Kirsten Von Busch (00:02)
Treating it like a science experiment of what is our hypothesis, right? What do we think this might be? And then really drilling into the data to see if that holds true or not. And the data will tell the story when you are looking at it from an analysis perspective. And the difficult piece is often then creating that narrative for the story to be memorable for people and for them to understand, "Well, cool, but what do I do with it?" Because well, interesting in and of itself, unless I can apply it and take action on it, that's all it is, is interesting.
Benjamin Ard (01:10)
Welcome back to another episode of Content Amplified. Today I'm joined by Kirsten. Kirsten, welcome to the show.
Kirsten Von Busch (01:16)
Thank you for having me.
Benjamin Ard (01:18)
Yeah, Kirsten, I'm excited. This is going to be a ton of fun. This is going to be a fun subject that I think a lot of people will be excited about. But before we dive in, let's get to hear your background. Let's let the audience get to know who you are.
Kirsten Von Busch (01:35)
That sounds fantastic. Well, my name is Kirsten Von Busch and I am the Director of Product Marketing at Experian Automotive. And we have the pleasure of taking automotive data to turn it into insights. And then our ultimate goal is to allow that insight to be turned into action for our clients.
Benjamin Ard (01:58)
I love that. That's amazing. You're in this cool position where you have access to a lot of data. And I think every marketer gets so excited when they feel like, I would love that access. So what we're going to focus on today, based off of all the cool experiences you have turning data into narratives. So to kick this off, Kirsten, how do you see data changing content strategies right now, especially coming from a position where you have some pretty cool data to work with?
Kirsten Von Busch (02:30)
Yeah, it is absolutely impacting the marketplace. So in the automotive space, as you said, we do have access to a lot of data. If you think about that car buying process, Experian Automotive, we have the information about the vehicle from a vehicle history perspective. We have information about the consumer from a demographic and psychographic perspective. And then we also have credit insights as of course, Experian, we are a credit bureau, from a statistical standpoint. So having all of this in one place allows us to really have that overall picture of that car buying experience and allows us to just make informed decisions.
Not just going on our gut, right? We all believe our gut to be the best. But what does the data say? And where does the data lead us for our existing client base, but then also from a conquest perspective as people are looking to grow their market share? So that's so insightful to know, like, where do I go next?
Benjamin Ard (03:46)
I love that. So let's say you've got this giant pile of data, all those buckets. It sounds like a kid in a candy shop kind of experience. When you have that, how do you turn this complex data into a narrative, into a story that is compelling and interesting? How do you find the message through all of the numbers?
Kirsten Von Busch (04:39)
First, what we are looking to see is, from like a science perspective, treating it like a science experiment of what is our hypothesis, right? What do we think this might be? And then really drilling into the data to see if that holds true or not. And the data will tell the story when you are looking at it from an analysis perspective. And the difficult piece is often then creating that narrative for the story to be memorable for people and for them to understand, "Well, cool, but what do I do with it?" Because interesting in and of itself, unless I can apply it and take action on it, that's all it is — is interesting.
Benjamin Ard (05:28)
So when you have these insights and you've gone through the data, found a narrative, do you feel like that versus just a generic brand message sits better? When do you know a data driven narrative should be used as opposed to a brand message?
Kirsten Von Busch (05:55)
Yeah, I think brand messaging is of course still incredibly valuable from even just that initial reputation and the "should I even listen to you" standpoint. Like, well, who are you? What do you have to say? Why might you be a credible resource for someone to hear that data-driven message? So I think you do absolutely still need that brand messaging. But after that initial reputation and respect is established, it really is, "Well, what are you trying to solve? And what are the challenges that you're facing? And how can the data-driven content then support answering those questions?"
So you can make informed decisions and take action on that insight for your day to day. So let's say from a dealership perspective, where do you want to conquest and grow your business from a market share perspective? How would you like to expand your service revenue? From an agency standpoint, how can you support the automotive clients that you have for their advertising, for their marketing campaign needs? For lenders, for OEMs, as they are looking at their market share for the vehicles that they are selling. All of it really lends itself to data-driven decisions and just understanding what questions different audiences are trying to answer, and then in a manner that is consumable for them. Tell it in their story, in their language, not in yours.
Benjamin Ard (07:45)
So when it comes to all of this, we were kind of emailing, figuring out the subject and everything about this episode and partner led content came up. Now, obviously you have this first party data, all of these narratives coming from the business. How do you actually utilize partners and turn their data potentially into narratives? Work with them and really have stories come from other sources as well.
Kirsten Von Busch (08:19)
Yeah. I think the partner led conversations are so valuable and so important because it's like, "Well, don't just take it from me. Here's what I'm saying." And someone else's words are sort of the proof, if you will. From a marketing perspective, everyone is out there like, "Yes, my widget is the greatest." Hopefully they're providing information and evidence to support that conversation, but to have that additional data point of somebody else saying, "You know what, I used it. This is how it was successful for me," where it's not just in your own words, but someone else's words — we're providing that recommendation, that reference, that testimonial is so incredibly valuable to give that additional proof point to anything that you've already established.
Benjamin Ard (09:13)
Okay, I love that. So to walk through that process just a little bit, you've gone through the data, you have a hypothesis. Here's what we're thinking. We're going to go confirm if that's true or not. We've either confirmed or denied it. We found a narrative. We're going to go write about it. And now we haven't just published the content using the data that is action driven. We've also found examples of individual businesses or other groups, partners who have experienced that hypothesis. So there's a narrative, there's a story, there's the data. Am I missing any part of this equation when it comes to how you're using all of this in the right way?
Kirsten Von Busch (09:54)
No, absolutely. And I think, as individuals, right, we all like to consume information in different manners. As a whole, people really enjoy video in general right now. But does somebody want to see a video? Do they want to see that partner talking about it and sharing their experience? Somebody else may be really that data scientist person and making sure that "I want to see the facts, the figures, the numbers. Give me all of that insight." Somebody else wants to read it. "Let me read it. Let me consume it."
So I think anytime we're creating content, we need to make sure that we are creating content in a manner in which our audience — whether it's our clients or prospects, the marketplace as a whole — they want to consume it, and different people want to consume it in different manners. So we have to be delivering that content in multiple methods. And also, where is it available? Where do I go to get it? How do I like to consume that? Do I want to read the white paper on it, or am I scrolling LinkedIn? And there I get a 30, 60, 90 second clip that gives me the summary as somebody walks me through their experience with the data and how it impacted their organization.
Benjamin Ard (11:17)
Okay, I love it. We like to turn all of this into action. Just like you do with the data in all the content you're producing. For anyone who's listening and saying, "Yeah, I need to go find a hypothesis and dig into the data," what do you recommend, especially with marketing leaders who may not have access to all the data? How can they start on this journey of turning data into narratives?
Kirsten Von Busch (11:51)
Yeah, well, there's a couple of things I recommend. So first of all, sometimes we get so buried in the details that we lose the lead for the story. What is the overall story or message that you're trying to convey? Now, while the details may be very important, did you lose the lead? And is it something that is understandable and consumable for whatever the data story is that you're telling?
So we put together three quarterly reports actually out there in the marketplace and for the automotive space. They are absolutely, let me say first and foremost, free. All you have to do is sign up and register for them, but they really focus on those three main areas I mentioned. So we have a State of the Automotive Finance Market. We have a Market Trends talking about the vehicles in operation and what is the age of a vehicle? What does that look like from geography? And then we have an Automotive Consumer Trends where we look at a really specific segment. For example, we just did pickup trucks. So let's look at pickup trucks and look in depth and detail at that pickup truck buyer.
And we put this out there, but we also need to always be getting feedback from, "Well, what do you like? What do you not like? And how can we improve this?" So we are constantly iterating on this because just because I understand it — well, I put the report together. Of course I understand it. Is it understandable to someone else? Do they need me to interpret this for them or can they see it and then get it? And that's ultimately what you want — where you want that narrative, that story to be clear to someone who's like, "Oh, okay, I understand that." Not always an easy thing to do, especially when we're talking about data and some really nuanced pieces of data. But that's the ultimate goal: can I visually portray this story where somebody can quickly and easily understand it without having to be a data scientist or having all the background and details about whatever the research was to get us to the end point.
Benjamin Ard (14:07)
When you've published the content, which is data driven, you're obviously looking at specific data points to see if the content hit, if it really is making the impact that you want it to. Any favorite metrics? Are there any metrics that you look at specifically to say "this content hit the mark" with our audience or maybe we need to go back to the drawing board?
Kirsten Von Busch (14:39)
Yeah, absolutely. Of course we're tracking overall vanity metrics, right? Yes. But we do want to dig deeper into that as well, where it's not just, "Was it open? Was it downloaded? How much time did they spend?" Yes, all of that is very important. But also did they ask the "well, so what" for me that next question?
So these reports are absolutely free to the industry, but if somebody wants to take a look at their data and go one step further, of course we offer data to the marketplace. So seeing any impact that this may have from a sales cycle perspective for the solutions and products we are offering in the market. And then as you have maybe noticed from our conversation thus far, I am a talker. I like to chat. I like to have a conversation. So I love some informal research as well on "what do you like? What's your favorite chart? Which one do you not like? Which one doesn't make sense at all and I should delete and never show again?"
So I love to capture that information too, just from an anecdotal perspective as I'm chatting with people at conferences or if somebody replies back to me, somebody asks me a follow-up question where they're like, "On slide seven, this, this, and this," it's my favorite thing ever. So I'm like, please, if you ever have questions, reach out because we love chatting more about it and understanding where maybe it wasn't clear and how we can improve upon it in the future.
Benjamin Ard (16:16)
I love that. I love the healthy mix of data insights, but also the qualitative, the actual conversations. That is the perfect combination. Kirsten, this has been incredible. Thank you for all of the insights. For anyone listening today that wants to reach out and connect with you online, how and where can they find you?
Kirsten Von Busch (16:43)
Yeah, absolutely. So I'm on LinkedIn, Kirsten Von Busch at Experian Automotive. If you're open to it, please include it in the notes, the links for the podcast, and we can include the link for our quarterly trend reports as well. So Experian Automotive quarterly trends. As I said, there's three of them out there entirely free for anyone who would like to learn more about the people, the vehicles, and the financing for the automotive industry.
Benjamin Ard (17:17)
Kirsten, this was amazing. Thank you so much for the time and insights today.
Kirsten Von Busch (17:41)
Thank you, it was a pleasure.
