Categories: Technology

How To Incorporate Data-Triggered Content

Everyone’s talking about data these days. Businesses and individuals alike are more reliant on data to better understand their positions, make smarter decisions, and ultimately get more value out of their resources.

Competitive institutions are in a constant race to outdo each other in the realm of big data, from gathering more data, inspecting more niche types of data, and recently—displaying their data in more intuitive ways. One of the most interesting forms of data communication to emerge in recent years has been through data-triggered content. But what is it, exactly, and how can you use it in your business?

IMAGE: PEXELS

What Is Data-Triggered Content?

Let’s start by explaining what data-triggered content is. Data-triggered content is content that relies on a set of real-time data to continually self-update. The content itself, such as an image or a video, will change in response to changes in that data set.

For example, let’s say you’re keeping track of the number of people who have made a donation to your nonprofit organization in the past month, and the total amount of money raised. Data-triggered content could be used to display these metrics to other prospective donors, incentivizing them to donate.

How To Use Data-Triggered Content

There are countless ways to use data-triggered content, depending on the nature of your organization. You can create your own data-triggered content using templates or an original design with the help of digital signage software. Digital signage software allows you to present data-triggered visuals on almost any type of digital screen, like a TV you set up in a meeting room or a digital billboard.

Once up, your content could reflect donations, website visitors, the current weather, construction projects, returns on investment, or any number of other things. As long as you have a source of real-time data, you can create data-triggered content to reflect its changes.

The Advantages Of Data-Triggered Content

There are several advantages to using data-triggered content on your site, including:

Real-time perspectives. Your audience will be able to gather information on a subject in real-time and see how it changes. Depending on the context, this could be a mildly interesting anecdote or a vital resource to inspire a decision. Either way, your audience will get the most up-to-date information automatically, and see how it changes live.
Data analytics can be hard to manage on your own, especially if you have limited experience with data management. One of the benefits of data-triggered content is that you don’t need an advanced background in data analytics to make use of it. By using preexisting tools and templates, even amateurs can provide a window into deeper sources of insight.
Competitive differentiation. Data-triggered content isn’t something that most companies currently provide. If you’re looking for a way to competitively differentiate your brand, this could be the perfect opportunity. Customers interested in these insights will come back regularly to see them, and you’ll end up making a better first impression on people who see your brand for the first time.
Time savings via automation. Generating and tweaking data visual-based reports can be both tedious and time-consuming, but data-triggered content doesn’t require such manual attention. Once the framework is created, it continually self-updates on an automatic basis, meaning you can provide more information to your target audience while spending fewer hours.
Transparency and brand reputation. Finally, offering data-triggered content can make your brand seem more transparent—a quality that’s increasingly important in today’s socially connected world. By showing customers real data in real-time, you’ll show that you have nothing to hide and that you want your audience to be as informed as possible on a given issue. Just make sure you’re also showing the source of your information, so people know you’re not generating random figures.

Are There Any Downsides?

There are many benefits of data-triggered content, but are there any potential downsides?

False impressions. Most data-triggered content generation tools provide options to showcase both numbers and visuals. Still, it’s possible for your visitors to misinterpret what they see, since you won’t be able to provide much context or explanation for the data as it streams in.
While functional data-triggered content can be very impressive, any error in your display could leave users with a bad impression. For example, if your source of data is interrupted, or if the connection to your source is broken, users may get an error message instead of a helpful display.
Unflattering data. It’s also possible that the data you draw in may lead to an unflattering image of your subject. Again, you won’t have any control over the data, so there’s no guarantee it’s going to make you look good.

With data-triggered content, you can make your brand stand out while providing more data to the people who need it most. Just make sure you’re implementing it in the most streamlined, efficient way possible—and that you’re remaining transparent.

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