Let’s talk about the D-word

Data, that is. We speak to so many companies that struggle to clearly articulate how or why they use data. It’s often fundamental to their business, even providing the cornerstone of their USP, yet they can’t explain its value.

Data used to be a conceptual term, wrapped up in advanced mathematics. It conjured countless numbers locked away in computers, or reams of statistics that market researchers laboriously trawled through to elicit meaningful insights.

Not any more. Today, data is a hard and fast currency, discussed reverentially – ‘Big Data’ as the holy grail of customer knowledge. Claims like “we use data to…” are shorthand for “we’re a progressive business”. It’s vague and doesn’t demand further scrutiny, even though 90% of your people are probably unsure what they should actually do with it.?

At the same time, data’s ubiquity is rendering the word itself almost meaningless, and it’s a constant struggle to make it compelling. When we can all instantly access reams of information on every aspect of our own lives – from our daily cycle to the reach of our last LinkedIn post – then those four letters lose their value.

We’re all bombarded by data in our non-working lives and we’ve instinctively learned how to filter and understand it. People inherently ‘get’ the value of data from companies like Strava, that tracks physical exercise. So why do so many businesses still talk about data as if it’s some kind of black magic, wrapping it in jargon and complexity??

After all, we’re no longer fearful, intrigued or mystified by it. Just the opposite. We’re often bored by it. If what you do with your data is genuinely impressive, you need to find ways to celebrate it, humanise it and value it. Otherwise, your audiences will simply assume it has little actual worth