Why use data, and how to interpret it to achieve your marketing goal?

Data is the new oil... but you already know that. Data-driven decision making has been a trendy term for over the last decade.

Photo by Franki Chamaki on Unsplash

Today more than ever before, people associate data with terms like "AI", "big data and anything technology related. The term "data" could mean all sorts of things for people in different sized companies. For some, its the excel gurus who maneuver data with pivot tables while the others rely on data analytics companies who want to stay ahead of the curve seeking a competitive edge or trying to understand their customer or environment better.

Whatever your business size, you still need to take a stab at the data at your disposal as a decision-maker.

The key aspect of success is driven by the plan put in place to execute the project.

How to interpret your data?

Create a plan. Don't wing it!

What is your business or marketing objective? What is the reason to analyze data? What the intended outcome?

Review your purpose every quarter and challenge what is working and what you'd like to overcome.

Do you have the data at your disposal to execute the plan

Data collection takes both time and effort. It is important to assess whether your approach (data) can achieve your goal with the data at your disposal.

Some businesses are set up to track everything "important" for a business. They are more likely to be able to collect data relatively easily. However, for others who aren't set up to track information and stats, it may require some further digging.

Interpret. Improvise and interpret again

The conclusion that you make or the hypothesis you test from the data gathered is the most crucial step in this process. As with any process, if the beginning has its flaws, the whole thing will be flawed. When concluding, it’s important to review the question you initially posed, the data you’ve collected, and how it’s been collected. It’s also crucial that any decision made or conclusion made has its own checks and balances to ensure that you’ve analyzed the data appropriately.

Once you complete the process, analyze the data with some pivots on a regular basis and understand how else we can look at data to help us solve problems.

In conclusion, any business can apply data to helps their business solve both big and small problems. All visibility that can be achieved through this process will help you further understand your business.

Thank you

Yogesh Babu

PS - Do share your thoughts on the article in the comments below. I will respond to you as soon as I can. PPS - If you choose to share the article, I would highly appreciate it if you could include the credits. :)