Content marketing, defined as “a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience by the Content Marketing Institute, is a key component of both B2B and B2C businesses growth strategies.
Chances are you already have a content marketing plan in place. in fact, 86 percent of B2C marketers surveyed believe that content marketing is integral to their overall strategy. Yet, 50 percent of marketers believe their overall content marketing approach is moderately successful and only 5 percent think their approach is extremely successful. It’s likely that only a small proportion of their total content marketing efforts lead to conversions. (Content Marketing Institute)So how can content marketers be sure that they are taking the most efficient and successful approach?
Content should be designed with the customer experience in mind. When you have a clearly defined audience and use reliable, current data about your audience, you can better tailor your content to provide value to your desired reader. Developing content that’s driven by data will not only help you better appeal to your audience, but will save you time and money on wasted efforts.
One brand that is at the forefront of data-driven, audience-led content creation is General Electric, a global conglomerate that builds products for industries ranging from healthcare, to transportation, to clean energy.
General Electric is well known in the industry for its viral B2B content marketing campaigns. According to General Electric, they pair “science and design to simplify the complexity and drive a deeper understanding of the context in which we operate.” Data-driven content creation is a General Electric strong suit. In fact, one section of its public-facing website consists entirely of data visualizations. This use of data to appeal to its audience is one of the reasons why General Electric’s content marketing campaigns have been such a success.
Content on the GE Reports hub
General Electric has its own content hub, GE Reports, where they use their brand voice to spotlight their unique partnerships, relevant industry news, and their own product innovations in the form of long-form articles, videos, podcasts, and more. Despite the large volume of content, General Electric successfully maintains a consistent brand voice, keeping their content.
General Electric turns data into dynamic and visually interesting infographics and charts to captivate their audience while educating them on the benefits of their product offerings. The GE Reports content hub highlights thousands of projects they have worked on and their successes along with the hard data to back it up, both building awareness for their brand and growing trust from readers, including past, present, and future customers.