One crucial thing I would add to an @Oracle list of how data is useful for publishers:
- Optimization. Data gives publishers the information they can use to optimize their content (topic choices, content display, wording, etc.) and structure (taxonomies, navigation, etc.) to better encourage engagement metrics such as PV/visit and loyalty (repeat visits, visits/user/month, etc.)
The Oracle blog post, which included their list:
With this deep understanding of the customer in place, it becomes much simpler to automate a whole range of incredibly valuable business activities that simultaneously create a vastly-improved customer experience, and drive increased revenues through better targeting and engagement, such as:
- Highly-targeted marketing – based on a precise understanding of which customer micro-segments will be most interested in a new piece of content or subscription offer – all joined up across former business silos
- Increasing acquisition and retention – understanding why people subscribe and why people churn and reacting with effective product and promotion strategies
- Content acquisition strategy – what content will be most popular with the most profitable customer segments?
- Programmatic advertising – increasing digital CPMs by offering precise and detailed customer segments to advertising networks and exchanges
After I posted
my column on how publishers can use data
for the Newspaper Association of America mediaXchange conference, where
I also moderated a panel on data, an MBA student in my Digital Media
Management class pointed out the Oracle post.