{"id":8218,"date":"2024-07-22T17:31:14","date_gmt":"2024-07-22T17:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tup.kxe.temporary.site\/how-to-put-marketing-data-into-meaningful-context\/"},"modified":"2024-07-22T17:31:14","modified_gmt":"2024-07-22T17:31:14","slug":"how-to-put-marketing-data-into-meaningful-context","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/okdesign.ca\/en\/how-to-put-marketing-data-into-meaningful-context\/","title":{"rendered":"How to put marketing data into meaningful context"},"content":{"rendered":"


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To business executives and marketing professionals, everything is numbers. Watch the news and pay attention to when a broadcaster states a number. Reading, seeing or hearing numbers is easy. Blindly repeating them is easy. What\u2019s hard is validating the data, understanding it and then putting it into a meaningful, useable format.<\/p>\n

Context matters in data analysis<\/h2>\n

\u201cNumbers out of context are just numbers!\u201d is a mantra I frequently use during presentations and keynote addresses. I follow it up with, \u201cGive numbers meaning by putting them into context.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most people trip and stumble because they can\u2019t put numbers into context. Many people will use perceived high-quality numbers out of context. \u201cWe just got an ROI of 15% on our last marketing campaign.\u201d This sounds impressive, but is it?<\/p>\n

What if previous campaigns over the past two years averaged a 25% ROI? Then, the result of this campaign is not good. However, if the average ROI on campaigns was 10% during that period, then this latest campaign did well.<\/p>\n

When analyzing analytics data, it is critical to put it into context. This applies to everyone on the marketing team and anyone reporting to the C-level executives.\u00a0After all, those executives have to explain the data to the board of directors, lenders, the press or anyone else.<\/p>\n

To help them understand what the data means, look beyond the obvious. Tell the story around the data instead of assuming people will figure it out by themselves.<\/p>\n

Dig deeper: Marketing analytics: What it is and why marketers should care<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The art of contextualizing data<\/h2>\n

A meme circulating a few years ago demonstrated how data can be counterintuitive<\/a>. It showed a World War II fighter\/bomber plane and where the bullet holes were upon its return. People looked at this data (where the plane suffered damage) and said, \u201cWe need to reinforce these areas.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then a mathematician looked at the same data and said, \u201cYou are wrong! We need to reinforce the areas that were not hit!\u201d<\/p>\n

Responding to the perplexed look of those ready to work on the planes, he explained, \u201cWhat you really want to do is armor up the areas that, on average, don\u2019t have any bullet holes. Why? Because planes with bullet holes in those places never made it back. That\u2019s why you don\u2019t see any bullet holes there on the ones that do return.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Image generated by Google Gemini<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Applying context to marketing metrics<\/h2>\n

When we look at our data, we need to think like that mathematician. What do the numbers mean? <\/p>\n

Saying that an SEO project was a success because the average position rank in Google increased from the 3.5 position to the 2.5 position doesn\u2019t say anything.\u00a0<\/p>\n