Most Marketers Don't Know How to Use 'Big Data'

In the era of "big data," why do so many marketers still go with their gut over stats? A recent Corporate Executive Board study of nearly 800 marketers at Fortune 1000 companies found that, on average, marketers depend on data for just 11% of all customer-related decisions! The rest of the time they rely on intuition, past experience, conversations with managers and colleagues, expert advice and one-off customer interactions. Data comes in dead last. One reason marketers fail the big-data test is that they flunk basic statistics. When marketers' statistical aptitude was tested by five questions, ranging from basic to intermediate, almost half (44%) got four or more questions wrong, and only 6% got all five right.  Even the data junkies (the 11% of the study) perform worse than the average marketer because, with weak statistical skills and judgment, they get distracted by the data noise --  constantly adjusting course for small changes in response metrics at the expense of long-term goals like lifetime value. The lesson: If you want to harness "big data," filter and focus on the "big picture" -- and brush up on statistics! For more on the study, see the Harvard Business Review blog at http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/08/marketers_flunk_the_big_data_test.html