What if I told you that you were sitting on data that could potentially transform your marketing efforts?
If you're a technology business and you develop your own products, you most certainly are sitting on a gold mine of data. And that data has the power to inform a content series that will rock your customers into submission. Let me explain.
In the intersection between sports and technology, there is a whole lot of action right now. Startups are popping up across the globe with products that are aiming to transform the way sports fans consume, place wagers on and compete in sports. Investment groups are being formed to support this growing sector. In fact, in just the past two weeks, I’ve seen two new sports tech VC funds announced over the press wire.
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending my first Techstars Accelerator event. And let me tell you, I was blown away by not only the event itself, but the fact that half of the startups in the program were sports tech! I saw pitches ranging from eSports training to AI-powered player recognition technology.
There was so much talent in the room, and while a great weight is placed upon a startup's leadership team and their ability to secure funding and new business, my brain was busy dreaming up creative ways for these founders to tell their stories, with data.
You see, each of these budding businesses — if they aren’t already — will be sitting on piles of data in the near future. And my question to them and really any tech startup is:
What are you going to do with all of that data?
Sure, you’ll use it to inform your go-forward business strategy. You’ll use it to tweak your offering and improve your user experience. But will you use it to tell great stories? Will you use it to access decision-makers in your target industry?
Will you use it to sell your product?
Data powers the best kinds of storytelling.
When a business possesses their own data — or has access to data from a strategic partner — they also possess the ability to spin that data up into great stories. And maybe they know this already. Maybe they just don’t have the resources to begin producing those stories just yet… but still, they have the tools. All they really have to do now is find their way toward the publish button.
And it really doesn’t have to be that complicated. I believe that with the right tools in place anyone can tell great stories with data. The stories can be presented as long-form articles, short blog posts, podcast episodes or YouTube videos. They can even be presented as simply as static graphics.
Imagine a library of beautifully designed social media graphics, each containing one solid data point from the mountain of data you’re sitting on right now. How far could you go with that content based on the amount of data you have at this very moment? A month, a year, maybe even two?
How many stories can you tell with your data?
A well-formed content strategy is like a sports team.
On a team in any sport there are many moving parts, but each part — each player — has a distinct role. In soccer (the sport I hold closest to my heart) there are 11 players on the field at any given time. Each player has a role. The strikers attack the goal, the midfielders make runs and passes all day long and the netminders guard the goal line. Super romantic, right? And if the team works together as they should, they are much more likely to win. (Try telling all of this to a team of six year-olds… actually, don’t try. It won’t work.)
In sports, practice makes perfect, and in content creation, publish makes perfect.
In marketing, content is just the same concept: a team behind the brand. As a business grows and shifts, the content team is busy creating visibility. Maintaining a certain level of presence over time. Staying on the radar of target customers. Building value for current customers. Connecting a business with relevant storytellers and driving an expanded reach.
Much of content creation relies on simply hitting the publish button, over and over again, with compelling content. Kind of like practice. In sports, practice makes perfect, and in content creation, publish makes perfect.
Publish, publish, publish.
Not all of that content is going to be ‘power series’ material. But some of it should be... especially when there is data just sitting around waiting to be taken out for a walk.
Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash
A series of content that really kicks ass has a few key ingredients.
In my experience building content for sports tech startups, I've seen the piles of data. I've sifted through them, and I know that there are always stories to be told. What I've come to realize is that the path to finding the data-driven stories — the power series — is typically the same. And the elements required to produce it are pretty clear cut. The challenging part is uncovering the data gems and identifying just how to present them.
When crafting your power series, here are the elements that must exist.
Compelling data
To really gain traction with data-driven storytelling, you’ll need to present information that doesn’t exist anywhere else. And if it does, it’s not being sourced. It’s sitting around collecting dust. Maybe it’s being discussed at the water cooler. Over slack. At meetings. But it’s not being shared with your followers on social media. It’s not being shared with your advisory board. You get it.
Ask yourself: What data does my business own (or have access to) that can be built into compelling stories for my audience?
Media hooks
All of my clients to date have had access to unique and powerful data that is not being generated elsewhere. Why? Because they own the technology they are selling, and so, they own the data. And with this data, they have the ability to generate media coverage. Because the news media really likes new and interesting data points, it's simple enough to take the data gems and share them with the relevant beat writers in the space. (Oops, I think this is what your PR firm is supposed to be doing... Don't tell them I told you this.)
Ask yourself: What data could I share that the news media will want to report on? Is there anything really noteworthy that a writer for Forbes might be interested in covering in an upcoming feature?
Simplicity
In the world of content marketing, the key to telling great stories with data is to keep it simple. Think third grade comprehension level. Telling stories that will connect with people is about boiling things down to a very basic message, and then sharing that message with the world.
In the world of content marketing, the key to telling great stories with data is to keep it simple.
Example: If while mining your product’s user behavior data, you find that only 5% of mobile sports bets are being placed by females (I completely made this up), then maybe you share that data point with your followers in a shiny graphic you made on Canva. Maybe you share that statistic with a journalist who covers sports betting. But you get it… You do something with that simple piece of data.
Repeatability
Content that drives results week over week is not just simple to produce and digest, it is easily repeatable. And this is where things begin to click. Week over week, new data points are coming out of your tech. User behaviors are taking place, and trends are building over time. What trends are you seeing in your data that you could report on week over week? What types of trends would your customers be interested in seeing on a regular basis?
So, ask yourself: What kind of data can I pull each week that would be of value to my network?
These are the four key ingredients to powerful data-driven storytelling. These stories are powerful because they contain substance that may not be replicable elsewhere. These stories have the potential for great reach. They are simple to produce, and they are highly repeatable.
So, what is your power series?
If you need a little push, I take you through this process in my guide to creating content that sells for your business. For more tips and tricks on how to build content that serves your business and your customers, sign up for my mailing list.
Amie Sheridan is a content strategist serving the sports industry. Follow her on LinkedIn. Find out how to get a custom content strategy built for your business in just one week!
Last post in the series: Strategic content partnerships: what they are and how to choose the right one for your business.
