Is Data the Key to More Impactful B2B Content and Social Media Marketing?

Over the last year, I’ve spoken to audiences at a wide variety of events on why marketers should have a role in defining the data that organizations generate. Data can and should be a vital asset in building brand affinity, generating leads, and creating brand recognition for all kinds of organizations—but particularly for B2B companies.

In this excerpt from my talk at All Things Performance Marketing 2021,  in Greece, I share why data is they key to memorable content marketing and social media marketing that sparks conversations, sticks in your audience’s minds, and builds trust.

Excerpt from “Data & Storytelling: Using Insights to Shape Your Content & Social Media” [Transcript]

Now I’m really excited to be speaking to you today about data and storytelling, because I know that everybody here at the conference is already aware of how important data is to understanding your performance and optimizing your marketing. But what I want to talk about specifically, is: why data is actually an important part of how we craft stories that are memorable to your audience that drive engagement within your social and content channels, and therefore drive results for your organization.

Data Feels More Believable

I want to start with a story a couple of years ago, a group of scientists decided that they wanted to understand the impact of data on decision making. And so they split their subjects in half. And half the participants received an article that told them a little bit about a new pharmaceutical drug, and the other half received an article with charts that described that same pharmaceutical drug. Now, when the scientists asked the audience how much they thought that the drug was effective, the differences were huge.

97% of those who saw the text, and the graph believed that the drug worked, compared with only 68% of the people who saw the text only. And what is so interesting is that the people who actually saw a graph with a text didn’t even seem to notice that the graph added zero information. It was a completely dummy graph; it was simply there to demonstrate the impact of having that kind of data available within the context of this persuasive argument.

Why Is Data a Powerful Heuristic?

Now, why does data work? Data infuses our content with credibility, it makes the information that we’re sharing seem like it is based on specificity. It makes it relatable, because it makes the information that we share seem like it is in a broader context. It makes it concrete and makes it specific. And it makes it memorable. In behavioral science, we often talk about this idea of heuristics. The fact is that all of us are so overwhelmed by the number of decisions that we have to make day to day, and the information that we process that we have to use, what are shortcuts or heuristics. In fact, in the year 2021, every minute has seen over 200 million tweets sent out, over 310 million emails sent out.

So when you think about how overwhelmed your audiences are and how much your content and social media has to overcome, it is so much. So why we infuse our content with data is to help it stick in the minds of our audience.

Data Sticks in Our Minds

In fact, I want you to think about your own experiences. I bet you that in your own life—at some point—you have quoted a piece of data to somebody. And you probably didn’t even remember exactly where you read it. But you remembered the statistic, the data point, the information that you shared with somebody else, right?

If that’s an experience that you’ve had, you understand what is the power of making sure that we are identifying the right pieces of data to share with our audience, both within our social media channels as well as our broader content marketing channels. Because it creates that stickiness. It makes the information more highly relevant, more believable, and therefore more likely to convert.

For more information about how I can work with your organization on a public event, webinar, or private training, click here or visit zonteehou.com.