Advanced Analytics: Solution to Traditional Media Buying Inefficiencies
Little more than a decade back, when big data arrived, it gave businesses something extra. However businesses either felt their data was inadequate or the inferences they could draw, were at best, vague. The world has come a long way from then and there has never been a better time to advertise online than now. However, it is not big data alone, or even the technologies that came immediately after its emergence. Smart analytics is relatively more recent, and it goes beyond providing detailed descriptions of your data. Advanced analytics is what data technology should ideally be. The blur before your marketing data disappears, and you can draw sanguine inferences such as what percentage of your ad spend generates what proportion of sales and from which channels. The main advantage of advanced analytics is the availability of accurate inferences in real-time. Besides automating your online advertising process, you will be able to quantify the outcome of your advertising efforts across channels. That helps you make media buying decisions with minimum risk and measure your performance without forced assumptions. You can cut costs incurred on expensive statisticians Unlike in the recent past, when big data was used by high-end statisticians to figure out the best locations, channels, and messaging for you, advanced analytics can do much better, and at a lower cost. With real-time data on multiple aspects related to your markets, advanced analytics software can deliver the inputs you require for adjusting your media buying budget. Efficient media buying involves a range of data processing techniques, but with approximations, you get nowhere in spite of large expenditures. Using predictive analytics, software is now able to provide you with accurate suggestions. Knowing and making the right cross-channel investments It is important that you realize your returns on investments that are distributed across channels. Earlier, with traditional media buying, finding it out accurately in relative terms was impossible. With advanced analytics and customized software deployment, you can assess your individual channel investments. It helps you take confident decisions on whether to expand your campaigns or stop them. Moreover, the deployment over cloud helps you with maximum efficiency in media buying, ad placing, and transacting. Measurements can be carried out every second, and the whole media buying process becomes free of uncertainties. Facing palpable shortage of data? That’s changing! Even when big data had first arrived, companies felt their in-house data was inadequate for drawing sufficient insights. Back then, many decision makers doubted if analytics would be useful for media buying. Software that was smart enough wasn’t around as yet, and even a flood of data seemed inadequate. However, with the emergence of advanced analytics, companies have realized that they can use even their in-house data—related to third parties, finances, channels, transactions and more—to generate the insights that now help them make media buying decisions with unprecedented accuracy. Software can now be deployed and used to implement advanced statistical functions—such as relative importance analysis, structural modelling, case-based reasoning and more. When deployed over cloud, such software can function in real-time to deliver insights on how to best optimize your media buying spend.
Five Trends That Will Shape the Mortgage Industry in 2016
As we embark on 2016, the mortgage industry is poised for another exciting year. Here is a look at trends and topics that will shape the new year. 1.    Interest rates are on the rise – There is potential for future rate increases from the Federal reserves. Rates are expected to rise by up to 1% in 2016. Increased interest rates may prevent many first-time buyers from entering the housing market. The millennials, already reeling under student debt could delay home purchases. 2.    The rise of Millennials – Growing up in a digital age, their set of priorities and buying behaviour is different to the previous generations. Born between 1980 and 2000, millennial purchasing power is at an all-time high. As the first digital natives, they naturally expect lenders to engage with them on digital platforms. Lenders are cranking up their tech muscle and developing digital platforms to capture this lucrative market. However, rising student loan debts may withhold them from immediate purchases. 3.    Marketplace lenders continue to transform the industry – Marketplaces are revolutionizing industries across business lines. Marketplace lending platforms match borrowers with investors who purchase securities backed by notes issued by these platforms. By adding critical functions in the middle, they are leveraging technology to unlock value, deliver scale and in the process take a significant market share. In a digital world, technology allows marketplace lenders to use advanced data analytics to make possible credit decisions, reduce risk and enhance customer experience. Marketplace lenders will continue to disrupt the market 4.    Automation is the way forward – Buying a home is a complex process. It involves multi-layered, levels of approvals across a relatively long timeframe. Equipped with an array of options, the digital consumer expects speed across the loan application cycle. Lenders are looking to eliminate roadblocks and deliver superior customer experience. Lenders will leverage automation and adopt advanced technology platforms to automate credit assessment process, track customer sentiment, and detect fraud. 5.    Cheaper to buy than rent – Rental rates across the United States continue to rise. Rental vacancy rates are at a low for both apartments and houses. Growth in rental rates is higher than inflation, and buying is cheaper than renting in major urban markets. With an increasing need to be mobile and lower than average employee tenure, millennials may not want to commit to living in a single location. This could impact buying behaviour and keep rentals at a high. We’ll do a mid-year review to check how these trends are affecting the market. Watch this space for more.