How to Leverage Your Data

Today, data is a driving force in almost every industry. In fact, many are saying that data is more valuable than oil or any other traditional commodities and investments. While it is often believed that gathering original data is an extremely costly and time-consuming proposition, many businesses actually have unique, ownable data. Once you understand this data, you can then effectively leverage it across marketing and communications channels. 

Where Is My Data?

Most businesses do not realize the wealth of data that is at their fingertips. However, if your business has been around for any length of time, there is likely original data and information. If you are a manufacturer, looking at sales trends and product performance can give you an idea of what industries are increasing their purchases. By coupling this information with surveys to those customers, you can learn a lot about the market, the current or upcoming trends, and what areas could use some additional support.  

For example, one of our health and wellness services clients published a report highlighting their findings from over ten years of onsite coaching sessions. This data offered insights into several different topics and answered several questions, including “what are the benefits of coaching employees,” “what wellness issues can be combated with monthly coaching sessions,” and “what types of health issues are employees trying to combat.” 

What Can I Do With My Data?

Media Relations

The number one question public relations professionals need to ask themselves when reaching out to reporters is about the newsworthiness of a topic. When writing articles, reporters are interested in what is attention-grabbing and timely. Often, original data is both of those, especially when they uncover new trends and information. Original data can be leveraged into pitches that tease some findings to reporters, which can develop into deeper conversations, interviews, and higher-quality media placements. 

Written Content

The basis of great content is original data, which can be shaped into a unique perspective and several different types of written content. eBooks are explorations about a topic, normally only a few pages in length. For example, Slice has written several eBooks on topics ranging from how to use social media and experiential marketing in unison to using social media to promote your event. On the other hand, whitepapers are more in-depth and often involve more thorough research. Another shorter-form way to promote original data is through blog posts. While often overlooked, blogs are great for showcasing thought leadership in a more concise form, with an added bonus of benefiting your website for SEO purposes. 

Infographics

While written content is a clear way to showcase original data, social media posts can be supported by engaging infographics. Infographics are a visual way to display data, and that’s what makes them especially relevant for social media. Longer, scrolling infographics can be developed for placements on a website and for emails, and then can be clipped into more bite-sized graphics that can be shared over time across social channels. 

Email Marketing

Promises of original data can get your email list subscribers interested in going to your website. An easy way to drive traffic is to send an email with a small bit of the data, and then including a call-to-action that encourages users to see the rest of the information online. To encourage people to open the email, you can include odd-numbered statistics. For example, emails with subject lines such as “31% of Marketers Make This Mistake” get more interest than a simpler “Are You Making This Marketing Mistake?” 

Interested in seeing how you can leverage your data more effectively? Drop our team a line here to start the conversation.

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