How can you improve CMS effectiveness with data storytelling?

Data storytelling is the art and science of using data to communicate a message, persuade an audience, or inspire action. It is a powerful skill for content strategists, who need to manage, optimize, and deliver content across multiple channels and platforms. A content management system (CMS) is a tool that helps content strategists create, store, edit, and publish content. But how can you improve the effectiveness of your CMS with data storytelling? Here are some tips and best practices to help you leverage data to enhance your content strategy.

1 Define your goals and metrics

Before you start creating or analyzing data, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your content and how you will measure it. Your goals and metrics should align with your overall business objectives and your audience's needs. For example, if your goal is to increase conversions, you might want to track metrics such as click-through rates, bounce rates, and conversion rates. If your goal is to build trust and loyalty, you might want to track metrics such as engagement, retention, and satisfaction. Having a clear and specific goal and metric will help you focus your data storytelling and make it more relevant and actionable.

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Arletta Gromek

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From my experience, boost CMS effectiveness with data storytelling by focusing on: Engagement: Use metrics like time on page and social shares to see what grabs attention. (i.e. Seeing higher engagement with infographics? Include more in your posts to boost user interest.) Conversions: Look at how content drives actions like sign-ups or sales. Adjust storytelling to nudge users towards these goals. (i.e. More sign-ups from a blog series? Expand on those topics to increase conversions.) Visibility: Monitor SEO metrics like search rankings and CTR. Craft stories that not only engage but also rank well, widening your reach. (i.e. Low rankings but high traffic for some keywords? Optimize content around those keywords to climb search results)

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Arundhati Chattopadhyay

Helping woman entrepreneurs find alignment, manifest their dream reality, and launch a profitable high ticket offer✨️ Certified Business Coach✅️
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In my opinion defining goals and metrics is paramount for enhancing CMS effectiveness through data storytelling. Clear objectives help focus content creation efforts, ensuring alignment with organizational goals. Metrics, such as page views, engagement rates, and conversion rates, provide valuable insights into content performance, enabling data-driven decision-making and continuous optimization. By setting specific goals and tracking relevant metrics, CMS managers can identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement, ultimately enhancing the effectiveness of data storytelling efforts.

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2 Collect and organize your data

Once you have defined your goals and metrics, you need to collect and organize your data. Depending on your CMS, you might have access to different sources of data, such as analytics, surveys, feedback, social media, or third-party tools. You need to gather and consolidate your data from various sources and make sure it is accurate, complete, and consistent. You also need to organize your data in a way that makes sense for your content strategy and your audience. For example, you might want to segment your data by channel, platform, device, location, or persona. You might also want to filter, sort, or group your data by time, category, or value.

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Arundhati Chattopadhyay

Helping woman entrepreneurs find alignment, manifest their dream reality, and launch a profitable high ticket offer✨️ Certified Business Coach✅️
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Collecting and organizing data allows CMS managers to gather insights into audience behavior, preferences, and trends, enabling more targeted and personalized content creation. By organizing data effectively, such as through segmentation based on demographics or user behavior, CMS managers can tailor content to specific audience segments, increasing relevance and engagement. Furthermore, organized data facilitates the identification of patterns and correlations, guiding strategic decision-making and content optimization efforts. Ultimately, collecting and organizing data empowers CMS managers to leverage data-driven insights for more impactful and compelling data storytelling initiatives.

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3 Analyze and interpret your data

After you have collected and organized your data, you need to analyze and interpret it. This is where you look for patterns, trends, insights, and stories in your data. You need to ask yourself questions such as: What does the data show? What does it mean? Why does it matter? How does it relate to your goals and metrics? How does it affect your content strategy? You need to use your critical thinking and analytical skills to find the answers and the stories in your data. You also need to use your creative and storytelling skills to make your data interesting and engaging for your audience.

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4 Visualize and present your data

Finally, you need to visualize and present your data. This is where you use charts, graphs, tables, images, or other visual elements to show your data in a clear and compelling way. You need to choose the right type of visualization for your data and your message. For example, you might use a bar chart to compare values, a line chart to show trends, or a pie chart to show proportions. You also need to follow some design principles to make your visualization effective and appealing. For example, you might use colors, fonts, labels, legends, or icons to enhance your visualization. You also need to present your data in a way that tells a story and connects with your audience. For example, you might use a headline, a subtitle, a caption, or a narration to explain your data and highlight your key points.

Data storytelling can help you improve your CMS effectiveness by helping you create, optimize, and deliver content that is based on data, that is relevant and valuable for your audience, and that supports your business goals. By following these tips and best practices, you can use data storytelling to enhance your content strategy and make your CMS more powerful and efficient.

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5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How can you improve CMS effectiveness with data storytelling?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Define your goals and metrics

2 Collect and organize your data

3 Analyze and interpret your data

4 Visualize and present your data

5 Here’s what else to consider

Content Strategy

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How can you improve CMS effectiveness with data storytelling?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Define your goals and metrics

2 Collect and organize your data

3 Analyze and interpret your data

4 Visualize and present your data

5 Here’s what else to consider

Content Strategy

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