According to the Advanced Performance Institute, if we gathered all the data from the beginning of time to the year 2000, it would be less data than we generate now in a single minute.
Today, our best estimates suggest that at least 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are produced every day. (That’s 2.5 followed by 17 zeros!)
All of this data is starting to make a huge impact on the way information is gathered, how companies are run, and the way we live. It’s also transforming many industries and the way they function. Here’s a look at how six of these industries are being influenced by the big data trend.
6 Industries Overtaken By Big Data
1. Marketing
As we recently discussed in our article What Is The “New” Master’s In Marketing?, marketing has undergone some drastic changes. The endless streams of data that are now available to marketers are clueing them into all sorts of behavioral information about consumers’ searching, shopping, and purchasing habits—this is changing the marketing landscape from a product-focused approach to a customer-focused one.
Marketers today are using data analysis to create more meaningful campaigns for both their company and their customers, and data analysts are playing much greater roles in influencing current marketing decisions.
2. Customer Service
Marketing analysts and customer service representatives are analyzing that same data to better understand why customers do what they do, and they’re using it to improve service and experience.
By collecting vast amounts of data about consumer habits, preferences, and interactions, and analyzing it for predictive behavior, companies can apply insights to both new and existing customers that provide better shopping and buying experiences. With big data, you can now meet the needs of the customer before they have a chance to tell you what those needs are.
3. Product Development
Because marketers and developers now have very specific data about what consumers want, they can use it to create products that truly meet the needs of the customer and provide the experience they desire. This has opened up the job of a user experience (UX) designer.
UX designers use big data to be proactive rather than reactive to market trends. By incorporating this data into the product development process, they encourage creativity and agility, as well as leverage the most current information to create relevant products.
4. Finance
The finance industry is using big data in big ways—particularly to inform better investment decisions with consistent returns. It’s also helped fight financial fraud. Banks and financial analysts can now routinely analyze things such as account balances, spending patterns, employment details, location, and the speed at which you slide your credit card to determine whether transactions made are fraudulent.
Something else that has become possible with the big data trend is algorithmic trading, the process of computer programs executing financial trades at speeds and frequencies that a human trader can’t. The mathematical models within these computer programs make trades at the best possible prices and times, which reduces manual errors due to human behavioral factors.
5. Human Resources
According to Forbes, more than 60% of companies are now investing in big data and analytics tools to help make their HR departments more data-driven.
Through online activity, websites, forums, and social media, human resource professionals can now compile enormous amounts of data about companies and individuals on an external level. Things like performance reviews, training, workflows, and internal correspondence help them collect data about their company on an internal level.
Harnessing all of this data is helping HR professionals locate talented employees, retain workers, and identify ways for their company to save money. It’s also clueing them in on key behavior and performance metrics—something that is very beneficial to HR departments.
6. Psychology
When it comes to psychology and human behavior, big data is making huge waves. Technology like smartphones and wearable sensors can collect information on factors such as physical activity, social interactions, and geographic location, all without disrupting the user or requiring their time or energy. This drastically reduces the chance for human error when it comes to manually reporting data.
Social media is also playing a huge role in the industry. Because people share intimate details on these platforms (and share them often), research companies and psychologists can analyze particular actions for emotion and sentiment about issues, brands, products, and more. They can also analyze relationships and interactions—the ways in which people relate, whom they relate to, and how and when they relate.
Companies in all industries are beginning to hire psychologists to help make sense of these mass amounts of data and turn it into meaningful information for both their company and the population in general.
Is A Career In Big Data Waiting For You?
As the future of big data continues to grow, so will the need for skilled analysts who can make sense of all this information. Many professionals are realizing the abundance of careers opening up in these fields (in fact, the U.S. is currently anticipating 190,000 unfilled analytics positions over the next three years), and are beginning to seek the skills necessary to fill them.
If you want a career in big data, the best place to start is getting your master’s degree. You’ll learn the skills necessary to manipulate and interpret data, which will make you a prime candidate for any job in the field of analytics.