How to Stop Falling Down the Marketing Data Rabbit Hole

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When it comes to marketing data, it’s all too easy to fall down the rabbit hole. Whether you’re lost in the data yourself or fielding endless ad hoc requests from others, the result is the same—wasted time and little clarity. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s dive into how to avoid rabbit-holing in your reporting and focus on actionable insights instead.

What Is Rabbit-Holing?

The term “rabbit-holing” comes from the idea of falling into a never-ending tunnel. In marketing data, it happens when you either:

• Get lost in your own data, chasing metrics that don’t provide clarity.
• Receive vague or repeated requests for more data from stakeholders, dragging you into cycles of back-and-forth reporting.

While data exploration isn’t inherently bad, aimless deep dives or excessive detail can lead to confusion, inefficiency, and even decision-making paralysis.

Ask Two Key Questions

Whenever you’re confronted with additional data requests—whether from yourself or others—start with these two questions:

1. What question does this additional data answer?
   If you don’t know what the data is solving, don’t collect it. Every piece of information should serve a purpose, answering a clear and actionable question.

2. How will this data change what we’re doing?
   Data for the sake of data isn’t helpful. Before you invest time, consider whether the new data will impact decisions, strategies, or actions.

Relevance vs. Detail

More data isn’t always better. Too much detail can muddy the waters and slow decision-making. Your goal is to provide just enough data to answer the question at hand. Any more, and you risk overwhelming your audience—or yourself.

Let’s look at an example:

Imagine you’re reporting to your board about the marketing pipeline for the month. A board member asks, “What channels contributed the most to this pipeline?”

• Step 1: Ask them for clarity. What do they hope to learn? Are they trying to allocate future spend, or are they just curious?
• Step 2: Propose the most relevant metric. Instead of providing a breakdown by channel (which may not answer the underlying question), suggest metrics that better inform the decision, like ROI by channel or conversion efficiency.

By focusing on relevance and clarifying the purpose, you save time and ensure the data drives meaningful outcomes.

Preventing Endless Follow-Ups

If you skip the initial clarification steps, you risk opening the door to endless follow-ups. A typical scenario might look like this:

1. Stakeholder: “Can you break down the pipeline by channel?”
2. You: Provide the data.
3. Stakeholder: “How are these channels converting?”
4. You: Go back for more data.
5. Stakeholder: “What about performance over the last 16 months?”

Sound familiar? Clarifying what they’re trying to achieve upfront prevents this time sink.

Handling Vague or Impossible Requests

Sometimes, you’ll be asked for data you don’t have or that doesn’t exist. Here’s how to handle it:

1. Propose alternatives: Suggest a combination of existing metrics to answer the request.
2. Set future goals: If the data is truly critical, outline a plan to start tracking it going forward.

Takeaways

Avoiding rabbit holes isn’t about saying “no” to data requests—it’s about making sure every piece of data serves a purpose.

• Start with the What and How: Always clarify what the data will answer and how it will impact decisions.
• Focus on relevance: Provide just enough data to answer the question without overwhelming.
• Streamline your processes: Save and organize your reports to prevent unnecessary rework.

By taking control of your reporting process, you’ll save time, drive better decisions, and avoid the dreaded rabbit hole.

🧑‍🎓 This video and blog is part of the 'Marketing Metrics that matter' free online course. Sign up here.