In the past several years, we’ve seen a major shift in marketing efforts. Instead of directly “selling” products, companies are increasingly embracing content marketing strategies that facilitate interaction between customers and brand. With the rise of the Internet and prominent content sharing and social media sites, such as Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, brands are increasingly focusing on content that customers can organically stumble upon. Research indicates that consumers are more interested in sharing information about and purchasing products that they discover naturally.
Engagement is the key to a successful content marketing strategy. If you aren’t familiar with the term, engagement essentially refers to the ability of content pieces to hold a consumer’s attention and entice that user to take a specific action (sign up for a newsletter, recommend a product, make a purchase, etc.). There are a number of metrics that can be used to boost engagement, including number of unique visitors, time spent on site, number of visits per customer, bounce rate (percentage of visitors that quickly leave the site after visiting it), leads generated, session duration, and page depth.
So, how can you boost engagement? The key is to not only get more visitors to your site, but also to ensure that they visit your site more frequently and that they stay on it for longer periods of time, consuming your brand’s content (evaluating infographics, reading blog posts, watching videos, etc.). When it comes to boosting engagement, high-quality content is your greatest ally. Let’s take a look at content strategies that can boost the quality of your content and improve engagement.
Include High-Quality Visuals
The demand for visually driven content is constantly growing. Blog posts with visuals receive 94 percent more page visits than posts without visuals. Why are visuals so powerful? Well, it’s actually pretty simple: People like images, they trust them, and they more easily remember visual content than they do text content. According to Wishpond, 67 percent of consumers feel that high-quality images are more valuable than product information or customer ratings. Wishpond also brings up an often-cited 2003 Harvard study in which researchers worked with a bank to send out letters offering short-term loans. Including an image of a happy, attractive, smiling woman actually had as much of a positive impact as dropping the interest rate by 4 percent. Pretty astounding, right? Research indicates that consumers are able to better recall visual-based information than text-based information. While retention rates for text-based content are typically around 25 percent, that number soars for images.
But keep in mind that when we say “visuals,” we’re not just talking about photos. From animations and memes to infographics and graphs, visual content is the key to engagement. For example, infographics can be especially beneficial, helping customers to understand complex data sets or break down different trends. Memes and animations are also great at attracting a user’s attention, as is video, which brings us to our next point.
Add Relevant Video
Did you know that 9 out of 10 costumers will stay on a site that features video content longer than they will stay on a page that does not feature a video? Or that video-based content is shared over 10 times the rate of text-based content? Or how about that landing pages with videos have a 96 percent higher conversion rate? Even when it comes to email marketing, video can make a huge difference. Emails with video content have over a 5 percent higher open rate than emails without video and enjoy a 96 percent increase in click-through rate. But remember: The key is to craft compelling video content that attracts and maintains a customer’s attention.
Start a Blog
According to a HubSpot report released in 2012, more than 90 percent of companies that engaged in blogging multiple times per day acquired customers through their blog. This is in part because the majority of customers (70 percent) prefer to learn about companies through articles as opposed to ads. However, the key here is not just to blog, it’s to blog well. You need to strike a balance between quality and quantity. Blogs that post daily receive five times more traffic than blogs that less, while blog traffic steadily accumulates as you publish more posts. Blogs with 100 posts receive 3 times more traffic, while blogs with 200 posts receive 4 times more traffic.
But don’t forget about value! Basically blogging is like exercising: For the best results, you will want to do it regularly and choose things that make an impact. After all, if your version of exercising is walking to the mailbox every day, it doesn’t matter how often you do it; you probably have much success. You’d be better off in the gym on the StairMaster. The same principal applies to blogging. For the best results, you need to maximize impact, and that means publishing content of value on a regular basis. Post content that customers will find useful, whether it is a great new recipe, holiday timesaving tips, or a new take on a hot news topic. For more information on how to get a blog up and running check out our post on how to set up your blog for maximum success.
Personalize Content
Always, always craft content with your target customer in mind. 75 percent of consumers report becoming frustrated when brand content does not correspond to their needs, interests, or preferences. According to HubSpot, calls to action targeted to specific customers or specific customer segments has a 42 percent higher view-to-submission rate than generic calls to action. Research by HubSpot also found that brands that personalized Web experiences saw an average 19 percent increase in sales. The bottom line is that research consistently shows that customers are much more likely to engage with content that