Drowning in Data: 3 Steps to Simplify Your Data-Driven World

October 26, 2018

Become a data-driven organization. We’ve all heard that before. It’s been a major objective for many companies during the last decade, and some for even longer than that. But what does it mean, particularly for marketing and communications teams? And how do you keep all that data from stifling creativity or having the opposite of its intended effect: creating inefficiencies or bottlenecks.

A quick perusal of recent Adweek articles will tell you all you need to know about marketing teams and data overload. Research from Adobe shows that marketers never access 97 percent to 99 percent of the data they collect because they don’t have the resources to deal with its overwhelming volume. Another recent study found that 99 percent of marketing leaders believe data is critically important, but 62 percent are unable to turn it into insights or action.

So how does one uncover those actionable insights, amid the immense mound of data available? Here are three steps to get you started:

Define Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that matter. When IT sends an email about a new Business Intelligence (BI) or visualization platform your company is rolling out, don’t just push it to the bottom of your never-ending to-do list. We all know the saying: garbage in, garbage out. If you send IT a laundry list of possible metrics to measure, you’re going to get back a whole lot of data and reports that don’t really help you to understand a whole lot. Take the time to sit down with your team, discuss current and future strategies, and choose the most important KPIs to start with. Then explore each KPI in the context of individual campaign/project goals, companywide goals and industry standards. Wait until you clearly define what data is most important to understand before you start building your reports and dashboards.
Turn reporting into analytics. Anyone can share numbers about a project or campaign. But your leadership team wants to know more than how many employees are using the internal portal or how many companies clicked on a recent press release. What’s the actual level of employee engagement with the portal and what are the factors that are driving them to engage (or not engage)? Which companies clicked on a press release and later entered the sales funnel? Are press releases more successful when social engagement is high? If you’ve taken the time to define the appropriate metrics to track (see step 1), you should be able to easily find these answers.
Don’t be afraid to ignore the data every once in a while. Sure, the whole idea of a data-driven organization is to make smarter real-time and future decisions based on data. Many marketing campaign planning sessions today start with data, but we need to find a balance so we’re not abolishing the creative method altogether. Encourage a data-driven creative process, where you understand your targets and opportunities based on data but don’t stifle creative perspectives that may not necessarily fit into your dashboard. The creativity that people can bring to the numbers is what makes the data useful.

At the end of the day, the business world runs on data and that’s not changing anytime soon. If you want to be successful in your marketing and communications endeavors, you don’t have to become a data scientist, but you do have to embrace the data and make it work for you.

Author: Estera Hayes

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Eight Work-From-Home Etiquette Tips

Eight Work-From-Home Etiquette Tips

Whether telecommuting is old hat or something you’ve been forced into as part of the COVID-19 shutdown, here are a few tips to make the experience run smoothly for both employers and employees.

Managing expectations

Successful work-from-home strategies always begin with clearly communicated expectations. Make sure your employees have any necessary equipment, tools and resources. Will they need to track their time? Participate in regularly scheduled meetings? Be available at certain times of day? For employees, know what you’re accountable for and clearly communicate any challenges you’re having.

Constant communication

Keep the lines of communication open and be accessible. Check in with employees regularly through apps like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts and Skype, or even an old-fashioned email or phone call. Be genuinely interested in how they’re doing but don’t overdo it. Foster a feeling of trust by not micromanaging.

Nine to five…ish

While having a daily schedule is ideal, it may not always be practical right now. Make sure your people know when you need them to be available and try to offer flexibility at other times. They may be juggling school schedules as well as work schedules and working at “off-shift” times may be necessary. Be mindful of employees in different time zones as well.

For employees, try to work when you’re at your best, and not when you’re exhausted by kindergarten playtime and fourth grade math. Make sure people know if you will be unavailable at certain times.

Taking a break

Getting up and moving clears the head and helps with creativity and problem-solving. Whether it’s a walk around the block or a break for lunch, make time to get away from your desk throughout the day.

Signing off

Working from home does not mean being available 24/7. Set an actual end to the workday if possible. Don’t send and respond to messages at all hours. Sign out of messaging apps and close work programs. Understand and respect these boundaries.

Location, location, location

When setting up a home office, think about where you will have the fewest distractions – for yourself and for those who may be seeing you and your background on a video conferencing platform. Try to avoid busy spots that may include semi-clad people walking behind you, barking dogs and kids vying for your attention.

Conferencing and calls

Be clear about whether you expect people to turn on their cameras during meetings. If so, be clear about how they should be dressed. During calls, mute your phone when you’re not talking to avoid background noise. Headphones can also help with call quality. When speaking, pause frequently so others can participate in the conversation.

Social engagement

It’s ok for managers and employees to have some down time together, which may help ward off feelings of isolation. Keep up your normal level of interaction, perhaps with a virtual coffee break or happy hour. Managers should set the tone for how casual to be. Let employees choose what they would like to share, and never pry into areas that were off-limits before.

Author: Erin Alderfer