“If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything”
The B2B sector is hooked on AI, automation, and data right now and every thought leadership piece, industry event, and webinar are telling organizations that if the data isn’t driving you, then where have you been this year?
Naturally, marketing and comms teams have experienced the trickle down of this data-first focus, but can you become blinded by the numbers? There’s no questioning the huge value in gleaning meaningful metrics to measure campaign success (SEO, backlinks, click through) and campaign adjusters moving forward (message pull-through, regional breakdowns, content performers).
But a quick pause for thought before marketing leaders and PR pros get swept away by the great data deluge.
Meaningful insights or drinking from the data Kool-Aid?
Overthinking and over-analyzing excessive amounts of data gives rise to analysis paralysis, or worse down a rabbit hole or into a problem you don’t have According to work management platform, Asana, this often happens when dealing with too many variables and continually researching solutions, instead of taking action and making a decision.
If you want to see a good example of this, or to know what the “AMWTMU” metric is, check out “Marketoonist” Tom Fishburne – who satirically visualizes the dangers of marketers blindly following the data, or even making it up!
Meanwhile, I’m onside with my Footie Fanatic colleague Sam Walker, about the cultish following of “expected goals” or “xG” metrics with the 2024 European Championship football! If you want a quick primer, the NYT does it for you here. But based on xG data, why are we still waiting for the French number one Mbappe to score while Portuguese xG supremo Ronaldo missed the penalty. Follow the data? Or watch the game?
Marketing implications of analysis paralysis
The renowned British Economist and Nobel Laureate Ronald H. Coase once said, “if you torture the data long enough, it will confess.” Marketers and PR pros are at the coalface of potential analysis paralysis – both in how they track and interpret data to measure their marketing campaigns, and also the data points they use to inform how they deliver messaging externally, to journalists, customers, and prospects.
Certainly, there is huge opportunity to use AI and data analytic tools such as PowerBI to spot trends and patterns in vast data sets more quickly than humanly possible.
Measuring what counts, not what’s counted
But just because something can be measured, doesn’t mean it should be. Data-driven insights will only be as valuable as the data itself. You can’t measure your brand equity message pull-through without a coherent set of brand equity messaging pillars, and collecting the data requires understanding the value of the data – and that involves the use of the human brain. It’s what counts and not just what is counted!
Trying to measure too much will also cause issues. When there’s too much data to consider, marketing teams can end up going around in circles to craft a compelling story, but this uncertainty and guesswork can result in misleading conclusions and hinder effective campaigns. Messaging should always be as kept as simple as possible.
The self-defeating effect of data and metrics – it’s called decision paralysis
The ripple effect of marketing analysis paralysis is customer decision paralysis – the very problem that data analysis and metrics were designed to solve!
A 2023 Oracle study titled “The Decision Dilemma” surveyed over 14,000 employees and business leaders across 17 countries. It found a surprising trend: data overload is leading to decision paralysis. While a significant 83% of respondents agreed data is crucial for informed decisions, an even higher 86% felt overwhelmed by the amount of data, hindering their confidence in making choices.
B2B buying cycles take months and even years and involve a number of stakeholders. So, it’s crucial your campaigns avoid introducing factors that can cause indecision during purchasing and overwhelm potential customers before they are ready to advance to the next sales funnel stage. The average person is estimated to make over 35,000 decisions every day Remember, your buyer is human, not an algorithm or a data point!
Don’t forget the human touch in the marketing & PR loop
Marketers need to strike a balance between leveraging the right data, without succumbing to analysis paralysis and straight down the path to decision paralysis. While data is undeniably valuable in today’s digital marketing mix, it should be used to inform decisions, not replace human judgment.
Jamie Kightley is Head of Client Services at IBA International
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