Top 6 Keys for Successful Data-Driven Content Marketing
For content marketing, marketers must consider the behaviours and preferences of their readers when choosing the topics they will cover, rather than following their personal preferences.
If they do not, they may publish content that is of little value to their readers because analyzing reader data upstream of the conceptualization is essential for writing quality content.
1. Define the successful strategies already in place on your blog
To evaluate your blogging strategy, the easiest sources of data are your own indicators. Simply add categories to your blog posts, corresponding to their respective topics. By classifying your articles by category, you can measure each topic’s performance using data analysis tools.
The performance indicators you decide to follow depend on your marketing goals. For example, the number of views of a page largely determines the performance of a subject.
Other parameters, such as time spent on the page, the number of additional subscriptions, or leads generated, can also indicate which topics are relevant to your audience. It is essential to set a key business goal for your blog and follow the indicators that reveal its level of performance.
It is also important to consider the number of articles published on each topic. You must seek to meet the interests of your audience without ignoring high-potential topics.
For example, if a company’s articles generate the same traffic for topics A and B, it would suggest that the audience is as interested in one topic as the other.
However, the traffic of a particular subject does not say everything, if the company publishes three times more articles on the subject A than on B it means that 30 articles on the first subject engender in total the same traffic as 10 articles on the second. In other words, the articles on subject B are three times more effective than those on subject A.
By reducing the number of articles in Topic A and talking more about Topic B, the company would better adapt to the interests of its audience and generate more traffic with fewer items.
When you analyze topics in your blog, use the average or median views per article to better understand your audience’s preferences. Examining the traffic of a subject without taking into account the number of articles on the subject in question could make you prioritize a content which concerns only your readers moderately.
2. Find out what initiatives are paying off among your competitors
Chances are you and your competitors will have a very similar audience. This means that their most popular topics are potentially the same as yours.
You can use a tool like BuzzSumo or EpicBeat to analyze the items of your most shared competitors. Do they discuss topics that might be of interest to your readers?
Once you have identified the most powerful content, take inspiration from it to improve yours. You can deal with the same general topics as a competitor, but you have to add your personal touch and offer new ideas to your readers.
3. Follow the conversations of your online audience
Sites like Quora and specialized forums are a wealth of information for creating quality content.
Every day, potential customers post questions there. They publicly display their business information, allowing you to compare this data to your buyer personas. You can therefore clarify the needs of your personas and optimize the personalization of your content.
You may be able to identify a discussion forum that will present the most relevant questions for your industry. Then, when a user posts a question about a topic you want to process, check to see if that person’s role matches one of your buyer personas.
If so, write a blog post that answers this question and present it to your colleagues and leaders during a brainstorming session.
4. Get the most out of Google’s Related Searches
If any of your topics in particular are talking to your readers and you want to maximize their popularity, search Google for these terms to find out which ones are associated with them.
When you search for a term in Google, a Related Searches section sometimes appears at the bottom of the page. These suggestions are in fact highly consulted topics that relate to your main topic, and if your audience is very interested in them, they will probably also be interested in related topics.
5. Conduct a survey of your subscribers
Is there a better way to discover your readers’ preferences than to ask them directly?
Before sending your survey, keep in mind that not all your subscribers will take the time to respond and consider giving them a reward, such as a gift certificate, to encourage them.
Participation rates are generally much higher when the company offers its subscribers to participate in an inquiry in exchange for a reward.
6. Consult the sales team and the support team to know the difficulties of your customers
Your sales team and support team consult your prospects and customers every day. They are the ones who know best the needs and difficulties of your audience. Collaborating with these teams is the best way to identify the most pressing issues of your readers.
To better understand the challenges of your prospects and customers, schedule a monthly meeting with your sales team and support team, or ask them to write down the most common issues and topics that could be answered.
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