Dr Yvonne Saini, Director of the Master of Management in the field of Strategic Marketing (MM-SM) at Wits Business School, provides her perspective on the potential of big data in strategic marketing: ‘Big data offers us insights into our prospects and customers’ needs, habits, buying propensity, satisfaction, financial risk appetite and more. It can help you understand and optimise your marketing performance, which in turn creates the opportunity for true competitive advantage.’
We have often heard that big data will fundamentally change our way of working and revolutionise the way we do business. While this may be true – and marketing departments around the world are striving to interpret big data to strategic effect – it’s just not as easy as it sounds. Fundamental change requires a complete shift in the art of strategic marketing.
A recent study from DataMeer found that customer analytics dominates big data use in sales and marketing departments with the focus being on how to maximise the four key strategies of increasing acquisition, reducing churn, increasing revenue per customer and improving on existing (or launching new) products. All this is made possible by big data which holds the potential to describe customers with an accuracy and level of detail unimaginable only a decade ago.
But, for many marketers today, the challenge is no longer having too little information but rather, that they now have too much, and from a multitude of sources. But more is not necessarily better – it has to be the right data and it must have depth and connectivity. This kind of big data offers the opportunity to dig deeper to reveal richer insights. With that level of insight you can develop specific strategies and actions to drive growth.
However, you have to know how to go from data to insight to impact. Once you have the data, how do you turn it into insight? And how do you use that insight to make a positive impact on your marketing programmes? ‘This is the real value of the strategic marketing programme we offer at Wits Business School,’ said Dr Saini. ‘We provide the ways of understanding and harnessing big data through our marketing analytics course, but it’s supported by applied consumer behaviour, advanced strategic marketing, strategic brand management, integrated communications and digital marketing which turns ‘knowing’ into ‘know-how’.’
‘Completing the Master of Management in the field of Strategic Marketing at Wits Business School was, for me, truly the most invaluable educational experience I have ever had. The structure and intensity of the programme challenged me in ways I didn’t anticipate but I believe have since been invaluable in both my development, as well as in the pursuit of my long-term aspirations,’ said Innocent Bila, Managing Partner at Kinga Global, a creative management consultancy in Sandton, Johannesburg.
Lebo Moya, a graduate in the MM in the field of Strategic Marketing said, ‘My entire approach to marketing has shifted and is driven by strategy and research to substantiate the solutions I co-create with the stakeholders I engage with. When working on my dissertation, I learnt a great deal about the field of marketing, which provided me with a theoretical answer to almost everything I had practiced in my professional career – it was like finding the missing piece to the puzzle. This undoubtedly gave me a deeper appreciation for my profession and really was an entire mindset change, which is vital if one is to be a successful marketing strategist.’
And a new approach is critical as consumers expect a seamless experience from their first interaction all the way through to customer service after the sale. Predictive models and social insights can significantly help you get ahead of your competition and is one of the most progressive strategies marketers can employ with big data. From personalised messaging that helps them solve problems; to making a decision to buy; to a customer-focused culture throughout their customer journey – an experience that delivers quality across all channels is more likely to earn and retain their business. As the management consultants at Bain & Company point out, a mere 5% boost in customer retention increases profit by 25%, so it makes sense that you need to know your customers to build better customer relationships, deliver exceptional customer experiences, and discover what influences customer loyalty and keeps them coming back.
In closing, Dr Saini purported that, ‘Big data gives marketers the most timely insights into who is interested and who is engaging with a product or content in real time. With this information and a consumer-centric approach, omnichannel marketing becomes not only possible but an effective customer experience rather than the ineffectual use of a proliferation of channels simply because they are available. This way of marketing aims at delivering the right message, at the right time, to the right set of consumers.’
‘So, from brand awareness to revenue generation, marketers need to have an in-depth understanding of the customer’s buying journey. They have to gather as much information as they can from both online and offline sources. Big data has enabled marketers to go from knowing the customer as a demographic to understanding them as an individual. The incredible depth of consumer information makes it possible for marketers to tailor their products, offers and communications to meet the expectation of a specific individual and to focus on customer lifetime value which, I believe, will be the most important performance indicator into the future.’
Lead your business into tomorrow with absolute relevance. Study your Master of Management in the field of Strategic Marketing (MM-SM) at Wits Business School. January 2023 applications are open. Learn more here.
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