One of the themes of CeBIT 2014 was big data. In fact, it’s one of the core themes of most events I’ve been attending the last months. Big data is everywhere: marketing, analytics, information management, healthcare, the list goes on. And despite discussions and debates in the area of privacy (necessary debates), big data is penetrating all areas of business and society. This includes content marketing and content/information management as well.
Last year, ABI Research said global spending on big data exceeded $31 billion this year. Over the next five years the market will grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 29.6%, ABI said.
There’s a lot of controversy and quite some misunderstanding regarding big data. Understandable. It’s a big topic and as said it concerns all areas of business, society and even life (just check out the infographic from CeBIT below to get an idea).
The adoption of big data is and should be focused upon delivering measurable business value: from big data to actionable data. Business value in a marketing context – and beyond – also means customer value. It shouldn’t be a surprise that customer analytics are driving many big data initiatives today as the presentation by IBM’s Neil Isford on analytics and big data shows.
Big data and content management: V for Value
There is a strong relationship between content and big data from different perspectives: content management, content marketing, intelligent information management and customer experience optimization through a smarter and more timely use of useful information/content. In an interview with AIIM’s President at the occasion of the Global Directions conference by Kodak Alaris Information Management (a partner), John Mancini, on the present and future of content management, John talked about big data from the enterprise content management perspective.
Now, what’s the connection with content management and content marketing? For starters, as big data impacts virtually everything, it strongly effects the broader information and content management picture. In the end it’s about the explosion of data, turned into information and content that makes SENSE from a business and customer value perspective. Think customer experiences, right information at the right time, personalization, optimization, you name it. At the same time, content – as a social object of interaction and input as we look at it from a content marketing, messaging, customer data or social business viewpoint, also adds to the growth of big data as an avalanche of signals that can matter for various goals.
As John Mancini says in the interview, “at the center of how we will act upon the insights gathered by big data will be content (and lots of it)”. Yet, the focus needs to be on benefits and less on technology he feels.
