Using Data to Connect to Your Business Audience

Data has become an essential part of operating and maintaining a successful business in today’s world. Unfortunately, not many businesses take advantage of data when communicating to their audiences. This is likely because many are unaware of the overwhelmingly positive impact of integrating data on a business’s marketing campaigns.

Utilizing data in marketing efforts can benefit businesses to forge a deeper connection with their consumers and attract new audiences. Whether encouraging more engagement, telling a story, or communicating one’s values, data can help businesses foster a deeper connection with their audience. Understanding the benefits of utilizing data to connect with an audience can make it easier for businesses to take the leap and take advantage of this fantastic resource.

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Data Adds Value to a Business’s Products and Services

Providing one’s consumers with data figures can add value to a business’s products or services. This is because concrete data can communicate the positive effects or qualities of a specific product or service. For example, digital media company Refinery29 utilized data figures for their 67% campaign in 2018.

In essence, the campaign aimed to showcase plus-size models because the company discovered that 67% of American women fell under the category of “plus-size” women. Rather than continue the decades-old trend of utilizing models that represent a minority of women, Refinery29 made a concerted effort to provide the plus-size 67% of American women with a campaign that showcased plus-size models that better represented them.

The 67% data figure, Refinery29, provided context to their audience that added value to their campaign by communicating to their audience. The data figure communicated that Refinery29’s campaign was valuable because it aimed to represent a large part of society drastically underrepresented. This example displays that data figures can be a powerful tool that businesses can utilize to communicate their product or service’s value to their audience.

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Data Gives Businesses Credibility

Concrete data figures are practical tools businesses can utilize to give their brand credibility. Rather than trying to convince consumers through persuasion, data can provide concrete examples of a businesses’ credibility that immediately resonates. One example of a business utilizing data to communicate the credibility of their brand is laundry machine company Whirlpool’s Care Counts campaign.

In 2016, Whirlpool discovered that around 4,000 students were dropping out of high school every year because they lacked clean clothes to wear to school. Whirlpool donated several washers and dryers to various high schools in different communities to tackle the problem of students preceding education because of dirty clothes.

Apart from that, Whirlpool also collected data before and after their donation and found that their philanthropic efforts increased graduation rates. And, Whirlpool showcased this data to their audience through a video and communicated that their company’s image as a force of good in the world was credible.

Businesses looking to reinforce their credible brand identity can benefit tremendously from utilizing data. Showcasing data is a highly effective way for businesses to communicate the validity of their brand’s image to their audience in a way that resonates and feels genuine.

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Data Offers a Way for Audiences to Engage

Organizations can use data to allow their audience to engage with their business in a deep and fulfilling way. Interactive data figures can benefit this and allow audiences to connect deeper to businesses.

One example of how a business has utilized data for audiences to engage with them is National Geographic’s The Atlas of Moons. This online guide utilizes data to create a visual representation of Outerspace.

People can utilize the interactive guide to learn more about Outerspace while having fun and developing positive associations with the brand. National Geographic’s The Atlas of the Moons allows audiences to engage with them in a meaningful way while driving more traffic to their website, resulting in more magazine subscriptions.

By creating a creative way to showcase data about Outerspace, National Geographic was able to encourage its audience to engage with its brand in a fun and entertaining way. Businesses looking for more audience engagement can benefit by utilizing data creatively to get people to engage.

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Data Helps Businesses Serve Their Consumer

Data can allow businesses to better serve their audiences and consumers by pinpointing precisely what consumers want from specific products or services. Businesses can improve upon products, services, and customer interaction by utilizing data to analyze trends and consumer satisfaction. Depending on what a business is looking to improve, you can do this in various ways.

For example, if a business wants to improve upon a product, they can ask their customers to take a survey about what they like and dislike about a specific product. You can then analyze the data collected from the business’s audience, and you can implement insights from the analysis.

This could mean enlarging a handle on a mug so that it’s easier to hold. In this way, a business can better serve and connect with audiences and consumers. Businesses looking to develop new products can also look to data for guidance.

By using surveys that ask their audience what new products they would like to see, businesses can better understand what types of products they should create. Utilizing data can be the difference between a business disconnected from its audience and a business that best serves its audience and consumers.

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Data Generates Audience Anticipation

One creative way some organizations have utilized data is by creating a celebratory event around releasing the data they have collected. This gives audiences something to be excited about in association with these businesses and offers them the opportunity to engage fun and positively.

One great example of this is Spotify’s Wrapped campaign, in which every year they realize data to give consumers a summary of the genres, artists, and songs that they’ve listened to the most over the past year. Thisyearites people to share their data, which helps to market Spotify.

Another ingenious and creative example of a business using data to create audience anticipation is Google’s annual search campaign. The Year in Search campaign comprises videos that visually represent data of what people have been searching for the most over the past year.

By creating an event with data, Google can have audiences talking about their company and sharing the campaign with their friends. For businesses looking to forge a deeper, more positive connection with their audience, utilizing data to create audience anticipation can be an effective tool.

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Data Bolsters Businesses’ Images and Values

Utilizing data is an excellent way for businesses to communicate to their audiences that their brand image and values are genuine. Whether it’s showing the business’s impact on consumers or showing data that makes the audience more knowledgeable about specific topics, data can build trust between businesses and their audience.

One example of a business utilizing data to prove that they believe in their values is Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 dashboard. The dashboard creates a visual representation of COVID-19 spreads and outbreaks that audiences can interact with and gain knowledge from. The dashboard shows that John Hopkins University cares about its audience’s health and wants to provide them with the tools and data to learn more about it.

By creating the dashboard, the university could drive many people to their website and solidify their image as a positive force that cares deeply about people’s health. Businesses looking for ways to communicate to audiences that their brand images are earnest can benefit hugely from utilizing data to support their claims.

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Data Improves Decision Making

Drawing upon data to make decisions is an excellent way that businesses can plan for success and please their audiences. It can be tricky to keep one’s audience engaged and return for more year after year.

By data, businesses can keep track of trends and predict new ones likely to emerge. Knowing exactly what their audiences are likely to want in the future can allow businesses to plan for success and create products and services that will keep them relevant and profitable.

For example, suppose a shoe company is brainstorming a new type of shoe to release in the future. In that case, data can give the company a clear image of what trends their audience is gravitating towards and can develop new ideas that align with these particular trends.

By taking data into account, a shoe company would be able to make an educated guess as to what new shoe product their audience would purchase and be pleased with. By analyzing data and culling powerful insights, businesses put themselves in a position to make better business decisions. Businesses can keep their audiences happier and more engaged by making better business decisions.

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Data Can Tell a Story

Businesses looking to communicate a story to their audience can benefit significantly from data. Data figures are easy to understand and help an audience understand a business’s story in a more profound, fulfilling way. This is evident in Whirlpool’s Care Counts campaign, which offers audiences a chance to engage with their story of adding value to communities sincerely.

By utilizing data, Whirlpool was able to show their audience that their company had a positive impact on the schools they donated to, thereby reinforcing the audience’s perception of the story as truthful and positive. Data shows audiences that a business isn’t making baseless claims rooted in opinions.

Instead, data shows audiences there is truth to a story, making a business’s story more likely to resonate. Businesses looking to communicate a story can make their efforts more effective by utilizing data in creative and impactful ways. When combining storytelling with data, businesses create a potent form of expression that audiences feel is genuine and truthful.

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Visual Data Can Get an Audience’s Attention

Visual representations of data are a great tool that businesses can use to get their audience’s attention. In an age where the market is saturated with marketing campaigns, being able to stand out in the crowd is essential for businesses looking to connect with their audience.

Graphs and pie charts with interesting data will pique audiences’ interest and encourage them to take a minute to digest the information provided to them. Getting audiences interested in what one has to say is a vital component of marketing effectively and creating a larger, more engaged audience.

For example, suppose a thermos company shows users a visual representation of data that showcases how much longer their thermos will keep a drink warm than their competitors. In that case, audiences will be inclined to stop and digest that information.

Many people identify as visual learners, and for them, visual representations of data will have a better chance of sticking in their minds than just written copy. Businesses struggling to get and hold their audience’s attention can benefit from creating marketing campaigns that involve visual representations of data to stimulate thought and stick with their audience.

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Data Acts as a Versatile Marketing Tool

Data is a great tool utilized in marketing campaigns to communicate and convert audiences effectively. This is present in the campaigns of Google, Spotify, Johns Hopkins University, Whirlpool, National Geographic, and Refinery29.

These businesses’ campaigns were able to attract attention and help these brands market their products and services effectively and positively. Whereas many businesses struggle with generating ideas for new marketing campaigns, utilizing data to reveal facts and insights to audiences can be an easy way to develop and implement new and exciting marketing campaigns.

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Understanding how data can act as a powerful communication tool can encourage businesses to use data to drive deeper connections with their audiences. Businesses that utilize the magic of data to connect with their audiences will reap the rewards of building deeper trust, more engagement, and undeniable credibility.