3 common mistakes derailing your business strategy and how to fix them

Here's the truth: Many businesses claim to be data-driven, but few do it effectively. There's a few common mistakes that, if you're not careful, can derail your business strategy. This can lead to wasted time, spend, and set you back behind the competition. Let's dive into a few common mistakes that can derail your business strategy and how you can fix them.

The mistake: Many marketing tools give you a plethora of metrics to choose from, and that can lead to companies focusing on the wrong thing.

For example, I've seen marketing agencies that focus on traffic. Or they have dashboards that track the number of blogs they've written for clients. However, these aren't metrics that clients would typically care about. Most of the time, they don't want to know how many blogs you've created. Instead, they want to know which blogs generated the most engagement, led to someone entering their email to download an asset, or how many MQLs were generated from blogs.

The fix: To fix this, focus in on the metrics that move the needle for your business. These are the key performance indicators (KPIs) that directly align with your business goals. Of course, these can vary based on the specific needs of your business. 

The best way to determine the metrics you should be tracking is by developing a measurement plan. A measurement plan ensures everyone is aligned through a shared understanding of which metrics actually matter to your goals. This isn't mapping out specific numbers or percentages. It's a shared roadmap to ensure all teams understand which numbers matter and why. It should touch on sources for the data you need, user actions and metrics that are critical to your business goals, and implementation planning.

The mistake: There's a saying in the data community:  Garbage in = Garbage out. Your strategy is only as effective as your data is accurate. So, you might use a tool like GA4 to evaluate user behavior and design your business strategy for 2026. But that's only going to create a strong strategy if that data is accurate to begin with. At best, inaccurate data leads to wasted time. At worst, it could lead to your competition getting ahead or even regulatory fines.

The fix: That's why it's important to conduct a GA4 audit on a quarterly basis, or to audit other data collection tools. A GA4 audit can make sure that your tracking is set up correctly, and looks under the hood for things like duplicate traffic that can skew results, or larger issues like collecting personally identifiable information (PII), which can lead to fines or Google closing your account.  

Remember, the E.U. and other regions or states don't care if you're a small business that collected PII by accident, if you violate rules regarding the types of information you can collect, they'll enforce consequences either way. 

The mistake: Maybe you've created a measurement plan which names the specific metrics that you want to track. However, some companies still take too high of a bird's eye view when it comes to their data. For example, while it may sound counterintuitive, a metric like conversion rate is just too zoomed out. Why? Because not all pages on your site are designed to convert. Your  About page is likely not designed with conversion in mind. However, your product pages likely are. 

The fix: Zoom in on metrics. Instead of going to broad, narrow in on the pages or behaviors to which the metrics apply. This can help you get a better understanding of how your business is performing and lead to better strategic decision-making.

Data-driven strategies are key to getting ahead of the competition in 2026. But your strategy is only as effective as your data is accurate and if your focused in on the right metrics to begin with. By avoiding the mistakes outlined here, you can put you and your team on the path to being truly data-driven.