Red Flags in Measurement: A Guide For Marketers
Digital marketing measurement can drive strategy and optimization, but not all metrics are created equal. As healthcare marketers, you may encounter measurement practices that don’t always serve your brand or your audience. Recognizing these “red flags” — whether from internal processes or external vendors — is essential for driving smart, data-backed decisions. In this blog, we identify common measurement pitfalls and provide insights that can empower you to navigate data and analytics with confidence.
Red flag #1: Misuse of statistical concepts
Statistical methodologies should clarify, not complicate, findings. Misuse can distort marketing insights, leading to flawed decisions. Significance testing is a good metric to watch; applying this test inappropriately results in misleading conclusions. As an example, when used on a small sample size, it will present results as definitive when they are statistically unreliable. Ensure you understand your vendor’s cutoff for this metric and compare it to a best practice of 95% confidence. Only significant and representative results should be used in budget decisions.
Red flag #2: Lack of true transparency
Many measurement vendors are good partners because they’re transparent in sharing their approaches and underlying data. Trust in data-driven marketing relies on transparency, so ask questions. Here are three important ones:
- What is your core measurement methodology?
- How do you accurately measure performance across media channels?
- What data do you use to calculate performance results, and how do you analyze it?1
Your vendor should be able to answer these clearly and completely. However, some vendors may not be as forthcoming. If you sense issues with your metrics and your vendor isn’t satisfying your concerns, that’s a red flag that deserves your attention.
Red flag #3: Overreliance on directional results
Directional results refer to data or insights that point to a general trend or direction and may not be completely accurate or statistically significant. Using directional results in marketing decisions without clear justification can lead you to take action based on data and evidence that isn’t solid. When making budget decisions, it is a best practice to use results that are statistically significant. However, directional results may be used in the early stage of campaigns, when observing the general direction of trends in certain key performance indicators has value.
As Mike Lauwers, Director of Insights and Analytics at IQVIA, explains, “One situation where I feel this is likely to arise is early in a campaign. When clients are eager to start making optimizations or to assess the performance of the campaign early on, we can run into a lot of low sample confidence. There are some instances where a combination of directional metrics can paint a ‘good enough’ picture, but we typically do discourage this decision-making unless it is necessary, as results can fluctuate significantly in the first few months of the campaign.”
Red flag #4: Inconsistent data sources
A uniform data source or a “single source of truth” provides precise campaign measurement and data comparability over time. Yet according to Salesforce’s State of Marketing report,2 only 31% of marketers are fully satisfied with their ability to unify data sources. Using different data sets leads to contradictory results and faulty strategic decisions. Do you know if the data underlying your analytics come from multiple sources?
Ask your analytics team or measurement partner about the data they’re using to evaluate your marketing performance. If the answer doesn’t point to a “single source of truth,” consider how you can solidify your data sources.
Red flag #5: Inability to customize measurement solutions
Measurement is not a one-size-fits-all practice. Your vendor or internal partner should be able to customize measurement solutions to capture the unique aspects of your brand’s campaigns and serve your marketing goals. Be aware that some vendors offer only a standard measurement model that can’t account for your brand’s unique target audiences. A monolithic approach often misses nuances that can make a material difference to your campaigns.
Recognizing these red flags is the first step in improving your performance measurement. Taking a critical eye to your measurement practices and addressing any concerns positions you to run higher-impact campaigns and make better strategic decisions. You’ll sidestep errors, optimize your data strategies and maximize campaign impact. Learn more in our companion blog, Green Flags for Measurement Success - Best Practices for Pharma Advertising.
If you’d like further information and perspective about the role of data and measurement in marketing strategy, take a look at these additional resources:
- Two Metric “Must Haves” for Healthcare Marketing: Audience Quality and Net Impact.
- Our Resident Data Nerd Spills the Tea: Confessions from a Methodologist.
References
- Five questions that will help you choose the right marketing measurement partner. AdvertisingWeek. [cited 2025 April 2].
- State of marketing, ninth edition, p. 15. Salesforce. 2024.
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