When clients post gigs on Upwork they're offered the ability to use templated questions or write their own.
Hands-down, the most popular one they select for Marketing Strategy roles is, "How do you use metrics to inform your strategy?"
I get it. In fact, if I were posting that gig, I'd like that question, too. But here's the problem:
Your goals and objectives might not be so "metric" friendly. For instance, the last gig I applied to had identified their target list. It included exactly 107 target companies. First up, I completely applaud them for identifying the list. More up, they're a start-up, so 107 is a fine number.
That said, 107 is a relatively small number particularly when you're attempting to measure it with platforms (CRM, web analytics, etc.) that have been engineered for tens of thousands. And when the numbers are that small, you'd be wise to give them the respect that you should to small numbers.
In this case, as much as metrics matter, what's more critical is that the strategy lean heavily into best practices and mechanisms for qualitative feedback. Yes - it's fuzzier. Agreed it requires more analysis than watching a graph go up and reacting when it goes down.
But if you're allowing the metrics to drive the strategy, you'll likely find yourself pivoting based on statistically insignificant data.
So when I apply for a gig on Upwork, my answer to that question is always, "I use metrics to inform my strategically as much as it is practically relevant to do so."
And then I explain why that's the case.
My friend Joe Pulizzi's newsletter today talked about removing links from posts and he offered up a compelling reason to do so. I think he's probably right BUT doing so means clicks to your website go down. In a world where nobody likes to show down and to the right, it's critical to understand that what's most effective may not appear that way on the screen.
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