Big Data – Buzzword or Future?
The web has created a way of life for a lot of us. We interact, we generate and we consume content on a daily basis. Like any action , there is an equal reaction- so for each interaction we have , generation of data about our actions take place. We like, we dislike, we check in, we comment and we share. This data is a gold mine waiting to be mined. Marketers and product Developers can gain insights about user behaviour which were not possible earlier and that too in real time.
Question remains – How?
The data remains locked with the Big Gorillas of the web – Facebook , Twitter, Google and Information that remains locked with them – remains locked. Twitter’s firehouse Data is available albeit at a huge premium. Google and Facebook data is not available publicly like twitter and what ever data these behemoths give out is via their multiple service offerings are just a drop in the ocean
some simple things to start with to try and capture insights are use your own web property to capture search insights- SAVE THAT search term
Track and capture keywords which send you the most traffic and on all across the pages- specially Look out for those long tail Keywords!
Track the Sales Funnel– products viewed, bounce rates and purchases- Grandmothers’ advise but its surprising to see how many web property owners bother to set this up
Integrate and invest in Facebook Applications– instead of just a Facebook page – the Data you generate is your own ( ask us – we know how it has helped us drive registrations and insights for us)
Create Algorithms to track Twitter mentions and pull that back into your Databases
Ad words– have you thought about that as a data platform?
Start Small with these – and next steps would be to Analyse and create co-relations
Oh well, we thought we did not have to go back being Quants after our Graduation – how wrong we were !
