- November 26, 2014
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How to Tell Brand Stories with Data
Earlier this year, we shared tips on how to interview sources like a journalist to create compelling content that engages and informs your customers. Reason being is that brand promotion isn’t always the focus, and because readers aren’t interested in canned spiels that sound like a marketing brochure.
The good news is that getting sources to open up is only one way to tell your story well. Presenting stories with good, solid data that your audience can relate to is another.
“For marketers, this means getting better at things like attribution, interpreting/understanding data, and framing stories,” writes Joe Cardillo for NewsCred. “While going to journalism school isn’t on the slate for most marketers, there are a number of free and/or easy-to-access resources to help you start thinking like a journalist.”
One starting place is The Data Journalism Handbook. Writing for the handbook, Martin Rosenbaum of the BBC offers a list of different type of data stories integrated marketers can use.
Measurement
The simplest way to tell a story is to count or total something. For example, if you’re the copywriter for the manufacturer of office supplies, you might write:
“Local governments across the country spent a total of $X billion on paper clips last year.”
However, would your readers know if that is a little or a lot? Rosenbaum suggests you provide context and offers a few ways to do so:
- Proportion: “Last year, local governments spent two-thirds of their stationery budget on paper clips.”
- Internal comparison: “Local governments spend more on paper clips than on providing meals-on-wheels for the senior community.”
- External comparison: “Local government spending on paper clips last year was twice the nation’s overseas aid budget.”
Backgrounds and Proportions
Rosenbaum also is a fan of exploring the data in contextual or comparative ways, such as changes over time: “Local government spending on paper clips have increased three-fold over the past four years.”
Analysis by Categories
With this approach, you dive deeper into data to segment out categories or groups:
“Governments run by the Dance Party spend 50 percent more on paper clips than those controlled by the Costume Party.”
Packaging the Story
Once you’ve gathered data as an overall part of your content, you have many ways to present your story. For example, an interactive infographic — a graphical visualization of what is usually deep or complex data — are popular, fun alternatives to dull, text heavy reports. Try adding this tactic to your content marketing strategy; we’ve captured what you need to know in, “Infographics 2.0: More Captivating Content.”
