Your Data is F**KED - Blog
When I first had the idea for this book, I thought about writing a textbook; I wanted something I could use to file and organise everything I’ve read, learnt, debated, and processed and could pull out whenever I got stuck or needed a reference point to go to back to. I got excited about that idea for about a day before the thought of writing a textbook moved me to boredom and the thought of all that work that nobody would read to tears. So, I thought, literally, fuck it, I’ll try and write something on digital analytics and digital growth that a busy marketing manager or consultant might actually read, and Your Data Is F**ked was born. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
My journey into web analytics was born from frustration – the same frustration that I believe still drives marketers today: how do I prove to [CLIENT or SENIOR STAKEHOLDER] that [CAMPAIGN, WEBSITE, APP, LANDING PAGE] is working? The question should be, how do I know IF it’s working? Most of the time, people just wanted proof of what they already knew, not for new information or insights but for proof that X caused Y, whether it did or not.
After looking for the data in the standard web analytics tool Google Analytics, I realised that, yes, my data is F**ked, because my tracking is F**ked. This then brought me and most marketers to the next problem, talking to the uninterested technical expert or gatekeeper. Your web or app developer might be a lovely or brilliant person, but nine times out of ten, they have yet to develop an interest in data or tracking. They’re busy, and your request is an inconvenience.
My personal development in web analytics came from an immediate interest and a natural sense of bullshit. Most of the time I reached out for help, I would get responses lacking logic, often being told that some type of tracking could not be done. It became my self-assumed role to show not just the value of the campaigns but the value of good data and good tracking and then work out how to achieve that by working across the differences and misunderstandings between brands, marketers, and developers.
Fast forward, and the general knowledge, skills, and attitudes around data analytics and its importance have greatly improved, moving from ‘is that to do with SEO?’ to a must-have in a relatively short time, massively expedited by one pandemic and a global overnight paradigm shift to digital-first – but the challenge has also got much more complex and confusing. The foundation of previously free and easily accessible, usable customer data is unstable and being eroded more with every anti-tracking browser update; but, seemingly paradoxically, at the same time, customers also expect greater levels of personalisation and informed communication for us to know what they want.
There is no quick fix. To solve this problem, brands are looking at various tools, technologies, and tactics, and stakeholders and marketers trust them to make those decisions in silos, without good strategic oversight. The solution to this is broader and affects all departments (not just marketing and IT); it requires informed strategic leadership from the top down.
This book will take you through that journey, through the Analytics Maturity Curve and the processes, plans, people, and decisions we’ll need to make to get there. We’ll look at pillars to success, explore the exciting opportunities possible with this new permission-led and cooperative way of working, and finally understand why Your Data is F**ked and what to do about it.
The issue of F**ked data is persistent because it is a symptom of a much deeper set of challenges. Let’s start by understanding the problem.
