If you’re looking for a new way to grab your audience’s attention and make your content stand out, the answer may already be in your hands. The data your company currently collects could provide a huge base of knowledge that you can use to create even more engaging content.

The Power of Data

Content that contains great data is effective because:

  • It delivers real value: People want something they can’t find anywhere else when they read (or share) your content. So, if you can create content that contains original data, it will stand out.
  • It boosts your authority: One goal of content marketing is to highlight your business’ expertise. Content that shows off how well your team works with industry-specific data can help reinforce your brand’s authority.
  • It has SEO benefits: Data-driven content tends to be heavily shared and linked to by other publications, greatly growing your own visibility. This helps boost your SEO rankings, helping your company get even more visitors and potential shoppers.

Companies Using Their Data

Several companies are creating attention-grabbing content using their own trove of data; here are a few examples:

 Jawbone: The fitness tracker company collects massive amounts of data from people who wear their devices and they used that information to create an amazing analysis of sleep patterns in different cities. Eye-catching data visualizations provide a variety of insights. For example, New York City may be called the “city that never sleeps,” but its residents actually have some of the earliest bedtimes of the seven cities in the study!

Expedia: The travel website combed its own data to reveal the best and worst options for Labor Day Travel. The most crowded airports to avoid? Atlanta and Los Angeles. The best package deals to be had? London and Paris.

OKCupid: The dating site used ten years of data to come up with a study of attraction and race. Even if you’re not in the dating scene, the article makes for an interesting read.

Gain More Exposure

It’s natural to look outside your company for trends and ideas to fuel your content. But many compelling insights can be found within your own data sets and analytics. There are millions of articles online, but storytelling with data can set your content apart from the clutter and get you more visibility. Embrace your data and add this powerful tool to your current content marketing strategy.