We all have access to more data than ever before, personally and professionally. And it’s easy to obsess over it, whether it’s email click-through rates or engagement reports, they can all give another level of visibility and insight into how your business is doing.
But there can be a case of having all the gear, but no idea and more data doesn’t necessarily lead to better decisions. It’s how you use it.
What is actually driving results? Being able to turn the mass of numbers in front of you into meaningful reports that lead to action is key.
The best marketing team isn’t the one with the most data but a team that knows what to do with it and what to look out for.
Reporting Should Drive Decisions
Being able to spot problems and solve them quickly is so important and good reporting should help you to do this. It should also show you some gaps and opportunities that you could be grabbing.
Behavioural signals from your customers will help you to spot pain points and pound points. What kind of questions should you be asking?
- Are customer groups engaging consistently across your audience segmentations?
- Which campaigns are driving meaningful action instead of solely clicks?
- Where are you losing customers in the customer journey?
- Where is automation beating your scheduled content?
- Can you spot any engagement patterns at certain times/events?
These are the types of questions that can help you dive deeper and find better insights. Surface-level stats can be helpful but don’t cover that hidden context that can give richer meaning. For example, high open rates on an email campaign can look promising but if the click-through rates aren’t strong then there’s more to the story. Prod and poke at stats to find more meaning.
The Problem With Comfort Metrics
Like anything, businesses can gravitate more towards metrics that make them feel like they’ve got things on track and are easy to report. It’s something to hold onto and show as evidence of things going right. But some stats don’t always give more of an underlying story about customers, products and performance.
Reports might end up massaging ego, instead of spotting areas where improvements could be made. Essentially, strategy is far more important than empty optics.
What happened and what can we do next is a continual cycle that helps your business to learn and grow.
Focus on Signals That Require Action
Spotting trends and emerging customer behaviours is a key part of being an agile business that can roll with the punches. Reporting can help to guide and work out what to rogue on next. Making checklists gives you accountability and helps to avoid reporting that just observes what’s happening, instead of giving actionable suggestions.
Make sure reporting is focused and clear, instead of gathering as many numbers as possible.
If you’re drowning in data and not sure what to do next, get in touch with us at DOWO today to help us help you make sense of it.