Big data is here to stay, and for many company executives, that means rethinking their overarching business strategies, a new report has found. According to a recent study conducted by Econsultancy and software provider Adobe, executives ranked big data as one of their top areas of focus for marketing this year, eMarketer reported.
This wasn’t always the case, however. In the same survey conducted just two years ago, “harnessing big data for effective marketing” didn’t even make the list of top executive priorities. By 2013, 37 percent said big data was an important focus for marketing, and in this year’s survey, 42 percent of participants said the same.
In response to the increasing importance of big data in the workplace, survey participants around the world reported that they had changed business strategies to accommodate and adopt big data practices. In the Asia-Pacific region, 58 percent of CFOs and CIOs surveyed said they had changed business because of big data, while 50 percent said the same in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and 63 percent of those surveyed in the Americas responded similarly. Globally, 56 percent of survey respondents said they had altered their company practices to handle big data.
Other survey findings indicate companies targeting digital, mobile
Although it was ranked as a top priority for some executives, other tech concerns outstripped big data overall. The highest number of respondents – 62 percent – listed “understanding how mobile users research/buy products” as their most cited marketing concern of the year. Mobile technology has not only changed the way companies operate, but also the means through which consumers make purchases and spend their time. As mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets allow users to access online stores, apps and services on the go, mobile purchases have continued to increase, a particular reason why mobile has become so relevant in nearly every sector.
Furthermore, 50 percent of participants said “using online data to optimize the offline experience” was a significant marketing consideration, while 54 percent said the same of “understanding when and where customers use different devices.”
In order to harness big data, however, companies need business equipment that can handle such tasks. Those who are interested in upgrading to newer and more efficient technology should consider National Funding as a resource for these and other financial services.
