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Data is content, content is product. This string of six words I have preached to my teams over and over. I’m passionate about this content tactic because it’s so incredibly powerful.
Today’s focus will be on the first part: Data is Content.
What and Who’s Data is Good for Content?
First-party and third-party data can be leveraged to create, guide, and enhance your content. Content being blogs, email, webinars, social media, video, and gated content, to name a few.
The most common question people ask me when I bring this up is “What data should I be reporting on or adding to my content?” The simplest place to start is your pitch deck. What data did you use to make the case for your business? There had to be metrics in that deck. There was a defined problem, with a proposed audience looking for you solution—right? Start there.
If you’re too early and you’ve not collected much of your own data, then look to third-party data. Industry and trade associations, member organizations, government, and educational institutions will likely have data from their members, general research, and public data. Start with that.
To better understand how to leverage content (again, because I’m not going to write out the technical process today), look at who’s doing Data is Content well.
Who’s Doing “Data is Content” Well?
There a few companies I’ve watched do this really well over the years This isn’t the only companies doing Data is Content well, but these are some I recommend you follow for good examples of how to execute this tactic.
Zumper is known for their national rent reports. These reports are frequently covered by the news and get a lot of engagement on social media when posted by CEO, Anthemos Georgiades.
Mike Simonsen, Founder of Altos Research Group (acquired by HW Media), exploded the growth of his company and his own social following by creating a Twitter and YouTube series presenting national housing data every Monday.
For a long time, Buildium has absolutely crushed it in the world of using first-party and third-party data to drive their content efforts with content such as their annual property management industry report.
Of course, how could I not mention the industry leading landlord and renter surveys and reports done by Avail (acquired by Realtor.com). During 2020, we were able to secure hundreds of new backlinks, news stories, and high-domain authority backlinks due to our research and reporting on rent payments.
Benefits of the Data is Content Approach
To give you the motivation to start your Data is Content marketing efforts, here are some of the direct benefits when this tactic is done well.
Inbound Traffic
Data is Content helps you better answer common questions your customers are asking. Think questions like:
What is the average cost of a new roof?
How much do 3-bed homes rent for?
What’s the average rent 1-bed condos in Chicago?
Which cities are building the most homes?
How many homes for sale in Austin?
When you start tracking and reporting the data your customers care about, they’ll start to find you more often. This works both for B2B and B2C.
News Citations
When you’ve been regularly reporting on industry relevant metrics, it’s only a matter of time before you start hearing from reporters. When we executed this strategy at Avail, it was not uncommon for us to see our research earning several news mentions every month—without having anyone dedicated to press or outreach. It was purely organic.
The citations themselves is cool, but what you want is the backlinks. Which is the next point.
Industry partners, colleges, research firms, news organizations, and government websites—getting authoritative website backlinks can be some of the strongest indicators to Google to rank your website and content higher. This doesn’t just help the article others link to, but can have a profound effect for your entire website and its rankings.
Getting backlinks from .edu and .gov websites can be EXTREMELY difficult. But when your content is data focused, answering significant questions, you can earn these links without even asking for them. And since Google knows these are difficult to earn, they’re typically considered to be highly credible and powerful backlinks.
Partnership Opportunities
Industry partners will read your articles because you’re likely teaching them things about their customer, too (maybe you share the same customer). This is enough for inbound inquires from potential partners who will want more of your data. These can be content partnerships, technical integrations, or joint marketing efforts.
At the end of the day, this is one of the ways a brand can emerge as as a “thought leader”, without doing overly cheesy leadership posts for the sake of being a thought leader.
Get Started Today
The practical first step to Data is Content is to subscribe to your competitors, partners, and other industry relevant newsletters to monitor who is working the Data is Content strategy. Going further, subscribe to industry leader content creators to see what data they share. One of my favorites is Geek Estate Crystal, which covers many facets of real estate, exposing angles to consider for your business.
The second step is to start taking stock of your own data and determining what you’d be comfortable sharing. First-party data can be as simple as survey responses or product events you track. Find the metrics you believe that mean the most to your customers, partners, and industry press, and then begin to find ways to track and measure those metrics. Start this before you think you have a meaningful amount of data to share.
Content is one of those marketing channels that you can’t wait to start when you’re ready. You’ve got to start working on content yesterday and Data is Content is one of the most powerful content tactics you can execute.
BREAKING NEWS
In a late Monday announcement, WeWork said it entered into a restructuring support agreement with the majority of its stakeholders to “drastically reduce” the company’s debt while further evaluating WeWork’s commercial office lease portfolio. (Full story)
Proptech News
Weekly Podcast Feature
Modernizing Planned Communities and Resident Experience with John Cecilian Jr, CEO of Cecilian Partners
This interview is a delight to listen to if you're passionate about the customer experience. John Cecilian Jr, Co-founder and CEO of Cecilian Partners joins the podcast to discuss some the of ways the customer experience in planned communities can be made better. We go beyond just how new homes are built. John discusses some of the shift in thinking around communities, what homebuyers want, and why resident experience is increasingly more important to consider.
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