The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Using Data for Smarter Marketing
- Laura Castiblanco
- Jul 31, 2025
- 3 min read
Let’s be honest—being an entrepreneur today is both exciting and overwhelming. Between building your brand, finding your audience, and staying ahead of the competition, there’s one tool that makes it all a lot more manageable and powerful: data.
Whether you're launching a product, running a social media campaign, or trying to figure out why sales dipped last month, data tells the story behind your business decisions. And if you ignore it? You’re basically flying blind
Here’s why smart entrepreneurs treat data like their most trusted business partner—and how you can too.
What Is Data?
At its core, data is just information—numbers, patterns, behaviors, actions. It comes from everywhere: your website traffic, your product sales, your customer reviews, and even your social media likes. But the true power of data is unlocked when we know how to interpret it and turn it into action. That’s why it’s both a science and an art.
The science is about collecting, measuring, and analyzing data accurately. The art, on the other hand, is about using your creativity and intuition to ask the right questions, tell the right story, and apply insights in ways that move your business forward. Together, they help you make smarter, faster, and more confident decisions.
The 3 Types of Sales Data Every Entrepreneur Should Understand
Understanding how your product moves through the market starts with knowing the three key types of sales data: manufacturer, retail, and intermediary.
Manufacturer sales data—also called “shipment” or “billed” sales—refers to what the producer sells to a distributor or retailer. It’s accurate and useful for tracking revenue, but it can be misleading since it doesn’t reflect what consumers are actually buying. Sometimes, retailers buy more than usual to stock up before a
price increase, which inflates the numbers.
Retail sales data, also known as “point-of-sale” data, tracks the actual purchases made by consumers. This is the clearest view of real demand and helps you understand buying behavior. The downside? Not all retailers share this data, so you may only see part of the picture.
Intermediary sales data covers the sales between your distributors and retailers. It’s helpful for monitoring inventory flow and estimating consumer trends when retail data isn’t available. However, it can be inconsistent across partners and may still be influenced by stock adjustments or pricing strategies.
By looking at all three types together, you get a fuller, more accurate view of how your business is performing—from production to purchase.
How Glossier Turned Data Into a Beauty Empire
One of the best examples of using data strategically is Glossier, the now-famous beauty brand that started from a blog. Emily Weiss, the founder, created Into the Gloss—a space where she interviewed real people about their skincare and makeup routines. Over time, she collected thousands of comments, product preferences, and personal stories. Instead of launching products based on industry assumptions, she used that data to develop exactly what her audience was asking for.
From moisturizers to skin tints, each product launch was informed by feedback from real people. This smart use of qualitative data, combined with tracking user behavior, turned Glossier into a direct-to-consumer powerhouse. It’s a perfect example of how you don’t need to be a giant company to use data—you just need to listen, track, and act on what you learn.
At the end of the day, data is your business’s best friend—but it’s how you use it that matters most. Pairing your intuition with real, measurable insights helps you grow faster, serve your audience better, and avoid wasting time or money.
"Experience and instincts are valuable, of course, but research confirms that businesses that base decisions on data – not instincts or experience – are 19 times more likely to be profitable".
— Bernard Marr, Forbes
Whether you’re a startup or scaling fast, understanding your numbers can help you make decisions with clarity and confidence. So, if you’re ever unsure about your next move— check the data. It might just show you the way.
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