Big data is defined as following three V’s: variety, volume, and velocity. Compared to traditional data, it’s more diverse, there’s more of it overall, and it comes in faster than ever. Major companies have been using it for some time, but now so can you at any level. Knowing four ways to utilize and process big data helps you in any project that you decide to undertake.
Yay or Nay?
One of the most basic functions of big data is determining the positive or negative reaction consumers are having to your brand. How people feel about your products and services goes a long way in word-of-mouth advertising, and big data can help you determine how the narrative about your brand is going.
Track Changes in Traffic Volume
When your company gets mentioned in social media or online, it’s hopefully in a good light. However, even if the positivity is steady, is the volume trending in the right direction? There will always be some ebb and flow, but if you start noticing downward trends in mentions of your brand, then you might have some marketing work to do. If the interest level in your products and services isn’t as high as it used to be, what’s going on? Did you saturate the market? Is someone beating you out with something superior or better priced? Big data can give you information that leads to solutions.
Entity Extraction
Entity extraction can go through data processing to get you names of people, organizations, places, and more. You can get data from business sources, financial information, political documents, military resources, social media, and even law enforcement. Once you have this data, entity extraction can use machine learning to process and turn the raw data into something useful. Use this to find out names, addresses, titles, and contact information for people, businesses, nonprofits, and government departments or agencies.
Filter Out Background Noise
Your company, product, or service might be mentioned a lot in the news and social media. That should be a good thing. People know who you are and are talking about you. However, many of these mentions might not be worth paying attention to. The right filters can drown out most of the noise and inform you about mentions that you should be aware of and do something about.
Gone are the days when only the biggest companies can utilize and process big data. Now, even small businesses and some self-employed professionals can access all this information and use it to advance their business interests.