How to dispel the worst marketing teams' fears of data?

Time to cure your data phobia

How to overcome your marketing team’s fears of data? That is the question Sara Ougribe, our Data Scientist at Better&Stronger, will answer as she regularly works with people who doubt Data.

Most people are uncomfortable when it comes to data, especially marketers. As they are not trained to become Data Scientists, they may fear being completely overwhelmed by data they can’t handle. The problem is the climate of fear it creates in companies paralyzes both teams and decision-making. But here’s a thing: if data is absolutely essential today, it’s not a bane. 
Sara is a true fan of Victorian literature (you may, and is a formidable opponent in canoeing and karting. Today, she decided to take up our challenge: making data less complex and more accessible to marketing teams. Ready to take the plunge with us? Let’s discover 5 fears directly related to Data, and see why you shouldn’t worry that much.

Better&Stronger - Sara, as you work not only with Data Analysts but with Marketing Teams, you must have often encountered reluctance with data science. What are the 5 marketers’ worst fears about it? 

Sara Ougribe - “Well, most marketing teams mistakenly share the same biased vision regarding the data world. Here are the most common arguments I face every day:

1. FEAR #1 
   “Launching a data project is too expensive. It takes too long to see real results .” 
   
   
2. FEAR #2 
   “Data is too abstract. We don't have the internal resources to cope with it. We don’t even know what states behind the word “data”. 
   
   
3. FEAR #3 
   “Data projects are too big. We don’t have in-house skills and the technical knowledge to drive a shift.”
   
   
4. FEAR #4 
   “World of data changes every day. How to stay up-to-date? How can I trust it?”
   
   
5. FEAR #5 
   “Machine learning and robots will completely replace my job. What will I do if algorithms can do what I do better?”
   

B&S - Okay, that raises a lot of fears, but what if you try to uncover the power of data to deconstruct these preconceptions one by one? Why do you think marketers always fear data is expensive? How do you answer this? 

Sara - “At Better&Stronger, we perceive data as an incredible source of income. Thanks to our customer-centric approach, we give you more visibility on the impact and the profitability you can have on your data projects. We support this mindset through these 2 workshops:

• Stage #1 - “Audit”
  In the beginning, our goal is to ask you as many questions as possible and deep dive into the heart of your business. Once we set up your goals, we prioritize several initiatives. Then, we measure their impact and feasibility in the short and long run.

• Stage #2 - “Iterative sprints”
  Then, we help you design your data project milestones. We prefer to split your projects into iterative sprints to help you get quick wins and make sure we meet your requirements at each step. In other words, instead of sending you an overall and heavy budget, we work on a dedicated envelope that corresponds to the first action".

B&S - Why shouldn't we see data as an unyielding complexity but more as an opportunity?

Sara - "I believe that data should not be seen as rocket science. It is actually a very accessible notion for marketers and for everyone else. You can use data every day without realizing it!

We admit that sometimes, the technical data jargon can be confusing. To address this issue, we try to take concrete and transparent examples. Some of our clients need to visualize what they will construct with us. To do so, we need to use metaphors and speak with meaningful concepts. For instance, “a data project” is an abstract notion, whereas “a lead scoring project” will be more evident".

B&S - Is the lack of in-house technical skills a real issue to launch a data project? 

Sara - "I wouldn’t be so categorical. At Better&Stronger, we help you play the "marketing automation" card thanks to our Data Scientists. Rather than doing research by hand in an Excel file, all the calculations are integrated by rigorous algorithms.

I often use this metaphor: “Conducting a data project is like revamping your kitchen. You don't need to tear down all the walls. Launching a data project is like buying a tool that allows you to be more powerful, faster, and more efficient on a task (for instance buying the last cooking robot you saw in the supermarket). It allows you to free up time to work on essential tasks.” 

It’s the same logic with your reports. Instead of calculating each month your results on a power-point, the idea is to have a dashboard (like Google Data Studio) that will gather the valuable figures up to date".

Source

B&S - Don’t you think it’s too fast for marketers to follow constant changes in their customers’ behaviour? Is Data that unstable? 

Sara - "It is no secret that consumers’ behaviours are drastically changing (most of all during and after the pandemic context), making data models sometimes obsolete. 

The recommendation I would have on it would be to stay as proactive as possible. Moreover, our experts at Better&Stronger are constantly monitoring changes in users’ behaviours and staying up-to-date with the GDPR legislation (you can check our last article regarding the CNIL decision on Google Analytics). What do you need to remember? Trust us, we can bring you practical answers in real-time".

B&S - You have heard of marketers fearful of being replaced by algorithms or other AI methods? Is it legitimate? Isn’t Data supposed to support their work, not replace it?

Sara - “Absolutely! It cannot be stressed often enough. Machine learning delivers mechanical work. I am convinced that it should be seen as a real business opportunity, not as a threat. AI allows marketers to dedicate their time to high added-value work: find the right strategy, suggest actionable insights, and optimize campaigns".

B&S -  How do you get marketing and data teams to work together? Are there any synergies between these two business units?

Sara - "It is undeniable. We must break the technical barrier between these two business units. In a way, data specialists bring value to improve marketing decisions thanks to visualization tools, reporting dashboards…

Data can also help marketing teams to personalize customer interactions so that the message and the promise can be adapted to each customer. Moreover, most marketing and sales teams use different tools to collect data and precious information about their customers (e-commerce platforms, back-office, excel…) It is, therefore, essential to connect all data sources to prevent you to make wrong decisions because you have a partial view since there is not all the information centralized in one place".

B&S - Thank you Sara for this very interesting interview. We’re sure you’ll help many readers decomplexify their vision of Data. 

If you want to learn more about our Data expertise, don't hesitate to take a look at our Data expertise page.