Data has the potential to make or break a political campaign, PAC, grassroots initiative, business, or other venture. Information has never been more important. However, merely gathering data alone will not suffice. The analysis of the data is even more important than collecting it. Let’s take a quick look at the best practices in data analytics.
Data Analytics for Decision-Making
It wasn’t long ago when candidates for public office strictly relied on polling and gut instinct to make the decisions that ultimately shaped the success (or lack thereof) of their campaign. There is plenty of hype surrounding data analytics yet the average candidate for public office may not be making the most of the data they have collected. Our political data, consumer data and data services set the stage for your campaign to derive valuable insights from accurate information. Using the best data and knowing how to analyze it will give you a chance to elevate your campaign to a new level. Data analytics best practices ultimately maximize your chances of emerging as the victor in your race or other endeavor.
Organize Your Data to Find Meaning
Instead of collecting as much data as possible to gleam superficial insights, work to gain a deep, analytical view of this information. Take some time to figure out the specific information, insights, questions, and concerns that are most relevant and pressing to your campaign. Use this information as important criteria that shape your data analysis. The answers you need ultimately shape the data you obtain as well as the manner in which it is analyzed.
Continue tinkering with analytical models until they provide meaningful insights and you’ll be empowered to use that optimized model moving forward with additional data analysis. As an example, the form of data and its subsequent analysis has the potential to be just as important as its ultimate functionality.
From Microsoft Excel spreadsheets to Adobe Acrobat PDFs, charts, graphs, databases and beyond, information can be presented in a number of different forms. Sort collected data by type, determine which format facilitates subsequent data analysis that provides meaningful insight and you’ll find the process of analysis and putting the insights plucked from that analysis into use proves that much more efficient.
Focus on KPIs
Data provides that much more utility when analyzed in the proper manner. Shift your focus to key performance indicators, also known as KPIs, and descriptive analytics. Descriptive analytics focus on the “why” of a matter to understand the underlying cause of trends in human behavior, opinions, etc. This historical analysis helps political campaigns better understand voter motivations, as well as the logic and rationale behind individual behaviors.
KPIs are best defined as the indicators that matter most in the context of data and political campaigning. There is no sense attempting to sort through voluminous data and analyzing every last piece.. Instead of attempting to implement this data into the overarching analytical process, whittle it down to that which is most important. Obtain clarity on the data inputs that are meaningful to your political campaign. Such inputs, referred to as KPIs, ultimately communicate what matters most and drive your campaign’s decisions.
However, there might not be universal agreement across the entirety of your campaign as to which KPIs are the most important. Incorporate the opinions and advice of everyone tasked with crunching the data and numbers pertaining to your campaign, PAC, grassroots initiative, or other effort to shape your KPI selection as you move forward and you’ll obtain considerable utility out of these important indicators.
Once you’ve agreed to the most important KPIs for your campaign, shift your attention to in-depth analysis driven by those indicators. Closely analyze the data for patterns as well as intriguing variances in the context of the KPIs highlighted by your campaign. These indicators serve as objectives of sorts that guide your ongoing analysis of the data provided by Aristotle as well as the data your campaign gathers on its own.
Keep Your Objectivity
Above all, do not attempt to mold the collected data to suit a narrative you have in mind for your campaign. Remain as objective as possible and encourage others to do the same. Focus on what story the information tells, not what you want it to say. It’s easy to find correlation and causation based on what you want, but that may not be the truth behind the data. When looking at voter opinions or poll results it’s especially important to maintain objectivity.
Be Open to Changing Directions
The analytical model you use to derive insights from information should be dynamic. Strive to continuously improve your data analytics model as you gather more and more information from the data specialists and you’ll find that information enhances your push to win public office or achieve another aim all the more.
Keep in mind, data is dynamic, meaning it evolves and changes as individual opinions as well as the overarching society evolve. If your data analysis model does not change in unison with societal changes, it won’t prove nearly as effective.
Aristotle is at Your Service
Aristotle is here to help you win political office or advance your political initiative using data-backed analysis. Aristotle has updated political districts and has collected and enhanced a nation-wide voter and consumer datasets so you can get a heads start on optimizing your political campaign. We also offer an award-winning cloud based Campaign Manager so you can easily track your campaign progress. Reach out to us for more information about how we can help your campaign reach its true potential.
