Big Data Analytics

There are many industries that I am interested in; however, I have been getting more and more involved with the health and fitness industry in the last few months. Before Big Data Analytics, people were not able to sort through piles and piles of information on consumers. Now it is extremely easy for marketers to look at these analytics and find patterns and trends. Big Data has helped the fitness industry grow immensely in the last few years. There are now massive amounts of data to play with considering there are now fitness trackers and apps to track workout trends, food consumption, and people’s daily activity trends. This data can then be transformed so that marketers can make better products or come up with insights on research. Not only can these analytics help people in this industry understand how consumers feel about certain products or fitness facilities, but they can exactly track their daily routine to see how the consumers are interacting in the industry.

           Big data has helped business transform from awareness to action. Marketers now know their consumers on a different level to where they can leverage this data and transform their businesses. Big data can lead marketers to see Web server logs, Internet clickstream data, social media content, social network activity reports, text from emails, survey responses, mobile records, and more. With this type of information, marketers can examine this data to uncover patterns, market trends, preferences, and many different correlations. “Big data will fundamentally change the way businesses compete and operate. Companies that invest in and successfully derive value from their data will have a distinct advantage over their competitors.”

           Analytics can be leveraged to examine internal and external data. It allows organizations to meet stakeholder demands, manage large amounts of data, create a competitive advantage, and eventually turn information into intelligence. First, the organization has to manage the data and find the relevant data. Then, they analyze the data and find insights to drive these decisions to enhance their product or service. In the health and fitness industry, organizations are able to see exactly what types of clubs and facilities customers are involved in, what they pay to be a part of these clubs, what they search for on their mobile phones or computers relating to health and fitness, and what their overall trends are relating to their physical health. For example, data has shown that customers are not as interested in solo workouts or working out in big independent gyms. Now, people are interested in group workouts that involve a trainer, high tech machinery, and a fast paced environment. Without big data, people in the fitness industry would most likely have not seen this trend evolve. The key to a successful marketing effort is creating an emotional connection with their customers. Building a positive brand experience can only be done through connecting to your consumer and knowing his or her needs and wants and then fulfilling them.

           Big data allows businesses to engage with their customers. In order to hold onto these consumers and build this brand loyalty, businesses need to do four things, including embrace the customer life cycle, lean on the data, identify customer’s life-time value, and get the big picture. Know if the customer is a prospect, a customer, or a completely loyal customer. Then look at the behaviors of each customer in each stage and uncover what will make them take that next step to commit to your brand. Focus on the right customers and adjust the campaigns based on what their actions are. Do not just measure success, but instead measure beyond the immediate impact.  

           Facebook’s Power Editor is one way to target consumers. In order to do this, you click on manage ads in the dropdown box on the top right of your Facebook page. Once you do this, you can create a new campaign and select specific targets for your ads. You can run multiple campaigns at one time for different targets if you want as well. Once you create the campaign, you can select the page to which you want to show your ad. Next, you choose your audience. That includes location, ages, gender, languages, and even more demographics. The picture below shows how detailed the targeting can get. You can include income demographics, education, relationship statuses, etc.

Then, you choose your placements and budgeting before you create the ad text. If I were making an ad in the health and fitness industry, I would target people in the Oxford and Lafayette area. Then, I would most likely target women ranging from eighteen years old to thirty-six years old with a higher income status. This would help me narrow in on the audience that is mostly active in that industry.

http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EY_-_Big_data:_changing_the_way_businesses_operate/$FILE/EY-Insights-on-GRC-Big-data.pdf

http://searchbusinessanalytics.techtarget.com/definition/big-data-analytics

http://marketingland.com/much-happy-customer-worth-210203

https://martechtoday.com/marketing-can-use-big-data-win-back-users-157462