Finding Value in Your Unstructured Data

Paco Darcey, Business Analyst in charge of BI Software research at Clutch

It can be a challenge to find value in data that’s without structure. Rather than let this information sit unused in a dark silo, enterprises can gather valuable customer insights with a bit of out-of-the-box thinking and the right tools for the job. Not only is data left ‘in the dark’ a waste of company resources given the ever-increasing costs of data storage, it defeats the purpose of collecting customer information entirely if not capitalized on to further company-wide action.

Thinking Outside the Box

Nearly every organization today has a social media presence. If one’s enterprise is not utilizing the unstructured data available via channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, there are a number of customer data points they’re missing out on. Facebook offers valuable built-in data analysis tools in its Insights dashboard, which not only provides standard run-of-the-mill post impressions, but can be a valuable tool for collecting feedback. Through the Insights dashboard, companies can also view when their audience is most active on social media, along with demographic data about users that interact with a brand’s page.

Facebook’s advertising campaigns are another quick tool to use in order to gain insight into one’s target age group, as they can be tailored to a particular demographic or audience segment. Collecting data from each group advertised to is a way to not only increase revenue, but can also help pinpoint which audience segments are more likely to leave feedback if they redeemed a promotional ad.

Instagram and Twitter both have powerful analytics, allowing brands to view similar insights to Facebook. These include not only user interactions with posts, but the ability to directly collect feedback which can then be used to spur action in-house. Negative feedback can happen in an instant, meaning brands can be caught in a crisis if caught unawares. Having a well-structured crisis plan is something that can be put together based on the customer feedback collected through social media, allowing businesses to identify customer pain points that may have occurred in the past–and potentially predict future issues. This allows businesses to be one step ahead by utilizing the power of their data. To better assist companies just starting out on their journey with unstructured data, Clutch is a platform offering extensive business insight software.

On a growing platform such as Snapchat, brands have very little time to make an impression. Those that do stand to gain exponentially, as the company reported to the FT earlier this year that Snapchat users now watch 6 billion videos a day.  A ‘snap,’ is a short video or snapshot which brands can then share with their followers and the Snapchat user base as a whole. Though Snapchat currently lacks an official analytics platform, businesses should monitor their total unique views, story completion, and should make an effort to determine what other data points are relevant to their business within this market.

Loyalty Programs in Big Data

Businesses may not think that their loyalty program has much data to offer. Other than the standard points such as a customer’s age or household information, loyalty programs have shifted with the times to ‘check-in’ based programs. These require geospatial data, which can be used to measure customer participation when a particular promotion is running, or to map customer data over a period of time.

Through utilizing geospatial data via user check-ins, organizations can boost their revenue while collecting useful data in real-time. Check-in promotions can be ran across platforms, providing more opportunities for data collection as customers check in at a location on Facebook, FourSquare, or a company branded application. Having multiple windows of opportunity through which to collect unstructured data is just one of the things that can help ensure this data works for one’s business, rather than taking up space on a server.

Breaking down the demographics of users not only allows organizations to map information, but it can be used to predict trends, track responses, and orchestrate a more responsive workflow as a result of user feedback. Through collecting data, businesses can easier identify places within their pipeline which result in issues for end users. Resolving these results in direct benefit to both business and customer, brought on by acting on the data one’s business has obtained. Without any action taken, this collected data remains without purpose.

Takeaways

Working with unstructured data doesn’t have to be a headache. Clutch offers a variety of solutions that make working with Big Data simple, putting the power to transform data into visible changes in the hands of the organization itself. Through identifying what data points are useful to your organization, choosing the right tools for the job, and acting on the information one’s data provides, businesses today have more opportunities than ever before.

Paco Darcey is the Business Analyst in charge of BI Software research at Clutch. Before joining Clutch, Paco was a Calculus and Spanish tutor and supervisor.