following areas:

• Formulate your pricing strategy. Christmas marketing campaigns are characterized by the abundance of discounts, promotions and flash sales (for example, on Black Friday). To formulate the right pricing strategy, you must be able to calculate the destination cost of the products (including transportation, customs and warehouses) in advance. Big data marketing allows you to know the precise cost at destination of each of product. It enables accurate calculation of margins so you can make attractive offers to end users and see profits sore.
• Further considerations for pricing strategy. Before setting the pricing strategy include cost-per-order, conversion ratio, and returns into calculations.
• Optimize you relationship with suppliers. If you have full data on the prices and margins you get from each supplier and product over time, you will be in a position to negotiate more successfully.
• Demand and inventory scheduling. Analyze your stock reports to see when you have had inventory problems and why. Automate orders to suppliers to minimize the risk of finding yourself without stock. One less thing to worry about!

How to use sales and customer data in your marketing campaigns

Interesting metrics you can extract when applying big data to this years’ sales and customer data Christmas Campaigns:

• Journey Map. Track the consumer's journey through different devices, from the first contact with the brand to the conversion.
• Google Analytics. According to Nielsen, brand websites are the second biggest factor for determining consumer confidence in the brand, just behind the recommendations from friends and family. So get your hands on the job to clean up pages and inactive links, solve loading problems and make sure you have Google analytics fully integrated.
• Cart abandonment rate. This metric reflects the quality of user experience of your web. Ensure high quality UX by minimize abandonment rate. Evaluate the measures you have been taking to improve your website and what effect they have had over time. What are your next steps towards continuous improvement?
• Customer opinions. Consumers rely on recommendations from friends and family. It’s in your best interest to make it very easy for them to leave comments and ratings. You should also monitor user opinions on Amazon and social networks (with tools such as social mention).
• Sales data per customer. This metric gives insights tosales trends. If you analyze the behavior of your loyal customers and cross that data with product sales, you will be able to see which products work best and take advantage of this information for your Christmas marketing campaigns.

How to leverage your marketing and promotion metrics

Let's focus on two big channels: Google and Social Media.

Google's got news that you can’t miss in your Christmas marketing campaigns; we’re now able to connect physical sales with Google searches or clicks in AdWords.

According to CNN, banks and financial service providers are sharing encrypted information with Google about credit card purchases, which are then cross analyzed with user profiles in Google. Due to privacy laws, it is not possible to share individual user data, but you can find out generally how many customers clicked on one of your ads and ended up buying your offline product.

The next step is to keep connecting these data with information about your customers to get an even clearer view of the ROI of your marketing campaigns.

As far as social media is concerned; conduct a social media audit before Christmas. This way you’ll be able to see which platforms work best in terms of customer profiles, geographic areas and products. Thus, you will be able to maximize the investment in advertising in social networks.

Santa has come early bearing the gift of data. Let’s show him our gratitude by making the most of it.