Within two hours of waking we encounter approximately 350 pieces of content in various guises. In fact 27 million pieces of content are shared every day, 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, Google’s index exceeds 40 billion pages and there are 3 million new blog posts every day. The volume is only set to increase, with web content predicted to double every 9 to 24 months.
Eight out of 10 people may read the headline, but only two will read the rest. Of the 2,904 media messages we receive daily, apparently we only actually pay attention to 52, and positively remember only four. So, what can you do to make sure your content remembered?
Know your customer
Due to the rise in self research, today’s buyers might be anywhere from 60% to 90% of the way through their purchasing journey before they are engaged. This, combined with the fact that a lot of content produced is not relevant, makes knowing your customers’ needs and priorities an absolute necessity .
You need firstly to understand the touch points that will make a difference and the right channels to use. The strategy needs aligning against your sales plan, to ensure the content produced supports your sales teams. The closer you are to understanding your customer and their stage in the decision-making journey, the more you can tailor your content to help move them along – timing is everything.
Use internal knowledge
Developing on-going, rich, engaging content that resonates with customers can be challenging from a time and resource perspective; 64% of marketers say their biggest challenge is producing quality content according to the CIM.
It’s important to build up a bank of ideas which can be done by asking key people in the business what the challenges and opportunities are that impact on the market and customers. If this dialogue can be ingrained in the culture of the business there will always be a rich vein of fresh content available. Nothing sells a business more than passionate, engaged people.
Create an emotional connection
We should never underestimate the power of emotion in decision making, regardless of whether we are talking to a B2B or B2C audience. B2B decision makers need on average seven pieces of engaging content before they are ready to talk. So, what we’re looking for
is a series of content pieces that deliver micro-yeses! It’s important to understand what engages and motivates people encouraging them to share with their networks. You’re not just passing on a message, you are trying to make people care and take a step towards you. All content needs to be authentic, people deal with companies they know, like and trust.
Don’t compete on volume
Quality is everything. You don’t need more content, you need great content. Call on industry bodies, trade associations, wider industry influencers to help guide and create powerful content. Social media is a great way to to amplify your efforts, to engage and expand your audience, for B2b and B2C markets. Visual impact is equally critical as we all respond to visual triggers. It’s worth investing in decent imagery, remember we spend a third of our time online watching video!
Listen and learn
But remember it’s not just what you say, it’s how people respond. It’s a two-way conversation. Take time to listen and monitor reaction, then learn and do more of what is working well. It’s better to be remembered positively by the right 10 than negatively by the wrong 10,000!