The latest trend in marketing that more and more companies are now leveraging is big data. Their mobile apps and online marketing efforts are now being driven by data. It is for this reason that savvy businesses are now coming up with relevant techniques to allow them cope with large volumes of data that will always be associated with such operations. This article will be taking you through some of the valuable tips which your company can use if you are going to utilize big data with your mobile app.
The good news is that leveraging data analytics for mobile apps is not just for big businesses anymore. Until recently, big data was too costly for most businesses to utilize. But with modern cloud servers that has changed. Big data can be used by small businesses and entrepreneurs just like the big firms are doing. Here are some tips on how to use big data with your mobile app.
Be willing to adapt as you go
Successful big data programs are often like an expedition. Having data does not guarantee that you will arrive at valuable conclusions that will improve your app or user experience. Through investigation you can refine not only the data you collect but also the conclusions your draw from it and what actions you take based on those conclusions.
Every business’s data and the insights they derive from them are unique. There aren’t any simple, straight lines when you are working with big data. Businesses have to be adaptive when crafting their data program and constantly refine requirements.
Start small but be ready to grow
Great projects have always started small before expanding. By simplifying what you want to do initially you can speed up development and then learn as you go to prepare for your next upgrade. As projects get larger, costs will grow, so running a small, effective data-driven operation can be a great way to start and become more comfortable with the technology while building experience.
Once a big data program has been established you can add to the system and make it better. It is quite likely in the beginning you may not have the experience to know which direction to head with your data program anyway. By starting small you can gain that experience and then let what you have learned guide your program’s growth.
Invest in enhancing flexibility
You must find a way through which you can respond to the needs of your customers as they arise. This is the only way through which you will be able to ensure that your consumers are satisfied. One way to do this is with cloud based solutions. A business can consider a mixture of scalable and set price alternatives to able to achieve the required capacity.
This is very economical in the sense that the business will be in a position to save extra cash and also get better value for their investment. The cloud can help give you a more dynamic infrastructure and this is what makes it attractive. This way, the business will be more agile to deal with change.
Design for the modern consumer
The modern consumer is intelligent and understands the connected world that we live in. Because of this, they demand a great user experience. To deliver this, your mobile app must be responsive to them as individuals and offer some degree of personalization. For you to be able to use big data to do this effectively, it is important that you understand the journey your customers take and from there you need to determine when and where you can leverage data.
Apps driven by big data and personalized experiences can improve your connection with your app’s users. Your users will be better engaged if they are delivered useful, relevant data. A great example of this would be on Amazon’s app where they analyze a user’s purchase and activity data to deliver recommendations of products they may be interested in purchasing.
Focus on the insights
The magic of big data doesn’t come from just having an enormous amount of data. You need to get to the insights beyond the data that is being gathered. What does this data tell you? What can you do with this information to create a better user experience? Remember you are using this data to create a user experience that is more engaging and responsive to the customer.
You don’t want your data program to have the opposite effect that was intended. Be careful not to present them with too many choices. Choose the best options and deliver those to your users. Having too many choices is rarely a good thing. Don’t let an overabundance of data overwhelm your users. Filter data into insights that can deliver solutions.
Use real-time querying
Due to its accessibility, mobile consumes a great deal of data. Businesses can use querying engines to optimize queries of large volumes of data. Real time query software allows you to gain useful insights and will enable you to arrive at various decisions. Another advantage of making use of real time querying is that you will be able to keep track of your customer data.
With real time querying, you can reach insights at greater speeds in a way that incremental and interactive. By streamlining detailed datasets, your business will be able to move around slow data refinement processes.
Watch performance
Big data is exactly what it says it is: big. Due to this, it is important that businesses strive to remove issues that are reducing performance. Storage is one area you should review; big data creates a great number of reads and writes.
As your data becomes larger, it will create challenges when it comes to processing time. You can deal with this by partitioning your data, separating older information from new data. Or you can use a tiered storage option, where you store frequently accessed data on flash or fast hard disk systems and less frequently accessed data is stored on less expensive media.
Diwiyne Johnson has worked for Vanity Point – a Mobile App Design and Development Company, for the last seven years. In her free time, she likes to play chess with her friends.
