The big data buzz

I am tired of the hype surrounding big data. And I don't understand why B2B companies and their decision-makers are so stressed and talk so much about it when they do not even have their small data in order. 

This article is not about what is what. Some claim that big data is about machines and small data is about people. And I agree. Small data is about people and everything around us.

Online interactions are filled with small data ready to be collected and used to inform you about purchase behaviour and buying journeys. People create small data when we, e.g., check in, download, search, post, and browse, creating our unique footprint and providing a glimpse into our online behaviour and patterns. 

Small data is the core of CRM. You can use it to create a comprehensive picture of a person and their preferences, for example, by combining insights from social media and our campaigns with analytics and transaction data. Small data is still the primary key to building better contact cards and profiles that are the centre of being relevant. 

Most companies that I have complete insight into have two straightforward tasks to solve:

• First, they need to ensure that they have one contact card for every person in their CRM system. This means collecting all relevant information and data about an individual in a single place.
• Secondly, they need to decide that the email address should be the critical piece of information they require for all their contacts.

They claim to prioritise their customers and pursue big data, but they do not have the email addresses of all buyers at their customers' companies in their CRM system. Having an email address for each customer and prospect is the correct type of data to prioritise - even if it's 'small'.

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