“If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine.”
- Jim Barksdale, former Netscape CEO
I am currently taking a digital marketing course at General Assembly. At the conclusion of the ten week course, I will be able to target and grow audience online, optimize a multi-channel marketing campain using analytics, and create engaging marketing content. Our latest homework assignment requires us to reflect on how data has impacted marketing. When considering this, my immediate thought is: acting on opinion v. acting based on fact. This is a seemingly facile notion. Yet everyday, especially in marketing, we see the power of human nature skew judgment and guide us to act in ways that may not be reflective of the need, desire, or want of the oh so powerful consumer. Enter DATA! Data allows us to have a better understanding of the consumer, do this crazy thing called TEST, and oh yeah… ADJUST. Digital marketing grants us the ability to do all of these things in REAL TIME. So no fear, data is your shield from the irrelevant, off-brand, and distracting OPINIONS that sometimes permeate the minds of marketers.
A friend of mine (“mommy blogger”) recently redesigned her site, analyzed her most popular content, and assessed her referral sources. Every opinion and assumption she’d made was WRONG. Prior to learning more about Google Analytics and how better to leverage social media, she wasn’t writing posts her readers loved most or attracting new readers. She also wasn’t integrating ways for readers to share her content. Data is POWERFUL, telling, and an amazing complement to intuition…not those pesky OPINIONS :-).
When preparing for motherhood and as I continue my journey as a mommy I’ve collected so much data; whether it’s from published studies or conversations. My discoveries through mining have made me that much more comfortable and confident. I never base my decisions on a singular opinion (mine or any one person’s).
Makememommy feelings of the day: tired…yet joyous, eager, anxious
