University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Trash In, Trash Out
Article

Trash In, Trash Out

How bad data impacts business growth

Nate Turner
Sprout Social, 2019
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

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  • Overview
  • For Beginners

Recommendation

Every business worth its salt is hunting for a data-first approach to marketing, but many are letting data-lust blind them to quality issues along the way. Low-quality data will take you on a wild goose chase. By the time you recognize the source of your misery – that is, bad data – you’ve already dumped time, energy and resources into a strategy that doesn’t serve you. Nate Turner, the vice president of demand generation at social media management platform Sprout Social, has a suggestion. First, dump your resources into making sure you have quality data, and then see where a data-driven approach takes you.

Summary

You need data to propel your business into the future, but not all data are created equal.

Just how much data do marketers have about consumers? A lot. But how much of that data is good? For most teams, the second question is harder to answer than the first. An inadvertent mistake made during data collection or in early data processes can cause massive analytic inaccuracies down the line. The insidious thing about bad marketing data is that, unlike other information in your life, you often have no reference for true north. For example, if you suspected a deviation in your bank account, you might compare your expected balance with debits and credits on your bank statements.&#...

About the Author

Nate Turner is vice president of demand generation at Sprout Social and a contributor to Adapt – a digital publication from Sprout Social, a social media management platform.

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