The Future of Big Data and Big Data Analytics

Big Data analytics is one of the most sought after technologies that every business needs. Big data innovation is now focus points of many companies.But the question lies, whether Big Data will continue to be important even in the future. nSimpl.com is one of the most reputed companies that has a team of data scientists specializing in Big Data analytics and data warehousing and companies, old and new alike are using their dashboards and tools to strategically manage and store the Big Data.

                       Though currently Big Data is one of the most important drivers of businesses , analysts and scientists are always coming up with newer tools and technologies that are better than those of the previous generation. So, companies as well as data scientists who work extensively with Big Data must know about its future. Listed below are some of the predictions relating to the future of big data:-

▪          There will be a constant increase in data volume thus reducing the importance of Big Data in future.

▪          Though SQL is most popularly used to day, but according to Ovum, Sparks will emerge as a complementary tool and will grow in future.

▪          More tools for data analysis without the analyst will grow in future.

▪          It has also been predicted that the business analytics will include intelligence, where it is required, by the year 2020.

▪          Streaming Data for real-time users will grow in future.

▪          Machine learning, according to Ovum, will be one of the most important elements for data preparation and predicative analysis in future.

▪          Big Data will face a huge challenge relating to privacy in future according to the new privacy regulation by European Union.

▪          Most Companies will appoint a chief data officer.

▪          Autonomous things and agents will continue to be important even in the future.

▪          Data staffing shortages will increase, thus including architects and experts for data management in the future.

▪          All these predictions only make us believe that Big Data will lose its importance in future but one has to wait and see whether Big Data continues with its importance or loses its importance in the future. But one thing is for sure that Big Data will become bigger and bigger and companies who ignore its importance will be left behind in future.

Common challenges in Product Management

Product management is one of the most important roles in any product based company.The ultimate goal of any product manager is increasing the value of the product by growing users/customers so that company can grow in terms of revenue,top line and bottom line.There are various ways through product managers tries to achieve this goal.
                                                               There are separate set of common challenges in commerce companies. In this blog,I will discuss various challenges which are associated with product management role across various domains.These challenges are common irrespective of the domain in which a person is working in.

1.Predicting the performance of new features

Product managers launches very new features in order to achieve the ultimate goal of increasing value of product.Though enough background work is done before deciding on launching a new feature,it is very difficult to predict how successful a particular feature be.This is mainly applicable for unique features which does not have any past history or performance data.In such case it become increasingly difficult to predict the performance of the feature

2.On time product launch

Product launch requires coordination  of various teams which include development,design and testing team.When lot of people are involved there are high chances that product does not release on time because of lack of coordination and laziness of certain team members.Single bottleneck can impact the release of the product.

3.Conflicts with other product managers

Most of the time various product managers have to work with each other when the features being launched impact the performance of the other product manager's product.This is common situation across all domain.In such situation there are chances that the PMs have contradicting view on how a particular feature needs to be developed.This may lead to conflict between product managers

Best practices for UX

UX is the heart of any online platform. UX is all about how the design works for the user.A good UX not only helps in improving user experience but also helps in visual communication to the user.It creates a distinct image about a particular brand in user's mind.There are basically three components which defines UX interface,interaction and navigation design
                  In this blog will discuss some of the best UX practices which one should follow


       1.Differentiate primary and secondary action buttons


It is necessary to communicate user the many action which you want user to perform on the page.When there are two many action button it is better to keep primary button unique and the secondary button similar to each other.This help in giving visual cues to the user regarding the main button of the feature.

In the above picture the main action button "View contact" is shown differently from the other buttons.

       2. Standardize looks of common elements


There are certain buttons which are common across all the portals. For ex "Heart" denotes shortlist and it is same across all portals.It is best to have the same symbol for the common buttons so that user understand them easily.Some of the common action buttons are

1.Shortlsit
2.Check out
3.Search
4.Notifications
5.Home
6.Help
7.Account

These buttons have standard symbols which should be utilized for corresponding action.

      3. Use different colors to denote category

When there are different category of product which you have it is necessary to denote each category with a different color.This helps users in associating a color with a category.When user come next on the site it becomes easy for him to find the right information.I

      4. Use appropriate icons for visual communication

Right icons can really help user understand what the button expected to perform.It is necessary to visually communicate the meaning of the button to the user through icons.

      5. Optimize the information

The amount of text shown to the user should be optimum.When lot of information is shown it become very difficult for user to comprehend the information.The data points which are important to the user should be first identified and then shown to the user.This mainly applies for mobile platform where the space is limited .

     6 .Ensure proper elevation for buttons

There are chances that some of the buttons are so flat that user is not able to recognize them as buttons.This lead to lead usage of the button.It should be ensure that there is proper elevation for each button so it looks clickable element to the user.

Ways to push micro to macro conversions

Most of the online platforms has macro and micro conversions.Micro conversions are basically the intermediate steps which user takes before finally converting which can either be actual monetary sale for e-commerce site and response for lead based site.Macro conversion are the actual conversion which leads to the sale or response.

Though increase in micro conversion automatically leads to increase in macro conversion,it is possible to further increase the transition from micro conversion to macro conversion by following certain steps.In this blog will discuss on how to increase push from micro conversion to macro conversion.


It is first necessary to identify the distance between micro conversion and macro conversion.When there are lot of steps before a macro conversion can take place,it is necessary to push user to the next micro conversion.The various steps involved in conversion for any site are

Home->Search/Filter->View detail->Add to cart /shortlist->Check out/response form fill->Payment/response sumbission

Home->search

The first step in conversion is making user search for what he is looking for.When the search is low it means that macro conversion will be low.In order to increase search one should

• Make search simple:It should be easy to search which means that number of search parameters should be minimal.

• Faster to load:The results should be faster enough to load else user may close the session and leave

• Flexible search: Identify the different ways in which user would like to search.These could help in building the comprehensive search functionality

Search->detail page

Now when user is in search state it is necessary to move user to the detail page in order to move him closer to conversion.When user is not moving to detail page it can be because user is not able to find the right product/information,not enough listing etc.In order to increase push

• Integrate right filters:Filter helps user in finding the right product easily.Thus having right filters make information discovery easy and hence help in improving macro conversion.

•  Show the right information:User will go to detail page only when the information shown is as per his requirement.Indentify the important parameters use is looking for and show them at right place

Detail->Add to cart /Shortlist

Once user has seen the detail page he will add to cart the product only when he is totally satisfied with the product info.This means all the information which user require to shortlist/ad to cart should be provide.In order to improve  push to cart /shortlist

• Provide decision making information:This can be anything based on the product.For eg product compare which can help user identify the right product.

• Place the button at right place:User will perform the shortlist/add to cart only when the  button are clearly palace at the right place.

• Sending right push notification:When user has viewed certain properties it can be send/shown to the user again which can invoke him to shortlist the properties

Shortlist->Buy/responses

User will finally convert only when the conversion process it made simpler to the user which means the response form or the payment process should be made very simple with the least number of steps.In order to improve macro conversion

• Make the payment/response process simple:There should be minimal steps required to complete this action

• Failure backup:When the user fails cannot proceed in certain step their should be help provided at the step to proceed or there should be tracking option which helps in getting back to user with solution

These are the steps to be followed for the above flow.In normal cases the user may skip certain steps in that case new strategy should be adopted

                                                                             

Blog content strategy to drive conversion

Blogs are used by most of the online  portals to drive SEO traffic for various keywords which are related to the business but does not directly lead to conversion.Blog is also one of the most important tools  for user engagement.Companies invest in blog majorly for three  reasons which includes

• Knowledge enrichment
• Increase SEO traffic 
• Drive Conversion-Macro conversion

Blogs can be effectively used to meet all the 3 needs provided proper strategy is formulated for it.In this post will discuss on how the blog can be used to drive conversion.Conversion through blog is basically macro conversion which means push to the pages where user can be converted.

1. Identify the goal of the blog

It is necessary to understand what does user expect from the blog.This depends on the kind of business you are in. Broadly user expects

Reviews/Guidance

When product which you are selling requires guidance to the user then it is better to write reviews about the product.For eg to buy phones,properties one need guidance to identify the right product.Reviews can help user to understand the product better and therefore convince him to buy the product.

Research reports/Future prediction

When the success of product depends on how it will perform in future then it is necessary to help user know the logic behind the success or failure the product.This is majorly applicable to shares/Mutual funds and other highly volatile products

Rankings/Popularity 

When user want to pick from list of product then it is necessary to know which one is the best.This is particularity applicable to the travel industry where user want to travel to new places.Ranking helps him decide which is best place to go.

When a site create blogs it should ask following questions

•  What kind of product I sell?
• What does user expects from the blog?
• How the content should be formulated in order to drive macro conversion?

2.Identify the Right keywords

People read the blogs mainly for the reasons mentioned above.The keyword which the blogs target should be in sync with content of the blog.These keywords are generally not the same which your site target as these keywords are more engagement oriented and not direct intent to buy the products.The long tail keywords can be targeted through the blogs.

3.Post the blog on write platform

The blog will be effective only when it is visible at right place and to the right kind of user.The blogs should be posted on platform after analyzing below data

• What kind of users visit to the platform?
• Are they relevant for the blog?

Based on the above two questions one should decide on where to post the blogs.This will help in targeting right kind of user and thereby improving conversion

The above points is summarized in below flowchart

Product enhancement frameworks

When a product is launched it is important it is continuously changed in order to keep it relevant with time.There are chances that some product performing exceptionally well and some are not.Therefore,it is necessary to identify the right kind of features/changes that needs to be done for the product in order to improve its performance with time.
                                  Based on my experience,I will share various frameworks which can be used for this purpose.

1.Goal Push vs conversion Framework

This framework is about identifying whether the push to different pages is optimum or it needs to be changed in order to improve the product performance.In this framework , push to different pages can be ploted on X axis and the conversion of that page on Y axis.Conversion here can be anything based on company's goal and page goal.The page conversion can help in identifying the top performing pages.This framework help in identifying which pages should the traffic be pushed.Right changes can help in increasing the push to right pages.
                                                                                 Once the top performing pages are identified the changes should be made to improve push to the right pages.This may not be applicable to eCommerce site where there is a standard flow.However in this also it can help in identifying the right category pages to which user should be pushed.

2.Clicks vs position

In this framework one can find out which section in the page is most useful to the user and which particular feature can be enhanced to make it more useful.The number of clicks can given an idea about the usefulness of the section.Though number of clicks depends on position of the elements it is quite possible that a section which is lower down the order in page gets more clicks.In this case it is quit obvious that the section deserves to be moved up the order and also needs to enhanced.There are various online products tools available which can help in understanding the click behavior.

Mailer Optimization

Mailers plays a critical role in any Digital marketing strategy. They helps companies to reach out to broader user base .There are lot of challenges which one come across when using mailer as marketing tools.
          Mailer are used not just for communication but also for creating brand awareness, generating leads etc...A good designed mailer can help companies to easily achieve its objective.

There are basically

Communication/Interaction mailers:

This mailers are basically about communicating to the user regarding the transaction which  user has done with a site. For ex.. when you buy a product from a site you get confirmation mailer. When you drop a lead on a site you get lead confirmation mailer etc..

Lead generation mailers

These mailer are basically product promotional mailer. In these kind of mailers companies tries to generate leads for a particular product. For eg.. companies send mails on promotional offers for products etc.. comes under this category

Brand awareness mailers

In these kind of mailers, marketers tries to make people aware of the new product or feature that is being launched in order to help the product to get traction. These kind of mailer tries to make product popular by highlighting its USP.

Design Guidelines for Mailer

1.Identify the goal of  mailer

It is very important to understand what one trying to achieve through the mailer. The design should follow the goal of the mailer

When the goal is communication about recent transaction then the mailer should ensure that the communication is the highlight in the mailer. The information should be comprehensive enough for user to understand

When the goal is lead generation it should be ensured that lead generation element is properly placed and highlighted. The mailer should ensure that there are not many option to click expect the lead the elements. The content of the mailer should contain the following

• User  needs that product fulfills: User will drop lead only when he feels the product is as per the requirement
• USP: What makes this product special will provide additional traction for the products
• Offer: In case there are any offer available it should be clearly highlighted

In case the mailer is regarding the brand awareness for a product it should contain the following elements

• Product detail: It should contain the complete detail of what the product feature are
• Launch date: In case the product is getting launched on some date it should contain the date
• Link: In case there is any link which explains what the product is, it should be share to the user so that he can learn about the feature

2.Determine what make user open the mailer

The open rate of the mailer depends on the subject of the mailer. The bench mark open rate for the mailer  is 8 -10%. The subject of the mail will decide whether the user will open it or not. Try with different subject lines and check which has better open rate and use it for future mailer

3. Ensure enough content to avoid going to SPAM 

When the mail does not have enough content there are high chances that mail will go the spam folder which will drastically reduce the open rate of the mailer. Avoid lot of images as google consider it as spam

4. Send from popular id

The id from which mailer are send should be popular enough. Ensure that user save the id in its contact which improves the credibility of the id. When the mailer are send form unknow id there are high chances that mailer which land into SPAM folder