Since the oldest times humans used big data model to store great amount of knowledge. A curious fact happened in 1926 when Nikola Tesla predicted that man will be able to analyze vast chunk of data using a device small enough to fit his pocket. In 1989, Erik Larson used the term Big Data referring the advertisers’ use of data to target customers. But, only after 10 years it appeared in an academic paper: “Visually Exploring Gigabyte Datasets in Real Time (ACM)”. In 2001, Doug Laney defined the three attributes of Big Data: Volume (the huge amount of data that can be handled, like terabytes and even petabytes), Velocity (the speed of processing the big data) and Variety (number of data contained which can be structured, like numbers, strings and dates or unstructured as text, video, audio, 3D data and log files).
Big Data is a complex topic for business organizations but we will cover mainly the Big Data Analytics section because it is essential to use analytics in your user acquisition campaigns to have a clear understanding of all the factors that determine the results. Customer Analytics is the most popular use case in marketing.
Big Data Analytics represents a huge amount of unstructured and unspecified digital data which provides economic, social, behavioral insights for mobile apps. Having all this information you are able to eliminate the guessing from your user acquisition campaign. It offers various opportunities to discover the main characteristics needed to create your strategy. Moreover, Big Data Analytics allows you to discover the performances of your decisions and predict future actions.
Common Analytics Used for Dealing with Big Data
In order to optimize user acquisition tactic moves you need to recognize the elements that help you organize your valuable resources. It is highly important to use all the information in an efficient way.
Cluster Analysis and Segmentation
While using marketing surveys and research methods you are able to segment your customers and to improve your practices in achieving new users. The segmentation technique breaks big group of entities in smaller sets that follow the same pattern. Cluster analysis is when marketers analyze a group of customers with the purpose of targeting specific users. For example you can choose some criteria like age or income to divide users into categories.
Classification Analysis
The scope is to structure the information into predefined classes based on characteristics that can be predefined or defined by Cluster Analysis. This happens when you want to assign new users for the suited segment. For a game you can organize users in different categories.
Regression Analysis
The purpose is to visualize the relation between dependent variable and independent variable in order to understand the metrics that will determine the elements of user acquisition from the perspective of geographic location, average temperature, gender, income, etc.
Association Analysis
This technique is focused more on searching connections between variables to create more targeted promotion. In this situation you need to get creative and to discover which metrics can be combined to develop the best user acquisition campaign.
Big Data Analytics Tools
It is very hard to choose a platform to which you will entrust all the data and on which you will count to handle all the analytics for your campaign. But we will present you some of the common tools that can help you in managing the huge amount of data.
Qubole is a complex platform that provides all types of services related to Big Data in general and Big Data Analytics in particular, for enterprises. They present on their webpage the benefits of using Big Data Analytics like cost savings, competitive advantage and new business opportunities. You can choose from their list of processing engines like: Apache Hadoop, Apache Spark, Apache Hive or NoSQL Database. You can sign up for the free trial and they have a price list for all their services.
BigML
BigML is more oriented on Machine Learning. Their main focus is to simplify the services related to Machine Learning offering a platform where you can upload your data and to generate all possible predictions. You can take advantage of their models for your predictions. For small tasks, BigML is free, but for enterprises facilities you will have to check their prices.
Statwing
Statwing combines interesting images with complex reports. You are able to upload your dataset and to select the relationship you want to explore. Their workflow process is so simple that you can generate your data in less than 5 minutes. They offer a free demo but for real services you will see their price list. You will find a simple to use interface and many tutorials.
Final Thoughts
For a mobile application owner or marketer it is enough to think about the term “Big Data” to be overwhelmed by the huge volume of information. On the other hand, Big Data Analytics offers the possibility of understanding the pattern of engaged users and gives marketers the chance to target more customers in a more efficient and personalized way.
