Google BigQuery - Data warehousing made easy

Are you still guessing or already analyzing?

Let's start from the beginning. What is a data warehouse anyway? First of all, it is literally a warehouse in which large amounts of data from different sources can be collected and stored. However, in addition to structured data archiving, data warehouses make one thing possible above all: querying data in real time, analyzing it and converting it into useful insights.

This not only increases efficiency, but also makes it easier for companies to understand their customers' needs and implement data-driven marketing measures. In short: decisions become scalable.

Goodbye data silos, hello data integrity

All data in one place and available to all stakeholders at any time - at first glance, this sounds like a practical way to simplify basic decision-making processes. However, looking through data glasses reveals another major advantage of data warehouses: they have a significant impact on data quality. Instead of viewing individual data sets in isolation from one another, data in the data warehouse can be analyzed across all sources and therefore holistically. This 360° view accelerates well-founded, data-based marketing decisions. The days when marketing measures were decided on the basis of gut instinct are now a thing of the past.

One prerequisite for breaking down existing data silos is a standardized data structure across all local databases. Data integrity is often mentioned in this context. This ensures that the data can be recorded, stored, transferred and retrieved correctly.

Depending on the purpose of the analysis, it is not always useful or necessary to consider all data pools integrated in the warehouse. For this reason, only those subsets of different data pools that are relevant for the intended analysis can be merged in so-called data marts. In this way, the data can be customized to meet specific wishes and requirements.

Think big(Query)

With BigQuery, Google provides users with a powerful data warehouse that combines all of the aspects mentioned above: efficient data storage, data transformation and complex data queries and analyses in real time. What sets BigQuery apart from other data warehouses is that Google relies on a purely cloud-based solution. This eliminates the need for users to set up, configure or scale servers on which the data is hosted. This allows them to focus entirely on analyzing the data.

The server-less service is a game changer when it comes to agile working. BigQuery is ready for use in just a few steps and processes even complex data queries at high speed. On the one hand, this is because BigQuery is able to process queries in parallel. On the other hand, the service accelerates the entire query processing by scaling computing processes and adapting them to changing conditions. Incidentally, this also makes BigQuery a cost-efficient tool, as it follows the principle of pay-as-you-go - I only pay for the computing power that is actually used.

BigQuery and Google Analytics 4  – It’s a match

As I am at home in the world of website tracking, the ability to integrate various tracking tools - especially Google Analytics 4 - is particularly important to me. How convenient that BigQuery integrates seamlessly with Google Cloud Services such as Google Analytics and Google Looker Studio. Another plus: with the introduction of Google Analytics 4, users now also have the option of creating a direct link to BigQuery and automatically importing their tracking data into the data warehouse. This function was previously only available to users of the paid Google Analytics 360.

As soon as the data is stored in BigQuery, you can get started with the data queries. The granular examination of specific metrics and dimensions enables detailed and complex analyses of user behavior. The insights gained can be used, for example, to identify trends and initiate fact-based optimization processes that have a decisive influence on website performance.

The sky ist the limit

The volumes of data that decision-makers in the healthcare sector are confronted with are becoming ever larger and more complex. As are the technical options available in this context. But there's no need to panic! At antwerpes healthy media, we provide a clear view and are happy to navigate you through the big data cosmos so that you too can initiate comprehensive data orchestration for your marketing measures.

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