CHAPTER 6
Know the Difference Between Your Data and Your Metrics
by Jeff Bladt and Bob Filbin
How many views make a YouTube video a success? How about 1.5 million? That’s how many views a video posted in 2011 by our organization, DoSomething.org, received. It featured some well-known YouTube celebrities, who asked young people to donate their used sports equipment to youth in need. It was twice as popular as any video DoSomething.org had posted to date. Success! Then came the data report: only eight viewers had signed up to donate equipment, and no one actually donated.
Zero donations from 1.5 million views. Suddenly, it was clear that for DoSomething.org, views did not equal success. In terms of donations, the video was a complete failure.
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