“…try not to use statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts: for support rather than for illumination…” – Andrew Lang
A salesperson can safely assume that 100% of the visitors to their store are open to making a purchase. To capitalize on the presence of a visitor, that salesperson has questions that will need to be answered, directly or indirectly. Which area of the store is the customer shopping in? What have they touched or hovered over? Are they pointing? Smiling? Asking for help?
So where do you find the illuminating statistics about your target audience in an online platform?
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Directly |
Indirectly |
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Survey your site visitors (bricks and/or clicks) Survey your contact list Survey the general population A/B test messaging/ activities |
Review existing reports/ research Review competitors’ actions/ approach Website analytics (e.g. navigation path) Email engagement analytics |
It’s not enough to ask questions; you need to ask the right questions to understand how to craft your message. And that depends on what you’re trying to achieve. Good data will help you to develop relevant messaging.
“What you create should be driven by what you want to achieve.”
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To educate |
What does your audience not know that you need to tell them? |
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To entertain |
What interests, concerns, and experiences does your audience have that you can support with entertaining content? |
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To inspire |
What are the power and pain points for your audience, and how can you address them? |
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To convert |
What are your audience’s needs, and how can you meet them? |
Once you have these answers, craft content that addresses them! The content should be clear and concise, aesthetically pleasing, and contain an easy-to-follow call to action. Present it as an infographic, a list, a case study, how-to guide, personal story, a reference document, or parse it into one-liners for use in social media.
If you need a hand along the way, reach out and we’ll make progress together!
