Where would businesses be without data? Without research and data extraction, brands would not be able to obtain the insights they need to better their marketing, communications and even PR strategies.

There would be no purpose to the brand, as there would be no numbers to support the effectiveness of any of its business plans. This means that marketers would not know how to effectively communicate brand messages, or even which adverts to place in the media.

However, with statistical reports, brands can see exactly which regions its messages are reaching as well as compare media coverage at different periods of times to improvise and improve marketing strategies.

Here are three of the reasons why brands need statistical reports in marketing:

1. Statistical reports help you see who your content is reaching

With data-driven reports, your brand will be able to see exactly which audiences your messages are reaching. This allows you to ensure that your marketing strategy is on the right path in terms of whether you are reaching the correct audience, or not.

Additionally, with these reports, you can also capture a new audience that you never thought your brand could have had a market for. For example, if your offerings are normally tailored to a younger audience, you might be surprised to find from your data that an older audience enjoys making use of it too.

It’s important to research who exactly your audience is and who likes to purchase your products or services so that you can better tailor your adverts to those markets. The insights gathered from this research and statistical reports will essentially allow you to expand your brand reach and increase your sales.

2. Statistical reports give you insights into the impact of your coverage

As a marketer, it’s important to benchmark yourself against competitors — as well as against yourself. That’s why you need solutions like Gate5, Newsclip’s web-based monitoring platform. With this platform’s ‘period on period’ report, you can gain insights into your coverage over different time periods.

This lets you gather the data you need to compare which months did better, as well as how your brand performance has either increased or decreased, and when. Doing these kinds of comparisons will additionally illustrate which coverage needs to be expanded on or repurposed, as well as which to scrap entirely.

You’ll also know whether your products or services are being received well, as there will be clear spikes in coverage about your offerings at different time intervals. This gives you the insights you need to either improve a particular product or service, get rid of it or perhaps even try to offer it at a different time in the year.

For example, if you’re in the business of selling artificial plants, and you notice that more people are buying plants during the winter months, then you’ll know exactly when to push ads about your offerings.

3. Statistical reports let you steer the direction of your brand

Get into the driver’s seat regarding exactly which publications showcase media coverage about your brand. With numbers gathered from solutions such as Gate5’s Byline reports, you can uncover exactly which journalists are publishing stories about your service offerings.

Additionally, with the Circulation report, you can also see which publications have mentioned your brand in the media. This opens you up to new business ventures as, not only will you know exactly who to send your content to, but you’ll also know who to contact about potential adverts and tailored brand coverage that meet your own requirements.

For example, if you see that a particular publication frequently writes about your brand and publishes your press releases, you can send them a request for an interview so that you can exclusively be featured on their publishing platform. If the stats from the reports prove that they like publishing content about your brand and the coverage is well received, then this will surely give your image and content a bit of a boost.

For more information, visit www.newsclip.co.za. You can also follow Newsclip on Facebook, Twitter or on LinkedIn.