where so many organisations, even those that pride themselves on being“ datadriven,” lose their way. They think the number is the truth. But in marketing, numbers are only clues. The real truth sits beneath them.
I have seen companies make dramatic decisions based on a single metric: retention drops, so they overhaul the app. NPS dips, so they revamp the entire customer-service department. Website traffic rises, so they declare a campaign successful. But the number is never the whole story.
Context is even more important because consumer behaviour is shaped by nuances that don’ t show up on dashboards. Price elasticity, trust, culture, proximity, shared devices, income cycles, these are lived realities that no single metric can capture.
I have seen a case at GeoPoll where a client was convinced their brand health was declining because the sales graph in a certain region was pointing downward. But when we actually asked consumers directly, we learned the real issue had nothing to do with preference. The product had become harder to find because distribution was collapsing in that region. The stats said“ declining demand” while the consumer said“ we still want it, but we can’ t find it.” Two completely different realities.
I have also seen a brand surge in customers and assume loyalty is climbing, but when consumers are interviewed, they say they bought the product only because it was the cheapest option. Sometimes the most powerful insights are embarrassingly human.
And this is why context matters as it is the bridge between the number and the meaning.
Brand health tracking tells you that awareness dropped; qualitative insight tells you it’ s because your competitor launched a campaign you dismissed. Sales data shows a dip in household purchases; contextual insight shows that the Back to School season tightened budgets temporarily. NPS declines; customer interviews reveal that one policy change offended a loyal subsegment you never considered.
Data is the map. Context is the terrain. If you sail with one and ignore the other, you get lost.
What Being Truly Data-Driven Actually Means
One of the buzzwords of our time is“ we are data-driven.” But what does it mean? Is it the dashboards, algorithms, or the size of your analytics stack? Is it how many charts you can pull in under five minutes?
Being truly data-driven starts with asking better questions. What problem are we trying to solve? What behaviour are we trying to influence? How will we know if this is working? What does“ success” actually look like? The right metrics only come out when the right questions are asked. Bad questions produce bad KPIs.
Second, being data-driven requires courage to measure even the hard things. Behavioural metrics like retention, customer lifetime value, repeat purchase rate, satisfaction, or adoption depth are messy and don’ t spike overnight or flatter you. But they are the metrics that predict long-term performance. McKinsey’ s work on“ analytic competitors” shows that organisations that thrive don’ t measure more, they measure better. They identify the handful of indicators that tie directly to customer value, then align the entire company around them.
Third, being data-driven means recognising that numbers tell the story, but people explain it. A dip in retention is a number. Why it happened is a conversation. A spike in sales is a number. What caused it is a truth hidden behind behaviour. This is why research and talking to consumers matter. Why cultural insight matters. Why listening matters. If data gives you the map, human insight gives you the terrain. When marketers ignore the terrain, they get lost, but confidently.
Finally, being truly data-driven means accepting that judgment still matters.
The best marketers in the world aren’ t afraid of numbers, but they don’ t worship them either. They use data as a compass, not a cage. They know when a metric matters and when it’ s noise. They know when to pay attention to the trend and when to trust their instinct. This is the part of marketing that cannot be automated, the part that comes from experience, taste, and an understanding of people.
Great marketing has always required a blend of art and science. The science tells you what is happening, and the art tells you why it matters. The modern marketer must be fluent in both.
Because at the end of the day, data is not the hero. You are. Your judgment, your curiosity, your ability to interpret what the numbers really mean- that’ s what makes the difference between a brand that looks good on a dashboard and one that wins in the real world.
Being truly data-driven isn’ t about the size of your numbers. It’ s about the strength of your understanding.
Ultimately, as I wrote in my last article in this magazine( look it up), those numbers you are looking at represent people. Every impression, every visit, every rating, every minute spent on your product is a person choosing to give you their time, their attention, or their money. It is easy to forget this when we spend our days buried in dashboards, debating percentage points and colour-coded charts. But behind every rise and every dip is a human being with expectations, frustrations, preferences, constraints, and motivations. If we lose sight of that truth, even the most sophisticated metrics will lead us astray.
The real work of marketing has always been about understanding people- what they value, what they need, what they struggle with, and why they choose one brand over another. When we remember that metrics are simply reflections of human behaviour, not abstractions, the decisions we make become clearer, wiser, and more grounded in reality. In the end, the most powerful form of being data-driven is staying human-driven.
Data can guide us, but it cannot replace the human understanding of consumers, cultures, and the subtle forces that shape decisionmaking. If we are willing to pay attention to the metrics that matter, even when they challenge our assumptions, we position ourselves not just to chase growth, but to sustain it.
That is the real work. And that is the real opportunity.
Frankline Kibuacha, MCIM, is the Director of Marketing( Global) at GeoPoll. With over a decade of experience in marketing, brand management, and consumer research, he has witnessed firsthand how brands build, lose, and rebuild trust in an increasingly complex digital landscape. Engage via mail at: Mwenda @ frankmwenda. com