Using Data to Build a More Effective Content Strategy

If you’re familiar with online marketing, you’ve undoubtedly heard the expression “content is king.” Establishing an active business blog, social media presence, and engaged online community can help improve your search rankings and increase your sales over time. But for many businesses, developing these things is easier said than done.

If you’re familiar with online marketing, you’ve undoubtedly heard the expression “content is king.” Establishing an active business blog, social media presence, and engaged online community can help improve your search rankings and increase your sales over time. But for many businesses, developing these things is easier said than done. More and more companies are taking their operations online, and most of them are working towards achieving the same goals. With all the competition out there, setting your business’ content strategy apart can seem like an insurmountable task. But in reality, it can be as simple as taking a deeper look at some key data. Here’s how you can harness your data to develop a more effective business content strategy.

Take a look at your keywords
A look behind the scenes at your website’s keyword searches can be telling. At the most basic level, keyword research tells you how potential customers are finding your site via search engines. But if you drill down on the data, it will likely reveal some interesting trends about your audience’s search behaviors. For example, are frequent visitors finding your blog by searching for evergreen versus timely topics? Are they stumbling across your site by searching for a particular product or service? Taking the time to review the data and identify common threads can help you develop content that is interesting and engaging for your audience.

Another important thing to consider as you’re analyzing your keyword searches is visitor intent. It goes without saying that people have certain intentions as they’re searching online, and your data can help you understand the ‘why’ behind your potential customers’ searches. For example, are they searching for general keywords like “product reviews” that would indicate they intend to make a purchase eventually, but probably not right away? Or are they finding your website by searching for terms like, “purchase ‘x’ product” that suggest they’re planning to buy in the near future? You can use the information you gather to create more compelling marketing copy for your products and services and help drive sales for your business. Drilling down on your search data can help you create more relevant content that aligns with the behaviors and intent of your site visitors.

Which content has your community buzzing
Do you know which blog posts have sent your website’s commenting feature into overdrive? Or which of your podcasts, videos, or tutorials has been shared most frequently? A deeper look at your business’ social data can help you understand a few key things about your audience. The first is which types of content are resulting in the most engagement from site users. Are potential customers more likely to comment on and share photos, videos, short blog posts, or in-depth pieces containing lots of stats? The second is which topics have them talking. Are they passionate about something that you’ve addressed in the past? How can you build on that idea to grab the attention of potential customers and keep them coming back to your site? Harness your social data to help build more shareable and interesting content for your audience.

Social data can also be used to track other important metrics, such as when your community is most active online, and what potential customers are saying about your brand. Data gathered from social media analytics platforms and social sentiment tools can help you steer your marketing efforts in the right direction and provide better customer service to your online audience.

Whether you’ve just taken your business online or have an established company, search and social data can be used to help you build a more effective content strategy. A data-driven content strategy can help you set your business apart from competitors, and build customer loyalty over time.