Marketing Big Data in 2014 and Beyond

Marketing big data is something of a challenge.

Lots of people are talking about big data right now and its potential for marketing and improving business operations is exciting. But for many businesses, big data is still a bit confusing.

What is it? Why do I need it? How do I get it and use it?

That's why those who want to market big data, such as big data vendors and companies who offer data storage and evaluation solutions, need to invest their time in strong, consistent marketing that answers all of those questions and more.

So how does someone get started with marketing big data? And what are some of the best ways to do it?

Getting Clear On Benefits of Big Data

From the company CEO to the IT expert, big data offers both challenges and business-boosting payoffs. But the key to marketing it is to get really clear on what it can do for a business.

There is a wealth of extremely cool big data, for people and machines to sort, use and analyze, just waiting to be claimed.

To market big data, business owners need to be given the message that big data offers them a competitive advantage.

Businesses need to be shown that big data can benefit them by:

  • By better understanding customer behavior
  •  By using big data to build more complete customer profiles
  • By learning what is working in both business and marketing and what isn't
  • By giving businesses a way to streamline their services to better meet customer needs
  • By offering truly useful glimpses into future trends

Here are four ways of marketing big data that are worth exploring….

Marketing Big Data with Social Media

There are so many businesses congregating on social media now that it would be foolhardy to try and market big data without it.

Engaging status updates and well thought out posts targeted to the right people can raise the profile of big data and answer plenty of questions to boot.

There are lots of conversations happening on social media - finding and joining in with relevant ones can be helpful in marketing big data.

Marketing Big Data at Conferences

Big data conferences are starting to spring up around the world, and presenting at one can be a good way to do some in-depth one to one marketing of big data.

The downside of course is that conferences can be resource intensive in terms of both time and money. The upside is that the audience is interested in big data and has come to learn more.

Of course to make the most of any conference appearance, a complementary social media marketing campaign is a must.

Marketing Big Data with Useful Content

As well as shorter updates, longer content such as blog posts, white papers, emails and even e-books can be useful for marketing big data.

With the idea of big data being new or confusing to many businesses, well-written content that sets out clearly the benefits and how to implement big data will establish the author as a knowledgeable source for data related insights.

Marketing Big Data through Networking

Networking events, business breakfasts, work-related lunches and similar meetings provide a low-cost opportunity for some face to face big data marketing.

Of course it's not the place for a sales pitch, but networking is a good time to get into some conversations, explain some benefits, and answer some questions in real time. The reassurance of getting questions answered from someone who knows big data can help to sell the benefits.

When it comes to marketing big data, a well-planned campaign executed with approachability, professionalism, and a wealth of useful information about the benefits and how to get them, is the way to go.