At this stage of 2017, you’re probably tired of the term ‘big data’ being thrown around by every other marketer or technology innovator. At this stage, it has become something of a cliché. While at BMGcreative we would agree that the term is sometimes overused with very little substance to back it up, we would readily admit that big data is integral to doing business today, and it all comes down to how you understand the concept, and what you do with the data that you collect.

Big Data Put to Big Use

The importance of data can be lost on many people, even some marketers. The problem is that the message is never delivered correctly. Every marketer or business owner worth their salt would agree that accurate data is required to make good decisions in business, but not all of them would be able to tell you which data is the most important, or even how that data should be used to reach a wider audience, increase engagement, or boost sales.

For all the ways that customer data can be used to improve a product, service, or campaign; granular personalization has to be the most interesting of the last year.

Granular personalization is not yet a buzz phrase and it may never become one, but it is still important that you familiarize yourself with the concept. It simply refers to using customer data to specifically target them with information. This is not just typical customer profile targeting, but is highly accurate right down to individuals and their unique interests and behaviors.

Alphabet’s subsidiary, YouTube, is arguably the best utilizer of focused data and granular personalization. Over the past two years, the company has rolled out massive changes to their video hosting platform, which has enabled them to make contextually based recommendations to users in real time. Instead of presenting new content based off of sweeping data sets, granular personalization looks at specifics like the kind of video categories a user interacts with, the titles of the videos they watch, the length, and other key data points that can be collected from a user’s search and viewing history. Recommendations can change based on whether the user is on a mobile device or a desktop/laptop, or even where they are viewing from. When connecting from public hotspots or mobile connections, users can receive shorter recommendations that are easier to consumer on the go. At home, they could be targeted with longer videos that maintain engagement.

YouTube’s algorithms are highly complex and are fiercely protected, but it’s quite clear to see that they are working. Instead of wasting the petabytes of big data collected from 1.5 Billion active users every month, granular personalization provides a better experience by offering video suggestions that meet specific patterns and interests. It also allows for better targeting of relevant advertising, which can have the impact of making users more responsive to the content.

It’s clear the YouTube has stepped up their approach when it comes to utilizing customer data, and it’s something that even small businesses and entrepreneurial marketers can learn from.

Making Granular Personalization Work on a Small Scale

Every piece of customer data is an opportunity. The smallest handcrafted candle company can provide better fragrance suggestions based on purchase history, just as a logistics company could offer the most relevant freight packages to a customer, based on data like where packages are sent, frequency, and average size and weight.

Any company that interacts with a customer has the opportunity to collect data, and if you’re not doing this in your business, then you’re limiting your opportunity to learn more about what your market wants. If you’re not using your existing customer data to more effectively communicate, then you’re ignoring one of your most useful assets.

Start utilizing online data sources to build profiles from website traffic and through your CMS (content management system). With the data, you can design your latest campaigns, testing across multiple platforms to determine the best messaging.

At BMGcreative we’ve learned that granular personalization creates better products and services, more effective campaigns, and stronger relationships with clients. If you’re ready to start producing better marketing in any industry, then it’s time to talk to us about how we can help you to turn your customer data into measurable growth.