Next Big Thing in Content Marketing
Data-driven Storytelling: The Next Big Thing in Content Marketing
If the last two years have taught us anything, disruptive market forces call for bold decisions in content marketing. Rising customer expectations and constant technology evolution are driving significant changes in the way brands use content marketing. And so, keeping an eye on the annual trends in content marketing has never been more critical. Your business needs an agile, resilient, and highly creative content marketing strategy to churn out the kind of content your audience wants to see.
Content marketing gurus swear by the importance of data in business. The ability to understand and process data, envision the value you can extract from the data, and communicate that is essential for successful content marketing today. And therefore, it is no surprise that the next big thing in content marketing is storytelling powered by data science, or as we like to call it – Data-Driven Storytelling.
What is Data-Driven Storytelling?
Data on its own holds little value. But when analyzed by skilled minds, data can yield invaluable insights. Numbers can tell compelling stories that educate, inform, and entertain. Creating an engaging narrative with a mix of data, human emotions, and good communication supported by facts is called data-driven storytelling. It gives you the liberty to use infographics to deliver data-driven messages to your audience in a way that’s entertaining and relevant.
Analyzing a dataset helps uncover trends, statistics, and facts that your audience may find interesting. Anchor your narrative in this factual information to create a tailor-made story for your audience and present it in the proper context. Data-driven storytelling makes for a strong content marketing vehicle because it conveys your point of view while keeping your narrative short, entertaining, and easy to understand.
How Can Your Business Benefit from Data-driven Storytelling?
Storytelling is a powerful, time-tested delivery mechanism for life lessons, ideas, insights, and entertainment. Facts may connect with the logical side of your brain, but human beings rely on emotions when deciding. Storytelling bridges the gap between logic and emotion to guide decision-making. Here’s a look at the benefits of data-driven storytelling –
- Memorable: Storytelling makes your engagement with the target audience memorable and propels your brand to the top of their minds. Stories catch people’s attention and make facts easy to recall.
- Persuasive: Story-based appeals tend to create a more significant impact on audiences compared to those based on infographics or facts.
- Versatile: Data-driven content is versatile, and you can use it in different mediums. It is easy to repurpose and incorporate into presentations, videos, website content, or social media.
- Credible: Supporting your content with data lends more credibility and builds trust in the minds of your audience.
How to Tell an Effective Data Story?
An impactful data story comprises three significant elements: data, visuals, and narrative. All three aspects work together to create a compelling data story. Your narrative explains the importance of what is happening in the data you have analyzed. The visuals help the audience understand the insights and appreciate the information your content gives them. Narrative and visuals come together to make the data story engaging and influence your audience to drive change. Here’s a look at how you can create a compelling data story for your target audience –
- Identify the Plotline (Data): Every good story needs a strong plotline. Understand your data to identify the insights that are relevant and valuable for your target audience. Choose a trend, a comparison, or a unique statistical relationship to showcase and craft your story around it.
- Craft Your Story (Narrative): Use the key elements of storytelling, namely, the plot, characters, setting, beginning, and end, to create a compelling narrative. Start with the questions and/or problems that resonate with your audience. Then create an arc using your data insights to address these issues, and conclude with your insight on what they should do to improve outcomes.
- Choose the Right Data Visualization Techniques (Visuals): Experiment with different charts, graphs, and maps to identify the data visualization technique that suits your audience the most. Focus on simplicity and clarity to deliver your message with ease.