3 Mistakes to Avoid When Analyzing Your Digital Marketing Data

Mistake 1:  Not Considering the Season 

Most B2C businesses have seasonal ebbs and flows. As a local business owner, this is certainly not news to you. Black Friday and the Christmas season, for example, are huge for retailers. The spring and summer seasons are big for landscapers. And winter is the busy season for snow removal services. You get the picture—depending on your business vertical, your marketing efforts and your business’s overall performance may vary wildly from season to season. 

When you’re reviewing marketing data, don’t forget to keep this in mind. During your busy season, it’s likely your marketing stats will be on an upward trend because consumers are actively in need of your services. Don’t compare those numbers to the stats from a less-busy time of year and wonder why there’s a discrepancy. 

Instead, make use of data from the same season in past years. This historical data will provide a better benchmark for comparison. 

Mistake 2:  Examining Too Small a Timeframe 

It’s tempting to check your marketing reports frequently, especially if you’re concerned a particular campaign isn’t performing.  But constantly checking your stats often means you only see a small sample of the results. And like most things in business, a small slice of data won't give you a complete picture.   

Whether you check your stats once a day, once a month, or once a quarter, be sure you’re reviewing an appropriate chunk of data. Your marketing data should give you an overall picture of how a particular campaign is performing and allow you to see the subtle changes in performance throughout a period of time. This allows you to make well-informed decisions on your marketing, instead of being tricked by a few outlying numbers in a small data sample. 

Mistake 3: Forgetting About Real World Events 

A few years ago, we all experienced the mother of “real world events.” The COVID-19 health crisis played a part in basically everything, including the business world. Business owners everywhere knew their marketing stats, their income reports, pretty much any data on their business, would not be representative of a normal year. 

But real-world events don’t have to be global or even national to affect your marketing statistics. When you’re reviewing your data, keep in mind what's happening in your area of the country, in your state, even in your own town. Events that happen offline can impact what happens online. 

If your area is experiencing a warmer than normal winter, your HVAC business may not see as much business as it typically would during a cold winter. This could make it seem that your marketing efforts are failing, but in fact, consumers just don’t need your services as much. The weather is an example of a local, real-world event that could affect your marketing.

If you're concerned about a downturn in your marketing campaign's performance or you’ve experienced a surge that you’d like to learn more about, don’t forget to take a look around you and consider what real-world situations could play a part in your marketing results. 

Use Marketing Data to Grow Your Business 

Analyzing your marketing statistics is the only concrete way you have to measure performance. Though these stats can be nuanced and depend on different factors, avoiding common mistakes in your analysis will help you decipher your data in a more effective way. 

Gathering the data and analyzing the numbers is just the first step. The next (most important) step is learning how to use the results of your analysis to build better marketing campaigns and grow your business.