Analytics is Making us More Dumberer

I love web analytics. I teach a class on how to use Google Analytics I think it’s so swell. But seriously, it’s making us dumber.

I’ve said it before – it’s not the tool’s fault, it’s the people. So there, I’ve said it: it’s not analytics fault. Now then…

Why I think analytics is making us dumb:

  1. Bad marketing can still have “good” numbers.
  2. We’re mentally boxed in by what it can measure.
  3. We have no idea what the numbers mean, but we insist on their importance.
  4. We measure stupid numbers.
Bad marketing can still have “good” numbers.

What analytics has done is enabled bad marketing to be justified. Whether the failure is the result of an idea that just didn’t work, or a severe lack of preparation; there is always data to justify failed marketing. And let me be clear, I don’t just mean that people will stuff square numbers into a round hole (people covering their ass). I also mean that while traffic may be up (a “good” number), the brand may be taking a beating. Sure you’re getting a lot of traffic, but have fun in a year when your competitors have built something long lasting and you’re still talking about traffic volumes.

Bad marketers can still create decent campaigns, with decent traffic, and decent conversions. And everyone is wow-ed by the measurement factor. What did they do before they could measure this stuff?

We’re mentally boxed in by what it can measure.

Analytics can’t measure emotions. It can’t measure a human connection. It’s out job to interpret the data, but some things just can’t be measured (yet). So what happens? We work our butt off to achieve marketing climax: a lame sign up form. We can measure a sign up form, so that must be the end goal.

We have no idea what the numbers mean, but we insist on their importance.

Just because we have the data doesn’t mean it’s important. We’re overwhelmed by data and forgetting what matters. Instead, we ask for another report. We’re scared to not track that data, because “what if we need it?” We’re not sure what we’re looking at, but it’s strangely comforting to have a lot of it. We’re moved to paralysis due to data fatigue.

We measure stupid numbers.

You tell me: Do you even know what unique visitors means? Do you honestly need to measure it daily? Do you really care about which OS someone is running? What’s a bounce rate? Sure, they spent two minutes on that page; but are they talking about it with their friends? Are they sharing it? Are they returning to it? Did it actually make a mental impact on a visitor? Did it connect with them? Two minutes could be good, or it could mean people are completely confused and took two minutes to get fed up and leave.

The point is, by measuring stupid numbers we lose focus on the things that really matter.

The cure.

That’s a huge question. However, how about this for a start: What if you plan your next big idea assuming you can’t measure anything? Once you’ve got goals in place, work backwards to use some of the thousands of analytics tools to measure something that actually matters. And when you’re reporting results stop creating 10 page automated reports, stop reporting numbers just because you can, listen to that little voice inside that asks, “Is this really important?”

I had this draft written, and I actually just saw Avinash Kaushik give a great presentation on what’s next in Analytics. This quote pushed me over the edge in wrapping this post up. Thanks Avinash!