Workshop description: If you are a content creator looking to improve your engagement on social and digital platforms and want to understand how data-driven decision-making can help you reach your goals, this is the talk for you. While data-driven decision-making can be a powerful tool for your content strategy, there’s also a place for listening to your gut. In this talk, Erin Knowles will define what types of data can be helpful for crafting your content strategy.  We’ll explore how University of Illinois Extension uses data to help guide our content strategy, and talk about the challenging realities of data-driven decision-making.

Bio: Erin Knowles is a Digital Content Strategist focusing on social and digital strategy for the University of Illinois Extension State Marketing and Communications Team. She has been with Extension for 16 years, serving a few of those with their sister organization, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant. Her professional career has been diverse and vast, spanning from Minnesota to DC to Illinois (and multiple levels of government work), but it wasn’t until she became a family and wedding photographer that her love of social media and creatively telling stories took flight. Eight years ago when the opportunity came to return to Extension working in social media, she jumped at the challenge and opportunity to learn and help Extension share their stories to audiences far and wide.