Why marketers shouldn’t over rely on data

Isn’t that all we’ve heard the last few years? The data discussion has been so big that there’s often room for nothing else when it comes to digital and social media strategy.

I’m not debating the validity of data. It’s an important component to any successful digital or social media marketing program.

However, we may rely on data too much.

Marketing, PR and creative decision-making are not one-trick ponies. Making decisions based on data alone is a dangerous proposition. Instead, we should make decisions based on data combined with experience, context and our gut—one of the best tools available.

Let’s look at decision-making when it comes to social content with a recent example from Kohl’s. The retail brand posted the following on Thanksgiving Day:

Many brands create and share content like this on big holidays like Thanksgiving. Look at the social data: 13,614 likes, 345 shares and more than 100 comments. Folks driven only by the data would say, “This post worked! It helped our audience become engaged. Let’s plan for more holiday posts.”

I would encourage us all to look at the other side of the marketing coin when making content decisions.