There’s a BIG problem. The amount of analytical data a digital marketer can consume in a single day has an increased potential to be overwhelming…and you may go home at night and dream of Excel spreadsheets. It happens. It’s okay.
The number one rule to remember about data – it doesn’t hide information but it is not all encompassing. Therefore, you still may be getting a large snapshot of what is happening, but pieces of the puzzle must be inferred or analyzed to come up with a possible correlation. Not necessarily a conclusion. It doesn’t end. It never ends.
Presenting the data is key. Explaining the presented data is actually getting that key to unlock the door.
Without understanding what is presented in a report or presentation, it is just a bunch of non-actionable numbers, figures and formulas. It might look pretty and polished, but what purpose is it serving as we move forward in a campaign? What’s the next step? To know the where, when, why, how and what of it all, it allows marketers to make actionable decisions on what to do next. But is that the end? I don’t think so!
This beautiful thing we like to call digital marketing is an evolving process. Why? Because not only are digital concepts ever-expanding, our audiences are on the move 24/7. They aren’t waiting for us [as much as we would love for them to]. Therefore, we need to keep up! Sure, one month there was a surge of Facebook usage. Will this stay true to the next month? Maybe, [HOPEFULLY! Keep that content fresh!] but don’t put all your eggs in a single basket and just think doing the same thing over and over again will always achieve the same results. That never worked for anyone.
Remember to always, always keep testing, reading, learning, examining. You may find that sweet spot – that moment when the stars align and you find the answers within your data to the where, when, why, how and what; you set course on the actionable data and make recommendations; you begin testing; you see desired results. Perfect. Keep it going. However, always be on alert and realize things can and do change. The answer: prioritize and understand those analytics.
Don’t sweat it. Successes will arrive. You will succeed. The goal? Keep at it!
