If your content has been flat lately, there’s a chance your marketing data is playing a role. If this is the case, you may want to consider pushing your data to the back burner for now. This advice may sound contradictory to everything else you’ve heard, but we promise we’re not suggesting you ditch the data for good. 

On our never ending quest to prove ROI, today’s digital marketers are constantly looking for the trends, patterns and spikes in their data. And with so much focus on the numbers, we’re losing sight of what’s driving our data points - we’re losing sight of the people we’re actually trying to influence. 

Take a moment and focus on who you are trying to reach with your content, and why? Do you know who they are? Do you know what keeps them up at night? Do you have the solutions to their business challenges?

If not, or if you aren't sure, you may need some help realigning  your content strategy with the people you’re trying to connect with. Don’t be intimidated, because you are not alone. In this new era of digital transformation, many companies are waking up and realizing that they have been buried too deep in the data and need help reconnecting their content to their target audiences. 

To help you get started, we recommend a three-step approach. 
 

Analyze Your Personas

Refamiliarize yourself with your target audiences. Who are you trying to connect with? What obstacles are they facing? What solutions are they seeking? The first step in infusing a human element in your content is to remind yourself that you’re trying to reach real people with real problems.

Challenge Your Data

In an AI dominated landscape, it’s become commonplace for marketers to value the insights provided by their platforms over gut instinct or knowledge. This is where challenging your data is key. Learning how to infuse both elements into your content is what is critical for creating relatable and reliable content, as well as increasing conversion rates.
 

Audit Your Content Across All Platforms

Have you produced content that has missed the mark with your readers? What changes can you make to bring more relatability and creativity back into your content? You don’t need to overhaul your entire content library, rather, take a look at a few of your highest performing pieces (I told you the data wasn’t gone for good) and start there.
 

People are inundated with information these days. In order to cut through the weeds, your content has to be thoughtful and relevant. Ask yourself questions like “Who am I connecting with and why?”, “Am I providing them a sensible and smart solution that will directly and positively impact their brand? 

Quality content creates impact when the reader can apply what you have to offer to their situation. Trust is key as well - if your reader likes what you have to say and feels like you have the right kind of experience, they’re likely to get attached and make a move. If readers don’t feel compelled to reach out to you, revisiting content on your digital (and traditional) platforms may very well be needed. 

If you need help with a content audit or you’re interested in speaking about content strategy, please reach out.