For over a decade, brands have used social media to connect with their target audiences. Now, thanks to cloud computing power and big data, they can do so with much greater precision. Better still, increasingly powerful artificial intelligence (AI) tools can automatically create response-driven ad copy that reduces brands’ cost per lead or sale.
Below, we’ll examine big data’s impact on social media marketing and share a step-by-step approach to creating a winning strategy for your company.
How big data can improve your social media marketing
There are several ways big data can benefit social media marketing campaigns.
Big data helps you identify your audience.
When creating social media marketing campaigns, companies can use each platform’s advertising dashboard to pinpoint their target audience. This allows marketers to stay within their advertising budget because they contact only the people who are interested in buying from them.
Big data allows social media companies to identify their target audiences by analyzing each person’s social media usage. For example, what posts are they liking and sharing? What pages are they following? This information creates a profile that tells marketers which products and services will most likely interest the user.
Adhiran Thirmal, a sales engineer at Cycode, emphasized the importance of using this information in campaign planning. “The most valuable data for marketing comes from customer demographics, online behavior (like clicks, scrolls, or time spent on pages), purchase history and engagement metrics (shares, comments, etc.),” Thirmal said. “Using this data wisely allows you to create highly targeted campaigns, improving both relevance and engagement.”
In addition, “Understanding the purchase history or interests of a customer helps you recommend products that they’re more likely to buy,” Thirmal said. “By personalizing content based on behavioral patterns, you can increase their ROI [return on investment], improve customer satisfaction and strengthen loyalty.” Businesses should continuously analyze this data and adapt their strategies as consumer needs and trends change, he said.
Braden Russell, SEO and analytics manager at digital marketing agency Icepop, agreed. “A data-driven approach enables us to reach niche segments effectively,” he said. “You can also get data that helps map out the customer journey, identifying touchpoints that lead to conversions.”
Big data allows you to create personalized content.
Big data provides the information you need to create content that’s tailored to your target audience. By analyzing users’ preferences and online purchasing habits, you can increase engagement, conversion rates and customer outreach.
For example, a fitness app could use big data to track users’ workout routines, goals and exercise styles, and then use that information to create planned workouts and challenges for them. This would help the app connect with its audience and thus create a strong sense of customer loyalty.
“The value of behavioral data, such as user activity on social media, is enormous,” said Aman Chopra, marketing manager and SEO lead at e-commerce shipper Stallion Express. “You can improve engagement by fine-tuning their messaging and examining what material resonates with them. In addition to optimizing ROI, demographic data aids in customizing advertisements for particular audience segments.”
Big data improves the customer experience.
Analysis of social media comments, search history and user activity patterns across multiple channels can give you a better understanding of what customers want. For example, if an online clothing store notices social media comments requesting more winter clothing options, the brand could launch an email campaign featuring its winter collection. This approach satisfies customer demand while creating a new sales opportunity.
Social media is also highly effective for connecting with customers, answering their questions before the sale, and addressing their concerns after the sale. Customers appreciate the ability to connect via their favorite platforms.
Big data helps you decide on new services and products.
Accurate data helps companies plan which products and services they should launch next. Big data can provide valuable insight into current trends and help companies gauge customers’ expectations. This information removes much of the risk associated with developing, producing and marketing new products.
For instance, if a mobile phone manufacturer notices that customers want longer battery life and more storage, those customer insights can feed into both product development and advertising campaigns.
Big data measures success.
Social media metrics allow marketers to measure the ROI of each campaign. For example, you can see how well each post or ad engages your audience on social media and determine each one’s ROI. Marketers can then use this information to fine-tune products and services for future campaigns and adjust the messaging they use to engage customers.
“Analyzing which posts drive the most interactions — likes, shares and comments — allows marketers to understand what content resonates with their audience,” said Jason Wong, general manager of precision casting manufacturer QD Rosedwell Machinery Co. Ltd. “At my company, we use this data to refine our content strategy, resulting in a 20 percent increase in engagement rates on social media platforms.”
Data-driven marketing offers cost savings, according to Osa Odiase, product marketing manager at entertainment company Square Enix. “Using data can improve your return on ad spend by making sure your ads reach the right people on the right platform with the right content,” he said.
For example, Facebook might offer a better return than TikTok, depending on your audience, Odiase noted. “By analyzing your data, you can make informed adjustments to different parts of your campaigns — whether that’s refining your target audience, changing the ad creative or tweaking your budget,” he explained. “This helps you achieve the best possible results.”
Big data informs strategy.
Businesses can use big data for business planning — for example, to identify consumer buying trends. What products and services will your client base likely seek out next? What types of new products should you introduce? What types of products need to be reevaluated or removed?
How to create a social media strategy with big data
The most successful social media strategies match what your customers and the outside world are telling you. Here’s a step-by-step guide to creating your company’s social media strategy.
1. Find out what the general public thinks of your brand.
To hear what the wider world is saying about your brand and its products and services, consider investing in a social customer relationship management (CRM) system. Many CRM packages offer tools for tracking social media trends.
Set your CRM software to watch out for mentions of your brand and its products and services. Track what people are saying about your competitors, too. The unstructured data is then passed through AI to determine which products consumers are excited about and share with their friends on social media. [See our picks for the best CRM software.]
2. Get whole-market insights from both social media and customer data.
To start, the unstructured data from your social CRM software should be related to the structured data that’s already available, like details about the customer, to derive actionable insights with big data. You can then use that insight to create a social media strategy.
3. Choose your target audience.
To develop your content, you must understand your target customers. Based on the results of the earlier analysis, you can identify and reach your target audience and develop content that addresses their interests and needs.
4. Create content based on your insights.
Develop material that will resonate with your target audience. Because this content is crucial to your strategy’s success, it is important to spend time drafting it. For example, you could create a content calendar to organize the topics you want to cover and plan how to schedule them.
5. Determine the best times to post.
Identifying when your audience is most active on different social platforms will help you determine the best days and times to post. Most social media platforms see spikes around 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., when people have free time to scroll through their phones. When you post content at these times, it is much more likely to reach your target audience and make an impact.
According to
Hootsuite, the best time to post on Facebook is 7 a.m. on Saturdays, and the best time to post on Instagram is 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. on Wednesdays.
The best posting times may vary depending on the nature of your business. For example, a restaurant may find it’s best to post right before mealtimes on weekdays, when people might not have the energy to cook, whereas an entertainment company might want to post on weekends or evenings, when people have free time.
6. Run your campaign, and analyze the results.
Once your social media strategy has been developed, it’s time to run your campaign, analyze the results and use those insights to refine your strategy.
“Tracking metrics like click-through rates, time spent on posts and customer journeys gives marketers a clear understanding of what content is working and what’s not,” said Ben Sporn, CEO of financial publisher Joy Wallet. “They can then fine-tune their messaging or even adjust the timing of their posts to match when their audience is most active.”
Remember the
5:3:2 rule for social media: For every 10 posts, five should be curated posts, three should be original content and two should humanize your brand. You must create a mix of content to keep your followers engaged and interested.
Common big data mistakes to avoid
Avoid these pitfalls when you’re using big data to drive your social media campaigns.
Being overwhelmed by data
Too much data can overwhelm a company and hinder decision-making. Wong advised against tracking every possible metric. “A common mistake I see is businesses using too much data without focus,” he said. “Instead of tracking every metric, companies should identify KPIs [key performance indicators] that align with their specific goals. This focus leads to actionable insights rather than overwhelming data noise.”
Ignoring what your audience is telling you
A failure to take cues from your customers can damage your marketing efforts. “Common mistakes businesses make include ignoring audience insights, failing to adjust strategies based on recent performance, and making adjustments too quickly,” Russell said. “To avoid these pitfalls, businesses should focus on meaningful metrics, like conversion data and audience behavior, while regularly refining their strategies through A/B testing and performance monitoring for better results.”
Relying too much on automation
Thirmal cautioned against over-automating processes at the expense of personalization.
“Automation tools are fantastic for scaling, but customers may feel disconnected or overwhelmed if there’s no personalization or human touch,” he said. “To avoid these pitfalls, businesses should focus on the data that drives their business goals — such as sales or engagement depth — and ensure that automated responses are personalized enough to maintain genuine customer relationships.”
Not paying attention to trends
Businesses should track trends and use them in their social media marketing. “Companies are now using AI technologies that can monitor large volumes of data and provide personalized recommendations automatically,” said Paul Kelly, founder of SEO for Startups. “Another trend is social commerce, which is gaining popularity, where picture-oriented platforms such as Instagram and TikTok have become helpful marketing tools with a lot of buying activities. Using both of these developments will position brands very well in the future.”
