In 2019, the Italian Big Data Analytics market reached a value of 1.7 billion euros , up 23% compared to last year, more than double compared to 2015 (790 million), from which it grew at an average annual rate of 21.3%. Numerous and ever-increasing companies have achieved or are trying to acquire advanced knowledge in the use of Data Science technologies and skills.
This is what emerges from “Strategic Data Science: time to grow up!” , the research conducted by the Big Data Analytics & Business Intelligence Observatory of the School of Management of the Milan Polytechnic , which involved over 1000 CIOs, Innovation Managers and Analytics Managers of small, medium and large user organizations and executives of the main companies operating in the supply market.
Investments in the sector are increasing, especially those destined to data integration. This trend reflects the ever-increasing centrality of data in the creation of marketing strategies .
A growing number of marketing managers, through their experience in the field, have clearly understood that careful profiling and segmentation of their audience are essential not only in the acquisition phase of new traffic and new users, but above all in the valorization and qualification of contacts already acquired , which are those that, if well cultivated through lead nurturing strategies , are those that potentially have a high CLV and continue to bring value to the company.
This awareness also emerges in “The CMO conundrum and the search for the unicorn marketer” , a research conducted by WFA – World Federation of Advertisers and 2CV and published in June 2020, which involved almost 700 marketing leaders from all over the world who were asked what the most important marketing responsibilities will be in 5 years.
In fact, for 6 out of 10 marketers (62%), technology and digital marketing platforms already play a fundamental role , while three-quarters (77%) believe that the importance of these tools will increase in the future . Not only that: 54% of respondents say that data analysis is an important skill in their role, while 73% believe that it will become even more relevant in the coming years.
The value of Big Data and the importance of privacy protection are growing .
The value of Big Data is growing not only for marketing professionals, but also for an ever-increasing number of users , who are increasingly attentive to protecting their privacy and their data. This is what emerges from two studies, “Made-to-order: The rise of mass personalisation” (2019) and “Changing attitudes to data list of anguilla consumer email privacy : Digital Consumer Trends 2020” by Deloitte , which reveal that over 50% of consumers want more personalised experiences , but being able to maintain control over how their data is collected and used . In fact, 81% of those interviewed said they had taken at least one action in the past year driven by concern for data privacy . In particular, 40% uninstalled an app, while 43% deleted their browsing history.
From this picture of the situation, we could assume that the demands relating to consumer privacy come into conflict with those of marketers, who aim at extracting and valorising data for the development of high-performance and increasingly personalised data-driven strategies based on user behaviour .
Yet from “Privacy by design: exceeding customer expectations” , the research that Google commissioned from Ipsos with data relating to 2020 collected on a sample of 7,200 people across Europe, it emerged that users spontaneously provide personal information when they are clear about how it will be used and what they will get in return because they recognize that, if done in the right way, digital marketing can be an added value for brands and customers.
From the research mentioned so far, it is therefore clear that respect for privacy today is not only a set of legal requirements to be respected and incorporated into corporate compliance, but becomes in all respects a competitive advantage for companies compared to less transparent ones.
