Shawn Strawser on Using Data Without Losing the Human Side of Marketing

Modern marketing gives us more information than at any other point in history. 

We can measure traffic. 

Clicks. 

Conversions. 

Search rankings. 

Email engagement. 

Calls. 

Leads. 

Revenue. 

Customer behavior. 

That information is incredibly valuable. 

But there is one danger. 

It is possible to become so focused on the numbers that we forget the people behind them. 

My name is Shawn Strawser, and my background in both sales and marketing has taught me that the strongest strategies usually combine two things: 

Data and human understanding. 

You need both. 

Data Helps Eliminate Guesswork 

Before digital marketing, measuring advertising performance could be difficult. 

You might know circulation. 

You might know how many advertisements ran. 

You might receive customer feedback. 

But many parts of the journey were difficult to track. 

Today, marketers have access to much more information. 

We can see which pages attract visitors. 

We can see which search terms generate traffic. 

We can see which campaigns create leads. 

We can see where users leave a website. 

We can compare performance over time. 

That makes marketing more accountable. 

But Numbers Need Context 

Imagine a website loses 20 percent of its traffic. 

Is that bad? 

Maybe. 

But what if the traffic that disappeared was low-quality traffic that never converted? 

Now imagine traffic drops while qualified leads increase. 

That tells a very different story. 

Numbers without context can lead to bad conclusions. 

That is why marketers need to understand what each metric actually means for the business. 

Not Every Metric Deserves Equal Attention 

Marketing dashboards can become overwhelming. 

There are dozens or hundreds of metrics available. 

The goal is not to monitor everything. 

The goal is to identify the measurements connected to business performance. 

Depending on the organization, that might include: 

• Qualified leads 

• Conversion rate 

• Cost per acquisition 

• Revenue 

• Customer retention 

• Appointment completion 

• Sales close rate 

• Organic search visibility 

• Repeat purchases 

The right metrics depend on the goal. 

Vanity Metrics Can Be Misleading 

Followers can be useful. 

Impressions can be useful. 

Website traffic can be useful. 

Email opens can be useful. 

But none of those metrics automatically equal business growth. 

A campaign could generate millions of impressions without producing meaningful action. 

Another campaign could reach a small, highly relevant audience and generate significant revenue. 

That is why I prefer to ask: 

What business outcome did this activity contribute to? 

My Sales Background Makes Me Look Beyond the Dashboard 

Sales gives you a different relationship with data. 

At some point, there is usually a clear outcome. 

Did the customer buy? 

Did the account close? 

Did revenue increase? 

That perspective has stayed with me as I moved further into marketing strategy. 

When I see traffic increasing, I want to know what happened next. 

When leads increase, I want to know whether they were good leads. 

When a campaign creates calls, I want to know whether those calls became customers. 

Marketing performance should eventually connect to something meaningful. 

Data Cannot Hear Tone of Voice 

Analytics can tell you that a prospect did not convert. 

It cannot always tell you why. 

A conversation can. 

Maybe the prospect was confused. 

Maybe they did not trust the offer. 

Maybe the pricing was unclear. 

Maybe the timing was wrong. 

Maybe the salesperson never followed up. 

Maybe the product did not meet the need. 

That context is often hidden from the dashboard. 

This is why customer conversations still matter. 

The Best Marketing Uses Quantitative and Qualitative Information 

Quantitative data tells you what is happening at scale. 

Qualitative information helps explain why. 

You might use: 

Quantitative data: 

• Website traffic 

• Conversion rates 

• Search rankings 

• Lead volume 

• Revenue 

• Campaign performance 

Qualitative information: 

• Customer interviews 

• Sales conversations 

• Reviews 

• Emails 

• Support requests 

• Survey responses 

Together, they create a much clearer picture. 

Look for Patterns 

One isolated data point may not mean very much. 

Patterns are more valuable. 

Is conversion steadily improving? 

Are certain pages consistently producing stronger leads? 

Are customers repeatedly asking the same question? 

Is one acquisition source producing better customers? 

Are prospects consistently dropping out at the same stage? 

Patterns reveal opportunities. 

Data Should Create Questions 

A good dashboard should not simply give you answers. 

It should help you ask better questions. 

Why did this page suddenly improve? 

Why does this traffic source convert better? 

Why are people leaving at this point? 

Why did revenue increase while lead volume stayed the same? 

Why is this customer segment more valuable? 

Curiosity turns data into strategy. 

Avoid Making Decisions From One Week of Data 

Marketing performance fluctuates. 

One week may be unusually strong. 

Another may be unusually weak. 

Seasonality matters. 

Competitors change. 

Search behavior changes. 

Campaigns take time. 

Do not overreact to every movement. 

Look at enough information to understand whether there is a meaningful trend. 

Measurement Should Lead to Action 

There is little value in producing reports that nobody uses. 

Data should influence decisions. 

If a page converts well, learn from it. 

If an email campaign performs poorly, investigate. 

If certain customers have much higher lifetime value, determine why. 

If leads are being lost during follow-up, improve the process. 

Measurement should create action. 

Do Not Optimize the Humanity Out of Marketing 

There is a temptation to optimize everything. 

Every button. 

Every email. 

Every word. 

Every interaction. 

Testing is useful. 

But marketing should still feel like communication between people. 

Customers do not want to feel like spreadsheet entries. 

They want answers. 

Clarity. 

Trust. 

Value. 

Help. 

The numbers should help you serve people better, not make the customer experience feel robotic. 

Automation Needs a Human Strategy 

Automation can make marketing more efficient. 

Emails can be triggered automatically. 

Leads can move through workflows. 

Analytics can generate reports. 

Artificial intelligence can assist with content and analysis. 

Those tools are powerful. 

But the strategy behind them still requires judgment. 

What should the message say? 

When should someone receive it? 

When should automation stop and a person step in? 

What does the customer actually need? 

Technology should improve the experience. 

It should not replace understanding. 

Customer Feedback Can Challenge the Data 

Sometimes the numbers suggest one thing while customers tell you something different. 

Do not automatically dismiss either source. 

Investigate. 

Maybe the data is being interpreted incorrectly. 

Maybe the customer feedback represents only a small group. 

Maybe there is a segment you have not identified. 

The difference itself can reveal something useful. 

Measure What Happens Across the Entire Journey 

Marketing should not end at the lead. 

Look at the full process. 

Discovery. 

Website visit. 

Inquiry. 

Follow-up. 

Sales conversation. 

Conversion. 

Customer experience. 

Retention. 

Referral. 

A weak point anywhere in that journey can affect growth. 

Sometimes the marketing campaign is working perfectly and the problem appears later. 

Good Data Can Protect Marketing Budgets 

One major benefit of measurement is the ability to show what is working. 

Marketing can sometimes be treated as an expense because the connection to revenue is unclear. 

Better measurement helps demonstrate value. 

It also helps identify where money is being wasted. 

That makes decision-making stronger. 

Experience Still Matters 

Data should inform judgment. 

It should not completely replace it. 

Experienced salespeople and marketers often recognize patterns before enough data exists to prove them statistically. 

That does not mean ignoring the numbers. 

It means combining experience with evidence. 

The strongest decision often comes from both. 

What Shawn Strawser Looks for in Marketing Data 

When I evaluate performance, I like to keep the questions practical. 

What are we trying to accomplish? 

What metrics actually reflect that goal? 

What changed? 

Why might it have changed? 

What are customers telling us? 

What action should we take next? 

That keeps analytics connected to the business. 

The Bottom Line 

Data has made modern marketing significantly more powerful. 

We can understand performance in ways that were impossible earlier in my career. 

But numbers are only part of the story. 

There is still a person behind every click. 

A customer behind every conversion. 

A conversation behind every sale. 

The strongest marketers understand both sides. 

Use data to see what is happening. 

Use customers, salespeople, experience, and judgment to understand why. 

Then use both to make better decisions. 

About Shawn Strawser 

Shawn Strawser is a marketing strategist and sales professional with more than 20 years of experience in advertising, business development, digital marketing, sales, and growth strategy. 

His career includes record-setting sales performance and extensive experience connecting customer behavior, sales insights, digital data, and marketing strategy to measurable business outcomes. 

Today, Shawn Strawser focuses on practical marketing strategies that combine data, relationships, technology, and human understanding to create sustainable growth.