According to a recent survey of marketers present for the Aprimo Marketing Summit, big data has become both a challenge and an opportunity for companies trying to effectively sell products. The study found marketing executives are excited to have big data available but concerned about
data quality and management issues.
"[W]ith expanding sources and usage, the data management model - together with the business functions it serves - is changing fast; marketers need fast and easy access to more, as well as good quality data," said Jeff Chamberlain, marketing vice president with the company that conducted the survey.
Chamberlain explained that the amount of data companies are able to use is rising due to new channels opening for sales and shrinking due to customers' increasing hesitance to release information. In this chaotic environment, data quality can be hard to come by but important to help ensure marketing campaign effectiveness.
Software industry Glenn Pingul, writing for Forbes, described the type of case that could emerge with marketing use of big data. He stated that big data lets marketers visualize customers' preferences and behavior over time instead of at a particular moment, forming a nuanced and helpful profile of each shopper.