Data-Driven Work Cultures: Shama Hyder of Zen Media On How To Effectively Leverage Data To Take Your Company To The Next Level

An Interview With Pierre Brunelle

Repeat yourself to make your message clear. Recycle your data and use it in multiple contexts. If you have a positive statistic about your campaign’s performance or about your product, find multiple ways to share it. Perhaps it becomes part of the “social proof” section of your website, and then later, you mention it in a social post. Put that data in internal strategy documents and client-facing presentations so that the messaging is clear across platforms. Most people don’t remember something they’ve only heard once, so make sure that you repeat yourself. If you have a winning data point or an incredible rating, share that multiple times.

As part of our series about “How To Effectively Leverage Data To Take Your Company To The Next Level”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Shama Hyder.

Shama Hyder is the founder and CEO of Zen Media, a digital marketing and PR agency that drives reach, relevance, and revenue for B2B brands. Shama was one of the first people to discuss the importance of digital marketing back when platforms like Instagram and Twitter were just starting out (she even wrote her college thesis on Twitter). She has delivered countless keynote speeches to marketers across the globe, sharing her expertise in building brand reputation, increasing market share, and delivering results.

Shama is the author of two books, The Zen of Social Media Marketing and Momentum: How to Propel Your Marketing and Transform Your Brand in the Digital Age. Entrepreneur Magazine dubbed her “the Zen Master of Marketing,” and she’s been recognized as one of Forbes’ Top 30 Under 30 Movers & Shakers in Marketers and Inc Magazine’s Top 30 Under 30 Entrepreneurs.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I founded my company back when Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms were just taking off because I knew that there was untapped potential for marketing in the digital space. At that time, very few people were talking about marketing in the digital space. I wrote my thesis about Twitter back when the platform only had 2,000 users (now, the platform has closer to 400 million users).

I realized a need for comprehensive marketing and PR strategies that leveraged digital platforms. At my company, we call this our “Mixed Marketing Model.” We found that a combination of multiple touchpoints — like public relations, influencer marketing, multimedia content, and paid ads — is essential for expanding the reach and impact of a brand. It works, too. 80% of our clients’ campaigns go viral.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

When I started my company, I knew how to talk about marketing and PR — I understood the industry — but I didn’t know how to talk business. I had no experience in the more technical aspects of running a company like finances or human relations, or administrative tasks. So, occasionally, I was put on the spot. One time, I was on a call with a client, and they asked me about our net terms. I had never heard that phrase before and had no idea how to answer, so I put them on hold and asked our VP for help. She said, quite simply, “when do you want to get paid?” I took the client off of hold and said, ‘Now. Our net terms are now.”

When you’re an entrepreneur, you learn many things on the spot or when you’re under pressure. As long as you’re teachable and adaptable, you’ll be fine.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

I love the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear. It is historical fiction and spans WW1 and WW2. Aside from being incredibly well written, the books remind me of a time in our history when so much was at stake, yet human ingenuity and spirit persevered. Maisie Dobbs serves as an early psychologist and detective, so I love seeing that world from her lens.

Are you working on any new, exciting projects now? How do you think that might help people?

I just launched a new podcast called “It’s Not Magic, It’s Marketing” and a LinkedIn newsletter that corresponds with the podcast. Every Thursday, I’ll go live and take questions from listeners about the future of marketing and PR and how they relate to the digital space. When I started my company, I was betting that social media would take off in a big way. As I predicted, it did, but I was still taking quite a risk when I launched my company. I hope that this podcast will empower people to take similar risks in their marketing strategies.

Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion about empowering organizations to be more “data-driven.” My work centers on the value of data visualization and data collaboration at all levels of an organization, so I’m particularly passionate about this topic. For the benefit of our readers, can you help explain what exactly it means to be data-driven? On a practical level, what does it look like to use data to make decisions?

You can’t compete in today’s competitive market without data. Every marketer, every business, and every leader needs data to understand how they should relate to customers and to their industry as a whole. As the digital world has progressed, it’s forced us all to become more data-driven (whether we realize it or not). Think about it this way: data is not just numbers or statistics on a spreadsheet. Data can also be customer information, buyer personas, or feedback from your clients.

Being data-driven simply means that you make informed decisions based on available information. That information can be common metrics like a click-through rate or bounce rate on your website or the number of followers and impressions on your social media page. Qualitative data, like customer feedback or insights about critical discussions in your industry, is equally as important.

Which companies can most benefit from tools that empower data collaboration?

It doesn’t matter which industry you are in. Every company benefits from data. It’s a matter of determining which data is most useful to you and how you will leverage that information. Too many companies get caught up trying to measure every available point of information and waste valuable time in the process. For example, it’s easy to track metrics like impressions, click-through rates, and similar data points, but they may not provide you with the most important insights. You’ll make better decisions if you have data that specifically pertains to your company’s goals and priorities, not just generic data that doesn’t add value.

We’d love to hear about your experiences using data to drive decisions. In your experience, how has data analytics and data collaboration helped improve operations, processes, and customer experiences? We’d love to hear some stories if possible.

Data is a large part of our conversations with customers, and it’s standard practice at Zen that we go over monthly data dashboard reports to ensure that both our internal team and the client are on the same page. Going back to my comments about our Mixed Marketing Model, data is also an important part of how we keep our internal teams aligned. Our teams use data to relate to the client and relate to each other, making it a point of collaboration for every project stakeholder. Data from our paid ads team is relayed to our content team so that they can understand when and why we may need to make adjustments to copy, for example.

Has the shift towards becoming more data-driven been challenging for some teams or organizations from your vantage point? What are the challenges? How can organizations solve these challenges?

There are two sides to this conversation: client-facing challenges and internal challenges. Many organizations struggle to convey data about the account so that the client understands. It’s important to remember that your customer relies on you to explain and apply data. Take a storytelling approach and place your client in the larger narrative of data so that they can understand the meaning behind the numbers you’re showing them.

At the internal level, data helps teams stay connected and aligned. Every team member should be informed about and understand the data relevant to the company and each of its clients. Don’t keep your teams in silos, and don’t separate more data-driven roles from creative roles. They should work together. When you allow data-driven collaboration, your team will be better equipped to create actionable strategies based on the available metrics.

Ok. Thank you. Here is the primary question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are “Five Ways a Company Can Effectively Leverage Data to Take It To The Next Level”? Please share a story or an example for each.

1. Don’t track everything. This might come as a surprise, but you don’t need to track every data point. Not all data will be useful to you or correspond with your company’s goals, so don’t waste time trying to track every available metric. Focus on data that is specific to the areas where you are investing the most time, effort, and talent. Maybe you’re investing in client experiences, and you’re trying to boost your retention rate. If so, pull historical data about your clients and use it to inform your client retention strategy. Measure as you make changes to your strategy, and reassess regularly to see if you are making any improvements and adjust accordingly.
2. Analyze with intention. Come with questions when it’s time to review data. Analyze the information and cross-reference it with the goals and objectives you have for your company. For example, if you’re tracking your website’s performance and looking at quantifiable metrics like bounce rate, CTR, and the time visitors spend on your website, you should be asking, “What can these metrics tell us about our website visitors’ experiences?” Ask questions that go deeper than percentage points and show you something specific and actionable about your customers.
3. Convert data into stories. Whether you’re sharing your data with an internal team or your clients, you should create a story around the data that you’ve gathered. What does this percentage point say about your company, your industry, or a specific challenge your customers may be facing? Present data and explain it so that you, your team, and your customers can see where that data sits in the big picture.
4. Communicate internally and externally. This is especially important when it comes to data about your company, like your customer retention rate or the success of your product or service. Share these metrics with your team members so that they can see where the business is growing and recognize that they are part of its success. Similarly, if you have something to celebrate in terms of data — perhaps your technology has a 99% approval rating by industry experts, or your app has had more than 1,000 5-star reviews in the app store — share this on your website, in your brand messaging, and on your social media accounts. These metrics help build trust, and they show your existing and prospective clients that your company is credible.
5. Repeat yourself to make your message clear. Recycle your data and use it in multiple contexts. If you have a positive statistic about your campaign’s performance or about your product, find multiple ways to share it. Perhaps it becomes part of the “social proof” section of your website, and then later, you mention it in a social post. Put that data in internal strategy documents and client-facing presentations so that the messaging is clear across platforms. Most people don’t remember something they’ve only heard once, so make sure that you repeat yourself. If you have a winning data point or an incredible rating, share that multiple times.

The name of this series is “Data-Driven Work Cultures”. Changing a culture is hard. What would you suggest is needed to change a work culture to become more Data Driven?

I think that internal messaging is critical. If you want your work culture to be driven by data, you need to communicate with data and about data. This will naturally start at the top of the organization and work its way down through each level of employees. If you want your teams to focus on data, then talk to them about the data related to your company. Give regular company updates that showcase critical data points and help them understand the status of your business or brand.

The future of work has recently become very fluid. Based on your experience, how do you think the needs for data will evolve and change over the next five years?

Data will become even more important as more companies adopt hybrid work styles and flexible schedules. I think that the 9 to 5 workday is on its way out, and with more teams working at varied hours or on varied schedules, companies will rely on data to understand if they are running effectively. Our need for data will only increase in the next five years.

Does your organization have any exciting goals for the near future? What challenges will you need to tackle to reach them? How do you think data analytics can best help you to achieve these goals?

My company is growing rapidly, and data analytics has been a huge part of that. We have used data to determine where our team needs to grow so we can meet demand, and we’ve relied on metrics to determine the most valuable next steps for our organization. It’s an exciting time at Zen Media.

How can our readers further follow your work?

You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!