In a quest for perfection, many marketers let “perfect” be the enemy of good by overlooking the power of accurate data and chasing data precision instead. In an ideal world, your consumer data would be precise and match up perfectly at every stage of the customer journey. But that’s not always the case, especially in a world where the customer journey is not linear.
Because the data may not always match up exactly, sometimes marketers get hung up on the discrepancy. This is not the most effective approach. Here’s how you can not let this reality slow you down.
Why doesn’t data always match across channels?
If there’s one thing 2020 has taught us, it’s that the marketing funnel has changed completely. Instead of taking a linear journey, consumers now hop from point A to point B to point C—or from point B to point C to point A—which makes it more difficult for brands to understand which of their strategies are most effective.
This is where the process of attribution—or determining which marketing strategies had the most impact on sales—can be particularly helpful.
Why attribution can be difficult
Unfortunately, it can be difficult to track attribution across channels for a number of reasons. For example, different platforms might measure traffic differently. What’s more, buying cycles have become more complex, making it trickier to get attribution right.
As a multichannel marketer, you are likely pulling metrics from a variety of sources. For example, you might collect data based on foot traffic from stores, what’s happening on eCommerce platforms, conversions in Google Analytics, and whatever data lives in your marketing automation platform.
With so many moving parts, this can lead to data discrepancies that can seemingly impact the integrity of your analytics—maybe even cause you to lose faith in your data.
Sound familiar?
The truth is that this is completely normal and doesn’t mean your data is unreliable.
In a world filled with endless platforms and channels, it’s not uncommon for data to vary slightly across channels. For example, platforms might capture different data points or define key metrics in slightly different ways.
Before you let these discrepancies slow your efforts down, let’s take a step back to examine the difference between data accuracy and data precision, as well as the implications they have on your campaigns.
What’s the difference between data accuracy and data precision?
If you’re finding that your attribution data doesn’t match up exactly across channels—and you’re struggling to get the insights you need to figure out the best way to engage your audience—you may be putting too much emphasis on data precision when data accuracy is more than sufficient.
Whereas data accuracy refers to how correct a data point is, data precision refers to how consistent that data is. A bowler, for example, is accurate if they are able to knock down pins every time they roll a ball but are never able to consistently get a strike or spare. A bowler is precise (but not accurate) when they throw a gutter ball every time. A bowler is both precise and accurate when they are able to roll a strike every time, knocking down all 10 pins at once..
Accurate data is reliable and more helpful than you might think
The fact of the matter is that even if there isn’t a 1:1 comparison between the data you have, you can still start to see trends across channels because the numbers won’t be vastly different. You might not be able to measure something to the fourth decimal point, so to speak, but you can still get a pretty good idea of how long it is.
For example, if you know the bulk of your shoppers are hanging out on Snapchat and Instagram (accurate data), you can’t really go wrong launching campaigns there, testing your creative, and iterating based on feedback.
But how do you know your data is accurate?
It starts with using a robust eCommerce marketing solution that centralizes insights from all channels in one interface. When you collect data the same way over and over again, you can still get an apples-to-apples comparison over time. With the right technology in place, brands can easily determine whether consumers want to shop online, what platforms are most likely to drive sales, and which locations drive the highest demand for your products by individual SKU, among other data. You’ll get both the accurate and precise data to figure out the best way forward, all in one place.
For more information on the easiest way to use accurate and precise data to engage with your audience most effectively, schedule a demo of MikMak today.
