One thing to fix before 2026?

Author

Jeff Sauer
December 22, 2025

Your data's messy (here's the fix)

Over 50% of registrants showed up live to last week’s training.

That never happens these days.

We had agency owners tracking local tours. Animation studios. Vacation rental companies. B2B software businesses. Ecommerce.

Completely different industries. Same problems.

Everyone's data is messy. Everyone's tracking is broken. And most people don't even know where to start fixing it.

So I spent an hour walking through our Clean Data Framework.

Not the theory. The actual framework. The self-assessment. The exact steps to figure out what's broken and what to fix first.

Since it's a slow week and a lot of you couldn't make it, I wanted to share the full recording.

Consider it a gift heading into the holidays.

What You'll Learn

This isn't a sales pitch. It's a genuine framework we use with every client and in our own business.

You'll discover:

The 5 elements of clean data - and why thinking about data like cleaning your house changes everything

Your silent data killers - the stuff that's been breaking your tracking since 2021 (and why the old "sprinkle pixels everywhere" approach died)

A self-assessment scorecard - rate yourself 0-3 on five dimensions, then know exactly where to focus

The one upgrade that fixes most problems - if you only do one thing in 2026, this is it

What "good enough" actually means - because perfect data doesn't exist, but clean data absolutely does

The C.L.E.A.N. Framework

Here's the basic structure (you'll get the full breakdown in the video):

C - Collection: Do you know what's tracking on your site right now?

L - Label: Do you have clear, consistent definitions for your key conversions?

E - Enhancement: Are you using first-party tracking (server-side) or still relying on browser pixels?

A - Assemble: Do you have a dashboard that actually connects your data sources?

N - Narrate: Do your reports tell you what to do next?

Rate yourself 0-3 on each dimension. Total it up.

0-5? You're in the danger zone.

6-10? You're leaking profit.

11-15? Your foundation is solid.

Most people score between 6-10. That's normal. That's expected.

The point isn't to shame yourself. It's to know where to start.

Why This Matters Now

Here's a stat that stopped me cold last week:

In 2021, maybe 2% of small businesses used server-side tracking.

By 2025, it's somewhere between 5-25%.

By 2027, they're projecting 60-75%.

That means in the next two years, this goes from "nice to have" to "you're behind if you don't have it."

The companies implementing this now? They're recovering 30-40% of their data. They're seeing their Google Ads conversions jump 30%. Their "direct" traffic (the "we don't know where this came from" bucket) drops by 40%.

That's not marginal improvement. That's foundational.

A Few Things I Learned

After the training, I hopped on five discovery calls with people from the session.

Completely different businesses. But every single conversation had the same pattern:

They knew something was broken. They just didn't know what to fix first.

One person was spending $15K/month on ads with a 60% direct traffic rate. Meaning they had no idea where 60% of their visitors came from.

Another had three different agencies over two years, and each one installed different tracking. Nobody cleaned up the old stuff. Their site had pixels from people who didn't even work there anymore.

These aren't edge cases. This is normal.

And the fix isn't complicated. It's just systematic.

Your Step One

Watch the video.

Do the self-assessment.

Pick your lowest score.

Fix that first.

Don't try to fix everything. Don't aim for perfect.

Just pick one thing. The thing that scored lowest. And make that your focus for the first 30 days of 2026.

If it's Collection - audit what's tracking on your site right now.

If it's Label - get clear on what your key conversions actually are.

If it's Enhancement - start your server-side migration.

If it's Assemble - build one dashboard that connects two data sources.

If it's Narrate - start asking "what should we do next?" from every report.

One thing. That's it.

A Moment of Zen

Look, I know this is a busy time.

Whether it's busy with work or busy with family, you've got a lot going on.

But heading into 2026, I want you to have something simple. Something clean. Something that helps you unwind some of the clutter and mess you might be experiencing with your data.

This framework does that.

It gives you clarity. It gives you a starting point.

And honestly? Just knowing where you stand feels good.

So take an hour. Watch the training. Rate yourself.

Then you can head into the new year knowing exactly what to focus on.

To Your Measured Success!

--Jeff Sauer
Co-Founder of MeasureU

P.S. After those five calls, I realized just how universal these problems are. If you want to hop on a quick 15-minute call to figure out your step one, I've opened up a few slots. No pitch. Just a conversation about where you're at and what to focus on first. You'll find the link in the training if you're interested.

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Coming Up This Week at MeasureU

Monday, Dec 22, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EST

Ready to conquer the complexities of paid traffic measurement and make every ad dollar count? Then you won't want to miss our MeasureLab sessions (you might have also heard them called Office Hours or AMAs in the past!).

This call is for MeasureU Pro Members

Tuesday, Dec 23, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EST

Ready to level up your measurement game, get those burning questions answered, and connect with your amazing MeasureU family? Then you absolutely DON'T want to miss our weekly MeasureMastermind group coaching call!

This call is for MeasureU Pro Members

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