The Essential Question About Data Isn’t “What Do We Know?” It’s “What Do I Care?”
Posted Apr. 1, 2011 by Casey Flanagan
Filed under: How To, Ideas, Planning / Research, Tracking
Leave it to Google. The media killer just launched what could possibly be the world’s finest business magazine – Think Quarterly. It’s well-written. It’s well-designed. And it’s well-timed.
The first issue was released to the public this month. It’s dedicated to data. And, seeing as Google is addicted to data, I thought the perspective was refreshing. From the people who brought us Google Insights and Google Analytics comes a Google Pause in the form of a quote from Guy Laurence, the CEO of Vodafone UK. This should become a daily affirmation for marketers:
We were brought up to believe more data was good, and that’s no longer true.
In other words, let’s stop asking “What do we know?” And let’s start asking “What do I care?” “What do we know?” is the path to efficiency. “What do I care?” is the path to effectiveness.
It’s an essential question because it’s easy for the data we have to become the dictator of what we need to do. Tangible, easy-to-measure metrics – like click-through rates – become more important because… we have them. Now, click-through rates can be an important measure of banner success. I won’t argue that. But they are one measure. And because they are ubiquitous, they can easily become shorthand for success – the only measure consistently asked about.
Because we are asking “What do we know?,” we know the click-through rate is .X%. But what do I care? That depends on the objective. And that’s a harder question to ask and a harder question to answer.
I’ve written before about how click-through rates only tell part of the story. A piece this week from the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard confirms that, while easy to measure, click-through rate is only one part of engagement. Time-and-time again, we’ve seen that CTR ≠ ROI. So don’t give up on increasing awareness or changing perceptions or meeting whatever objective it is you care about.
A well-defined objective will make you more objective. It will focus you on the right behaviors. And that can make answering “What do I care?” much easier.
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[Editor’s Note: Not for nothing, but click-through rates may have seemed like they were picked on in this piece. It’s because they are easy to know. The question “What do I care?” can – and should – reach much farther. From reach and frequency to ad equivalency. Easy-to-measure metrics to not equate to importance.]
