Big Data’s application is ubiquitous, and it’s revolutionizing how industries operate in the 21st century. One department that’s especially benefiting from the adaptation of Big Data is marketing and sales. By adopting it as a tool to help the marketing and sales department work more effectively, organizations are seeing an increase in sales.
The auto industry incorporated Big Data to help dealerships and marketing and sales departments create extensive customer profiles. As an example, one survey shows that in 2016-2017, 19.3% of adults are planning to buy a car in the next year.[1] Another study indicates the percentage of online car shoppers may be as high as 33%.[2] However, regardless of whether car customers are racing to shop online or not, there is an important revelation about what motivates them to make a purchase: incentives don’t drive sales.
According to an online study, only 8.3% of consumers purchase cars because the offer is too good to pass up. In fact, the top three motivating factors for car purchases have nothing to do with money. 27.3% of car shoppers are excited about a new model; 21% are experiencing issues with their current vehicles; and 20% are shopping for a new car due to changing family dynamics. [3]
For instance, GM uses customer profiles to specifically target car shoppers. Using Big Data, GM knows who wants to purchase a luxury model car and who is interested in a basic model. Their sales and marketing team then tailors targeted marketing strategies and campaigns to fit these customers’ interests.[4] Based on the 27.3% of car shoppers that want the latest GM model, there will be a small percentage that is only interested in luxury models. The marketing and sales department would send out targeted content to potential customers based on the customer profiles.
Currently, companies are focusing the majority of their Big Data efforts on customer analytics (48%). This helps marketing and sales departments with their four key strategies: increasing customer acquisition, reducing customer churn, increasing revenue per customer, and improving existing products.[5]
However, adopting Big Data as an organizational tool isn’t an easy switch. To harness the power of Big Data, organizations need professionals who can help implement data systems. BARDESS features senior consultants, solution architects and data scientists that can guide, design, and implement data systems that empower businesses and organizations to make knowledge-based decisions in real time. BARDESS can help your marketing and sales department utilize Big Data for big sales.
As Big Data continues to change how marketing and sales teams operate, BARDESS is here to enable your business to become data-driven.
[1] Gadzik, Tanya. “Discounts Won’t Drive Auto Sales, Study Finds.” Marketing Daily.
[3] Gadzik, Tanya. “Discounts Won’t Drive Auto Sales, Study Finds.” Marketing Daily.
