Become a Content Mastermind Using Data

Mining the deep, dark secrets of your customers:
Create Great Content Using Data

Deep within the bowels of every company exists an unknown content mastermind. They don't know it yet. Their superpowers have yet to be unleashed. Unleashed, that is, until the one day they look at the data at their fingertips and realise, 'I can take over the WORLD!' (Insert evil laugh here.)

...Or at least the world of online content planning. Who are we talking about here? The little recognised tech expert who handles all the raw data gathered from the company's online systems or automated marketing software. Don't have a customer data system? Setup a customer data system to begin reaping the rewards.

Marketing teams are constantly scrabbling to source great content ideas, but little do they know that the best source of inspiration is already within reach. The data gathered by the tech team can supply all sorts of stories, from how desperate people are to buy diamante dog collars in September to how cautious people are being over their private information. All it takes is someone with the right analytical skills to tease the narrative from the information and to come up with great content ideas.

An alternative use for data

Most companies keep an eye on their data because it provides insight into how current campaigns are going, and where to go next. Treating data as purely business information can blind a company to its real potential. Even within marketing teams, the data that comes in is examined for its analytical value rather than its meaning.

Treating the data as inspiration for great content can have a roll-on effect. For example, if a company discovers through its data analysis that customers within a certain suburb all have family cars, that information can form the basis of a content strategy that sees blogs on family life being published. The increase of content that appeals to that demographic boosts the traffic in that area, leading to more sales leads for that group.

Seeing the stories within the data

It's not easy to pull stories from data. It takes creative as well as analytical skills. When that mindset has been gained, however, the ideas just keep flowing.

Areas where great content ideas lie include:

*Location trends – do people in a certain area do something different from their neighbours? An example of this might be sales trends from suburb to suburb.
*Historical trends – do people do something at a specific time of year? Have things changed from year to year? An example of this might be the discovery that more people are taking out insurance for their cats. This could indicate that there's been an increase in uncertainty about vet bills (or in love for cats).
*Gender trends – are there unexpected differences between the genders? There could be things that fly in the face of convention, such as more women than men buying power tools.

These are all things that can be extracted from the gathering of a postcode and gender declaration at the checkout – relatively little information to be requested from a customer these days. Just as when it's used for straightforward analytical purposes, the number of stories you can pull from your data will depend on how limited that data is.