The idea of using data to inform content is increasingly nothing new, however the idea of a data driven magazine is yet to become the norm. Data driven content for print is something that content agency Dialogue explored in a new report in association with insight consultancy, entSight.
Evolution of data-driven content
The evolution of digital and social platforms has initiated a new approach to research – and online analysis of behaviour and content should be shaping not only digital campaigns and products but also providing insight for more traditional mediums as well.
A blend of data sources is needed for a precise view of human behaviour, but it’s how data is read and analysed that makes the difference and this requires expertise. However, online tools such as Global Web Index, Pulsar and the suite of products offered by Google (just to name a few) can help deliver strategic guidance for all manner of projects.
Spotting trends and behaviour
Here is a topical example of what data insight can produce. The Covid-19 pandemic has obviously had a drastic effect on all our behaviour, including media consumption. However, its impact on sales of cycling shorts may have gone unnoticed!
Yet an upward trajectory in sales can be traced through survey data, social media data and search trend data which can be witnessed through tools like GlobalWebIndex, Pulsar and Google Trends respectively.
Survey data showed increased interest in exercise in the UK during the lockdown period as people were unable to go to the gym. Naturally, this had a knock-on effect on online conversations, which increased further when the World Health Organisation (WHO) endorsed cycling for essential travel. And finally, this appetite can be witnessed through search trend data, as since April there was a huge spike in searches for ‘cycle shorts’ on Google.
When we start to analyse human behaviour through survey responses, conversations online and searches, we start to get interesting insights that can really help us as marketers online – but also as content marketers operating through print.
We can answer questions about audiences’ interests, behaviours, media preferences, topics shared and sought out and their emotional connection to them.
Data-driven content in action
Based on this approach, Dialogue partnered with entSight to explore the behaviour of luxury consumers in the automotive sector pertaining to print media, developing the report Driving Success: The Value of Print to the Luxury Automotive Industry.
The report evaluated the behaviour of 50,000 global luxury automotive consumers in terms of how they use and value print formats. Surveyed were both men and women of all age groups who self-identify as being in the top two wealth tiers as well as car consumers, either owning or planning to own a car in the next 12 months.
The data was evaluated in comparison to a global sample, which allowed us to understand how this audience ‘indexes’ compared with the norm. The global sample data was drawn from GlobalWebIndex, which provides digital consumer insights across 45 countries and 40,000 data points.
The data revealed some fascinating behaviours and underlined the fact that for the luxury automotive consumer, print is a highly valued offering. The wealthier the consumer, the more they discover through print (and this is true across all age groups) and interestingly, for those in the city, they are more likely to discover brands through ads than editorial – no doubt because they have less time to read. This activity also correlated with the luxury consumer at large.
So not only can we use data to understand the best media format, but we can also use data to understand these consumers’ interests. And for the luxury automotive consumer, their top interests can also impact what’s within the print they consume: key for these consumers were entrepreneurship, adventure and extreme sports, and charities and volunteering for which they had a more pronounced interest.
The report has showed that rather than data insight stifling creativity, when used and analysed correctly, data insight can enhance creativity and improve consumer engagement with content, increasing brand awareness and engagement.
Howard Wilmot and Edward Bass explored this in a recent webinar with the CMA. You can watch the replay for further insights.
Access Driving Success: The Value of Print to the Luxury Automotive Industry.
