Read the original post published on iCrossing’s Great Finds blog on May 2, 2013.
Big data means nothing without action. That’s a key takeaway from a May 2 presentation delivered by Rayid Ghani, chief scientist for the Obama for America campaign, at the iCrossing CMO Summit. Ghani’s discussion focused on lessons that brands can learn from the success of the 2012 campaign to re-elect President Barack Obama. According to Ghani, brands can build strong connections and trust when it matters most by applying data in real time – and acting and reacting in real-time, too.
As Ghani asserted, big data can – and will – touch everyone in all industries and fields. Brands need to dive into data to understand audiences, become comfortable with it, and derive insights to build closer relationships with their audiences. But brands also need to use data to get people to complete an action.
During the Obama for America campaign, Ghani used data to inspire action. The Obama campaign collected data from one-to-one interactions with individuals. Based on this data, the campaign utilized multi-channel marketing, connecting offline and online marketing tactics, to build stronger connections with those individuals in order to improve persuasive interactions — and to encourage people to get out of the house and go vote.
“Embedding analytics into Obama’s campaign was as much a cultural shift for people as it was literal,” he said.