How to develop a data-driven content strategy to improve Customer Journeys

Developing a data-driven content strategy has many and varied benefits including: enhanced customer understanding, improved campaign results, better brand recognition and ultimately campaigns informed by facts rather than conjecture.

So how do you develop a content strategy informed by facts?

Step by Step Guide

1. Identify what you already know
   These should be facts and insights based on the data you already hold on your existing customers and prospects.
2. Challenge preconception often
   Exploring and analyzing your data with an open mind can lead to conclusions you might not have been expecting. You may, for example, find a whole new demographic that is interested in your products or services.
3. Consider what would also be useful to know
   There will be areas you can or have previously identified as gaps in your current knowledge, where you feel information would benefit the business. Uncovering these gaps could require additional analysis or augmenting your existing data with external data sources or research.
4. Consult a marketing data expert
   You may be very experienced within your business, but a third party marketing data expert will have experience of implementing data driven content strategies across a number of businesses or industry sectors. The combined learnings from these implementations can benefit your project.
5. Select appropriate technology
   Put appropriate technology in place (if not there already) to effectively analyse existing and future data. Any data mining and analysis software will need to be able to work with existing systems.
6. Develop contact strategies
   Using the insight gathered, your data expert can develop strategies with you for Acquisition, Retention, Cross-sell, Upsell, and any other recommended programs - all as part of a multi-channel, data-driven campaign strategy.
7. Control groups and Test & learn strategies
   Maintain a control group to monitor campaign performance when compared to other strategies and test pilot schemes to defined test groups before wider launch.

Turn data into information

By analysing your existing database of customers and prospects you can gain insight which has real worth and value to your business.

Knowledge is power.

Identifying distinguishing factors about your best customers enables you to select others like them when you source or research your next prospect list. The further you analyse your existing data the more you can learn; this is where working with a data expert can really pay off.

Advanced strategies

Strategies may include how to engage better with different segments, by using what you know about their interests, pain points or other defining criteria to inform and drive your content or offers.

Informed by the knowledge you have gained you can be more personalised in your communications.

Data driven strategies can also be used to identify at what stage of the customer journey your business experiences the most lapsed customers. Armed with this insight you can define ways to communicate with them at this stage to reduce churn and retain as many customers as possible.

Support Retention as well as Acquisition.

With an informed and defined content strategy you will be better able to build communities based on the content you share, and from here turn your contacts into true brand advocates.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have clients sharing their own success stories of working with you?