Accuracy vs. Precision: Effective Data Driven Marketing

Effective data driven marketing is grounded in research, execution, and analysis. Entire books have explored the full range of effective market research, much of which falls outside the scope of this article.

The key topic for this article is the difference between accuracy and precision. Why is this important? In order to rely on the information that underpins your entire?full stack data driven marketing strategy, you need to have conviction in the ultimate truth of your insights.

This article is really about how to believe in your own truth!

Data Accuracy

The degree to which data values accurately reflect their real, true, or intended values or measures is referred to as?data accuracy. Trustworthy and reliable the data is crucial because unreliable data can result in costly assumptions in your market research and analysis

Causes of Poor Accuracy in Data Collection

Process is crucial in creating a reproducible and verifiable insight drawn from your data. The following are some of the most common causes for poor accuracy:

• Data Collection ??surveys, in-person interviews, remote interviews, focus groups, observation, controlled experiments, and secondary data sources.?Technology has enabled us to increase the volume of data collection which presents other issues.
• Data Input Errors ??data entry, formatting, transcription and translation, and calculations.?Often times, this comes down to human error which is unfortunate but a reality. Computers don’t make errors, the people who program them do.
• Data Processing ??missing data points, duplicate data, sample bias, and/or inaccurate data. Data is quite useless without being structured into a digestible format.

Methods for Improving Data Accuracy

Some relatively small and easy steps can be taken to improve data accuracy. Adding simple data validation and verification techniques can weed out many input quality issues. Automate the process and limit the human error factor in the data collection process. If you absolutely need to involve a human in the data collection process, ensure proper training programs are in place.

You should always have periodic data quality control systems in place. In reality, this should be standard procedure for marketing analytics, software, and any tool used to make informed decisions about business concerns.

Data Precision

The more detailed or granular your data is, the more precise your data is. That’s the most simple explanation of data precision. It’s a measure or degree of data accuracy.?Data Precision is essentially a measure of how much confidence you can have in your analysis or insights.

Methods for Increasing Data Precision

It comes down to details. Personally, I’m a little OCD about getting incredibly granular when it comes to analyzing data. There are issues that arise that are the result of my obsessions but we’ll cover that next.

• Qualitative Data Precision ??more in-depth or follow up questions based on the previous responses, specificity in the responses, limiting unformatted response options, and/or using even number of response.?It comes down to fewer opinions, more specifics.
• Quantitative Data Precision ??incrementation, breadth and depth of data, and/or volume of data.?The devil is in the details as they say.

Data Precision is Costly and Time Consuming

Confidence comes at a cost so you better learn how to control your obsessions. Personally, I create self-imposed deadlines to create a sense of urgency in completing my tasks. What’s the alternative?

Alice in Wonderland?falling down the rabbit hole and never coming back.

Confidence and Precision Requirements are a Function of Two Use Cases

High Cost of Failure ??if the result of your market research and analysis is to be used in a campaign or project where the outcome could make or break your company, it is worth investing in precision.

Low Cost of Failure ??if the final use case of your research is to optimize an existing platform and your optimization process includes the proper feedback loops, the cost of error is low.

In other words, when you’re staring down the rabbit hole wondering how deep it goes, the answer to which situation you’re in is usually the same. Another way to think about this is the difference between jumping 2 or 3 steps on a staircase and taking the whole flight of stairs at once.

Full Stack Data Driven Marketing Requires Precise & Accurate Data

A?full stack marketer?is a marketing professional who has a diverse set of skills and expertise in multiple areas of marketing and technology.?They are experts at developing data driven marketing strategy, project managing, creative asset production, and data analysis.

Data-driven marketing?uses analytics to target and engage customers. It involves evaluating data from consumer interactions, online usage, social media activity, and demographics to understand customer preferences and behaviors.

Why do Marketing Professionals Rely on Precise & Accurate Data?

Without precise, accurate and reproducible data the results from your analysis will be fundamentally garbage in garbage out.

Senior and/or Executive level marketing professionals have a lot riding on result of their strategy. In order for them to have confidence in their plan of attack, the very foundation of their strategy must be grounded in accurate and reproducible results.

At the end of the day, the buck stops with them so to speak.

About Author:

Michael Bogosian has been a full stack marketing professional for over 10-years. He graduated Loyola University Chicago with a dual major in Finance and Marketing. He currently resides in Studio City, CA and continues to consult for various companies.

Originally Posted: The Forge Tech & Marketing Blog