Big data – marketers want to understand it and consumers want no part of it. The problem of marketing to people who don’t want to be sold to may not be new, but big data introduces new concerns as consumers fight for their rights to privacy online. Prior to making a buying decision, the connected consumer searches product reviews, consults with their social networks, and uses mobile applications while in store to compare prices. This consumer wants control of their shopping experience, does not want to be interrupted by your ads but does want to discover the best product that solves their problem. Your goal is to have your product easily discovered and understood by this consumer.

Listed below are three ways for you to aid discovery using big data.

1. Give yourself time to analyze the data

How
Hire a consultant; partner with an analytics vendor; dedicate a team internally.

Why
Chances are that no matter how much you filter your data down to the set of information you need, you will still have a substantial amount to parse. Sifting through this amount of data should not be done by someone who has four (or more) meetings per day.

How does this aid discovery
When you can analyze your data in an efficient fashion, you can more quickly gather insight that will inform your strategy. Research that is based on finely-tuned consumer data and their habits will reveal patterns that help you anticipate what your customers will be looking for and when they will be searching.

Social Media Analytics platform Spiral 16‘s powerful data virtualizer

2. Stop using pop-up, flashing, or interstitial ads on page load

Why
They reek of desperation. Similar to dating where a desperate person is hardly respected and their quality is questioned, these ads are closed and skipped by discerning customers. Smartphone users find these especially irksome because they are harder to close on their small screens.

What to do instead
Put your call to action on every page, in every post and make sure the CTA has its own page and is shareable. If the use of ads is not up for debate, consider rich media ads. Flash ads can crash a user’s browser, resulting in the decision to never visit your site again.

How does this aid discovery
Your customer stays on your site longer, enabling the collection of more data about how they’re using your site. This data can be captured by an analytics tool and deciphered to generate marketing tactics based on the user experience.

3. Analyze word clouds

Social Media word cloud for the phrase “Social Commerce”, created by eCairn.

How
Collect social chatter data. Run a query using data analytics tools designed to handle a high volume of data.

Why
Similar to keyword research, analyzing popular terms associated with your brand will give you key insight into how to speak your customer’s language, which informs your copy.

How does this aid discovery
When you know why people are talking about you, you can answer the question they’re asking their search tool. Are people comparing your product to that of a competitor? Write up a product comparison piece; put the copy (or a link to it) on the front page of your site.

The subject of Big Data is, as it’s name suggests, huge, and an increasingly important subject in the realm of social marketing and technology. While I’ve only grazed the topic, can you think of other ways social marketers can benefit from bigger and better data sets? You can answer in the comments below or start a twitter conversation with me @WriterChanelle.