Data vs assumptions

Mitch Joel is talking numbers in a couple recent posts in Six Pixels of Separation, one on the demographic of Facebook, and another on the qualitative buy-in of social media.

Both posts boiled down to a warning: Don't assume. It's hyper-critical to dig in to data to analyze your client base and reach your demographic.

I'm reminded of Mark Penn's Microtrends, one of my favorite business books about marketable demographic trends.