How Important Big and Small Data Will Be in 2016

Big Data is everywhere and demand for big data expertise across a range of industries will continue to see significant growth in 2016. That's because companies are realizing that capturing and analyzing data about consumers, buyers, suppliers and partners actually works to make the company smarter internally and increase the bottom line.

2016 marketing strategies are being dramatically reworked around data-driven campaigns that better serve consumers and their needs. Folding in social data and From retail to healthcare to real-estate and banking, changes market intelligence brought about by good data analytics will produce better results. Take retail -- according to a study from the Mckinsey Global Institute, retailers who embrace big data analytics yield a 60% boost in margins and a 1% improvement in labor productivity.

Consumers are getting in on the conversation, too. Every day people get out of bed and look at the data collected on their sleep patterns, investigate what they are spending money on through apps or even just looking at the possession and running stats from their favorite sports teams.

Big Data is now everywhere in our society, which means that the general population is becoming increasingly interested in the subject as it becomes more personal to their daily lives.

As Big Data risks becoming too big to be useful, look for 2016 to be the year of Small Data as companies and individuals realize that much of what they collect isn't being used. Turns out analysis of relatively small datasets can help companies understand and solve critical business problems that are a subset of the Big Data picture.

Beverly Macy teaches at UCLA Anderson School of Management and is the author of The Power of Real-Time Social Media Marketing.