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Stephan Hovnanian

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You are here: Home / Blog / Data can lead, but only if you know where you’re going

Data can lead, but only if you know where you’re going

Published: April 14, 2020

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My employer released some social listening data around the COVID-19 pandemic and it got me thinking about the ways we put data on a pedestal.

  • “Data will help us decide whether to do A or B.”
  • “Data shows us what our customers and competitors are doing.”
  • “Benchmark data demonstrates [to my boss] whether or not we’re doing a good job.”

So many times, we open a dashboard or report hoping data will guide us to the promised land. Some magical, self-assuring place with gentle hands that pat us on the back, saying, “you done good, kid. Data says so.”

The truth is, data is only good as the questions it’s helping us answer. Data can only lead you when you know where you’re going. Data needs us as much as we need Data.

But the relationship doesn’t stop there. Data without context is nothing more than a number. And it has to be real context, not the type of crap that baseball statisticians conjure up to make their data look good (e.g. “He’s batting .465 on Tuesdays after having pizza the night before”).

You’re the one who brings the context:

  • Don’t look at data in a vacuum (especially timeline data). Pair it with known events and use the data to back up & quantify the impact of that event on your data set.
  • Instead of “tell me what I need to know,” use data to “tell me if I’m right about X and if there’s something about Y that I’m not thinking about.”
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Stephan Hovnanian

I am a Strategy Consultant on Sprout Social’s professional services team. As a speaker and trainer, I focus on developing world-class practitioners of social and advocacy programs. Before joining Sprout, I ran a marketing consultancy for 15 years, and use that experience to shape the strategy of social programs so they launch successfully and drive measurable business value.

Latest posts by Stephan Hovnanian (see all)

  • Reflecting on a core values challenge - November 27, 2020
  • Adopt these communication norms for better meetings, emails and chat messages - July 8, 2020
  • Data can lead, but only if you know where you’re going - April 14, 2020
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Filed Under: Blog

Stephan Hovnanian

I am a Strategy Consultant on Sprout Social’s professional services team. As a speaker and trainer, I focus on developing world-class practitioners of social and advocacy programs. Before joining Sprout, I ran a marketing consultancy for 15 years, and use that experience to shape the strategy of social programs so they launch successfully and drive measurable business value.

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Latest Articles and Appearances

Reflecting on a core values challenge

November 27, 2020 (Blog)

Adopt these communication norms for better meetings, emails and chat messages

July 8, 2020 (Blog)

Data can lead, but only if you know where you’re going

April 14, 2020 (Blog)

Say it with me: engagement doesn’t pay bills

February 14, 2020 (Blog)

What a kick in the butt taught me about trust

August 5, 2019 (Blog)

Advocacy in a Box – MarketingProfs B2B Forum #MPB2B

November 10, 2018 (Presentations)

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