Do a search online for “how to…” and you will find thousands upon thousands of helpful videos taking you step by step through a task. This can be anything from Brooklyn Beckham’s TikTok videos on how to make a bacon sandwich, to how to lay garden decking and as niche as how to survive in space! I expect that the videos you find the most useful are the ones that get you following the steps in real life, they are not just preaching the theory.
The same logic applies when we teach data-driven strategies and techniques to business teams. Just delivering a presentation with the theory of using data just doesn’t cut it. Only by doing do people really understand, build their data confidence and embrace the impact that data can have on their business activities.
What does this look like in reality?
We have been working with a client for a number of years, helping them move from a product-first to a customer-first marketing strategy. One of the key elements of this is the use of customer data to provide behavioural insights that can be used throughout the business to shape the transformation to customer first.
If we just told the marketing teams how to use their data and the insights generated and they would be “data-driven” no real change would have occurred in how the teams think about the customers and the data insights available to them.
Or if we had just “done the work” as a supplier and provided the completed project back to them, the marketing teams would not have gained any further knowledge or confidence in how to work with their data directly.
Instead, we worked alongside the marketing teams, to guide and inspire them on the findings and applications of the customer data to create real-world marketing activations. Working through the implementation of a customer-first, data-driven marketing strategy enabled us to have regular discussions about the use of data and insight to make the marketing impactful for the customers, and the business. Weekly meetings, supported with relevant templates, built the business teams' confidence over time resulting in new initiatives and opportunities for using data being homegrown by the teams who are now confident in owning the program.
Our client shared that through the process of implementing data-driven customer-centric marketing with MoJo’s expertise and guidance, they have not only not got a successful programme in place but have upskilled the team by working practically on a real live project which has enabled them to start thinking more about how data can be used to support the business across multiple other areas.
Top tips to build your team's data literacy and confidence:
Enable your teams to work alongside an expert, reinforcing best practices and building confidence using data for real-world applications. This collaborative way of working helps build knowledge that has a longer lasting impact.
Allow time for the practical application of learning. It is unrealistic to expect an immediate transformation from legacy methods to being data-driven, it will take time and repetition to reinforce new concepts and build data confidence. For many adults, ways of learning need to be active and full of participation, rather than theoretical lessons which can be dull and the information shared in such a format hard to retain.
Build foundational knowledge. Whilst it may be appealing to dive straight into lessons on AI, many business users don’t have the foundational knowledge of how to work with data, how to interpret metrics and insights, or how to communicate ideas based on data and insights. Start with the basics and build from the ground up, making it “real world” applicable to your business.
Provide your people with the opportunities to work with data on an ongoing basis, the more opportunities they have to do this the more their data literacy will develop and the bigger impact they will have on your business.
Showcase the impact data-driven decisions that your people have made during their involvement in data-driven work. Seeing the impact in performance and monetary terms is a really powerful way to demonstrate the impact of data-driven business.
At MoJo, we understand data like no one else.
From data analysis to deriving insights, we know exactly how to use your business data so that it can benefit you. Once you are partnered with us, we work with you to understand your requirements and take your people on a journey to increased data literacy and data confidence. Delivering powerful change and results to your business.
Contact us now!