How to use data-driven marketing in your content strategy

Content marketing will no doubt continue to grow as businesses continue to make the most of growing their brand. Even more promising is how data has become valuable in content marketing as technology continues to advance. But what is data-driven content marketing?

Data-driven content marketing is a method of creating and distributing content that is primarily based on data and analytics. Data determines what kind of content to create, how to distribute it, and how to measure its success. When a brand knows what content to develop and how it will be distributed, it becomes realistic to position it to reach its target audience.

Related: 4 Steps to Becoming a Data-Driven Business

Using data to drive your content strategy

Most companies haven’t realized how critical data is to content marketing success. Data-driven content marketing allows for more granular content targeting and can be used to inform future content strategies. It’s a great way to enhance your content marketing efforts because it allows marketers to understand what content is engaging their audience.

According to Insights for Professionals, a data-driven approach can have a powerful impact on the type of content you create and how it is created. When your content strategy is data-driven, determining your target demographics for every piece of content becomes feasible. You can find out what types and forms of content resonate with them and which platforms you should publish content on for optimal visibility.

Doing well with data in your content

While data incorporation is just one tool in your content marketing toolbox, it plays a strategic role as marketers can measure the ROI of their marketing campaigns and track overall engagement. There are a few things to keep in mind regarding data-driven content marketing.

It is important to have access to the correct data. This can come from a variety of sources, including your website analytics, social media analytics, customer surveys, and more. With the right data, you know your target audience and which channels they are on. Knowing who your content will attract and which one is relevant to the topic becomes realistic.

However, it is essential to realize that data alone will not lead to success. Your marketing should still focus on creating quality content. The higher the quality of your content, the more likely it is to promote it and measure your results. As Jolie Miller describes it, great content creates space for your audience to pause and reflect, and that space is where transformation happens.

Related: Five Data-Driven Improvements to Your Content Marketing Strategy

The benefits of driving your content marketing strategy with data

Including data in your content marketing has many benefits, including:

1. Data provides you with resources you can use to make informed decisions about your content, leading to better targeting of your audience and higher ROI.

2. Knowing how to interpret data gives your business that added advantage because it tells you more about your target audience, allowing you to create more targeted and effective content.
3. Data helps you better understand your customer’s journey and develop more personalized content that addresses their specific needs. If you know which topics resonate with your audience and which do not, you can adjust your content strategy accordingly.
4. Another key benefit of data-driven content marketing is that it can help you save time and resources. By understanding what works and what doesn’t, you can avoid wasting time and money on content that doesn’t perform well.
5. Data helps you optimize your content distribution strategy to reach your audience with the right message at the right time.

6. Data-driven content marketing can help you improve your ROI. When you understand what content is most effective, you can focus your budget on initiatives that are more likely to deliver results.

7. Data can help you track your progress over time and see how your content marketing strategy is impacting your bottom line.

Related: What Is Good Data-Driven Marketing? Here are 5 examples of what Big Data can do.

Maximizing Artificial Intelligence to Drive Data in Your Content Marketing

A data-driven content strategy is not complete without the revolutionary role of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence can be automated to handle some of the more tedious aspects of content marketing, such as data collection and analysis. By collecting and analyzing data, AI can identify trends and insights that you can use to improve your content marketing strategy at a faster pace.

When creating content, AI can help you understand what type of content is most likely to resonate with your audience. It can even help you generate new content ideas to create more personalized content for your audience. AI-powered tools like Google Analytics† SEMRush† buzzsumo† Ahrefs and others have redefined the face of content marketing.

They make it possible to research what topics your target audience is interested in and help you determine the conversion rate of your keyword. When equipped with this information, you can identify the most effective channels and strategies to reach your target audience when distributing and promoting your content.

Related: Why Data-Driven Marketing Drives More Sales

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Data has become so invaluable in content marketing that companies are shooting themselves in the foot if they don’t use it. Artificial intelligence has also played an important role as it helps to analyze this data, creating more personalized and effective content. You should continue to monitor your data and make adjustments as necessary as new data becomes available. From there, you can ensure that your content strategy is data-driven and that you are always delivering the most relevant and engaging content to your audience.

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