Read Your Numbers Without Fooling Yourself

Part 5 of "How to become a better outlet"

Numbers feel like facts, which is why they are so easy to misuse. A post does well and you feel brilliant. A post does badly and you feel set back. Both feelings come from one data point, and one data point is rarely a fact about you.

Reading numbers well is a skill, and it protects your calm. This article gives you a few habits that keep the numbers useful and keep them from steering you.

Start with a question

Before you open any statistics, ask what you want to know. "Am I doing well" is not a question the numbers can answer. Better questions are concrete.

• Do people read my carousels to the last image?
• Which of my first images get saved?
• Does my channel get a steady trickle of new visitors, or only spikes?

A number belongs to a question. Without one, you will look at whatever is biggest and treat it as important.

Compare like with like

Most wrong conclusions come from unfair comparisons. A post from Monday morning against a post from Saturday night. A carousel against a text post. This month against a month with a holiday. Each of these differs in more than one way, so you cannot say which difference mattered.

Compare the same kind of post, over the same window length, measured the same way. If you change the way you measure, mark the date, so a future you does not mistake a new ruler for a new result.

Small numbers swing

When your numbers are small, they swing a lot. A post that gets three times the usual attention may simply have met the right person at the right moment. If you rebuild your channel around that, you steer by chance.

A practical rule: do not react to a single post. Wait for a pattern across several posts and at least two weeks. If something repeats, it is information. If it appears once, it is a story you might tell yourself.

Change one thing at a time

If you change your first image, your posting time and your topic in the same week, and the numbers move, you will not know why. Change one thing, give it time, then look. It feels slow, but it is the only way you actually learn something. This pairs well with the weekly review from Part 2: one thing to try each week, never more.

Be careful with large and flattering numbers

Some numbers feel good and say little. A big total can come from one lucky post. A rising follower count says nothing about whether people read what you make. When a number is flattering, ask what it would look like if it were wrong. When it is discouraging, ask the same. The habit works in both directions.

It also means you can be calm. Nobody can honestly promise you a particular reach, and your numbers cannot promise it either. What they can show you is whether your channel is becoming clearer and steadier. That is a better target, and it is within your control.

Keep a three-line log

Once a week, at the same time as your review, write three lines.

1. What I did. "Changed the first image style on two carousels."
2. What the numbers showed. "Slightly more saves on those two, otherwise unchanged."
3. What I will try next. "Keep the new style for two more weeks before judging."

Three lines are enough, and after a couple of months the log shows you things your memory would have smoothed over. You will see which of your explanations held up and which were wishful.

Know when not to look

Looking at numbers every hour does nothing for the channel and plenty for your mood. Choose a fixed time, for example once a week, and stay away in between. Your posting rhythm and your profile do the work in the meantime. In the app, the lists “Today” and “This month” show what went out, so you can look at the status without opening every channel.

Your next step

Write down one question you want your numbers to answer this month. Then open your statistics only to answer it, and write your first three-line log entry.

Once your channels are connected, the app's “Channels & Autopilot” section shows where things stand in one place: https://impruvement.com/creator/get. Share your first log entry, or just your question, in #show-your-work in our Discord. Questions are often more interesting than results, and others may point out a blind spot in yours.

This closes the first five parts. New parts follow week by week.

Get the app and see where your channels stand