Imagine you’re sitting in a high-stakes meeting.
You’re ready to smash it with your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and data points.
Your team has spent days meticulously analysing the numbers. The charts are stacked in your favour.
But as the discussion progresses?
You feel something whispering in your ears.
Your instincts!
Something just doesn’t feel right.
This scenario is familiar to many of us.
(It is, right?)
We live in an era dominated by data and analytics.
Numbers reign supreme in guiding our decisions.
But have we become so reliant on data-driven insights that we overlook the power of gut feelings and intuition?
Is your gut feeling always wrong?
Are the numbers always right?
The answers might surprise you!
Contents
🫡 Numbers can cause blunders
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have become the bedrock of many decision-making processes. True!
They offer a measurable way to track progress and evaluate success.
When used correctly, KPIs provide invaluable insights.
BUT.
It’s important to recognize their limitations.
Metrics alone cannot capture the complexities of real-world scenarios.
Numbers don’t always capture the intricacies of human behavior or external factors that influence our decisions.
Over-reliance on KPIs can blind us to contextual factors and lead to misguided decisions.
Here’s an example:
Imagine you’re running a marketing campaign across Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads, and Twitter.
You do it for a month and evaluate the numbers.
Now, according to the data… The conversion ROI on Twitter isn’t very good.
So, you decide to shut down the Twitter ads.
The result?
Your overall ROI drops drastically.
Why do you think that happened?
Because even though Twitter wasn’t acting as a direct touchpoint, it was acting as an indirect one.
Meaning?
People may not be clicking on the ads.
But they were seeing them and then Googling your product… and then acting through Google ads.
Yes, humans are complex like that!
And this is how numbers can fool you sometimes.
🤔 What about Intuition or gut feeling?
Intuition or gut feeling often arises from our past experiences and knowledge.
And it can sometimes offer a different perspective than what the numbers might suggest.
I used to be one of those people who dismiss gut feelings as irrational.
But Science tells us otherwise.. and with experience, I found out that your gut feeling isn’t always wrong.
I have been saved by my gut feeling quite a few times.
And I’m sure you have been as well.
Here’s what Harvard says…
“When you approach a decision intuitively, your brain works in tandem with your gut to quickly assess all your memories, past learnings, personal needs, and preferences and then makes the wisest decision given the context. In this way, intuition is a form of emotional and experiential data that leaders need to value.”
So, when your intuition is telling you something?
Don’t just dismiss it.
It could be a chance to look at things from a different perspective and assess things differently.
And that’s where this one thing that I’m going to mention is gonna make a huge difference.
What thing?
📝 Qualitative data
Qualitative factors + quantitative data = well-rounded decisions!
This includes:
- Expert advice
- Customer feedback
- Customer research
- Industry trends
- Competitor analysis
These give you a broader perspective by providing more context and leading to more accurate and impactful choices.
🤨 What does that mean?
When you have quantitative (number) data and yet your intuition says something else…
You also look at the qualitative data.
It will give you more context.
If your intuition + qualitative data align, you go with your intuition.
If the quantitative + qualitative data align, you ditch your intuition and go with what the data says.
That’s how I have been able to make the best decisions and that’s how you can too!
The key?
Always try to back up your intuition with qualitative factors.
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