Unstructured data analysis is not leveraged to its full potential by enterprises, and structured data cannot provide the fine distinctions provided by unstructured data. In this blog post, AICoreSpot will explore how marketing strategy can gain a tactical advantage from AI-driven unstructured data analysis. 

A viral joke has been doing the rounds on social media as of late, which, while funny, can provide us with something to learn regarding the restrictions of structured data. Here it is. Visualize two persons, who are the same, based on the outcome of a survey. Both of them are 72-year-old, residing in England, possess a recognized title, and wage brackets that put them in the high-net-worth classification. As far any advertiser or salesperson is concerned, similar products and services can be targeted to both of them. 

Although, there is a minor problem. Both have the title of ‘Prince’, but their personalities and background could not be more different. One of them is Charles, Prince of Wales, and the other person is Ozzy Osbourne, Prince of Darkness. Though this unique pair may have several mutual hobbies and interests, it is not wrong to assume that these would be representative of a miniscule intersection on a Venn diagram documenting their preferences. 

The takeaway is simple. Structured data (SD) as indicated by numbers within tables or closed survey questions will not furnish the marketing executives of businesses with the subtilities provided by Unstructured Data (UD). The nuance manifests itself via the quantity of unstructured data and its various forms, which ranges from TBs of text and imagery on social media websites, to audio/video data. This quantity of UD is growing on an ongoing basis. As a matter of fact, IDG forecasts that 9/10ths of electronic data will be of the unstructured variety by next year, so knowing how to leverage it will be competitive differentiator for any enterprise. 

It is critical to make it obvious that unstructured data is data that is lacking a way to be analyzed, and interpreted in a swift fashion. It is ubiquitous and makes up a major portion of all data there is. Firms and businesses have it at their disposal in large quantities – but it is typically not leveraged to its complete extent. In the universe of business data, unstructured data is at times referred to as “dark” data due to its raw, hidden, and not fully understood traits. But this data can of great value to marketing professionals; executing what has been named “dark analytics” on unstructured data would show that Ozzy Osbourne is a better sales prospect than his regal contemporary. 

How do we arrive at this conclusion? Progresses in artificial intelligence technology mean that marketing and sales pros now have the methods to hone their strategy by tuning in directly to the voice of their client (VoC) and leads. 

By leveraging AI tools and ML strategies, large volumes of unstructured data can be transformed into juice for enhanced marketing. 

Voice of customer can take up several disparate forms, consisting of reviews, feedback regarding products, calls made to client services, and their communication of negative, positive, and neutral feelings towards competitor brands. The constant progression in the domain mean that AI has the capability of leveraging unstructured data to generate sentiment analysis with an increasing degree of sophistication. 

Unstructured data can not just distinguish between Prince Charles and Ozzy Osbourne, but it can additionally inform marketing professionals how each individual feels about a range of subjects. This type of analysis, accomplished via social listening utilities and driven by the proliferation of unstructured data, essentially furnishes a far more complex and nuanced understanding of a particular market, than the conventional and dated demographic segmentation strategies on which marketing professionals were once so dependent upon. 

It is totally doable to market to the unique demographics of both Prince Charles and Ozzy Osbourne, given that a business is willing to delve into the dark analytics of unstructured data. With AI illuminating the darkness and social listening utilities poised to identify the valuable nuggets of client feedback, marketing professionals might just discover, glimpsing into the treasure trove of unstructured data – that there are diamonds in the darkness, ripe to be mined.