As a Web Strategist (and an engineer), I’m a bit of a numbers geek. I like to take a look at Google Analytics or FeedBurner or whatever statistics application to see how things are going. Measurement is an important part of any strategy. It’s imperative for knowing whether you’re on the right track. Picking the right metrics to measure can be tricky (you want to make sure what you’re measuring let’s you know whether you’re closer to your business goal and objectives). But is measurement always necessary?
Sometimes you just know things are working well. You’re getting more emails and phone calls and sales. Or more people are retweeting your tweets or commenting on your blog. That’s a type of measurement without actual numbers.
What if things aren’t working well? What if you’re just starting off in social media or a marketing plan and you’re not sure whether it’s working? Measurement will tell you that — as well as what it is that’s working or not (if you’ve set things up correctly).
I certainly fall on the side of measurement as necessary, but Gary Vaynerchuk readily admits to not measuring anything, relying instead on his gut instincts. His argument is that the numbers may tell you one thing while you have a gut feeling of the opposite. Or, as in the example he gives in his book, Crush It! (link to my review), what if you have low numbers at one site, but the people there have a lot of influence?
I agree that numbers aren’t everything. There’s a lot of instinct and personality involved in building a great business. I just think that measurement can give you some insights you may not have gotten otherwise.
What do you think? Is measurement always necessary?
(photo by Memotions)