CREATE SUCH CONTENT THAT BUILDS THE BRIDGE TO YOUR CUSTOMER'S HEART! – What Makes Your Content Great and Converting?

Content consumption habits keep continuously evolving throughout the years – e.g., 10 years ago we preferred sharing photos about we sipped cocktails on the beach, we had a new haircut, or what we had for lunch. As internet users are becoming more educated about Social Media, they started to own the space! They keep on developing their skills in how to shoot a selfie from the most ideal angle, or they are becoming more comfortable with using different photo and video editing apps, etc.

By 2022 the role of internet users has evolved and today they are not simply just an audience that consumes various types of digital content shared by brands and service providers but they are much more. Users know what great digital content is and not afraid to declare it!

Now listen to this…

“Customers and clients tell what type of content they want to see and hear. At the same time, they are also content creators by creating so-called "user-generated content" and developing new types. So, they actually become trendsetters and are key players in the ecosystem of digital content creation!" (Strategyscope)

?? So, if you want to build that bridge to get closer to their hearts, you must better understand what they do online, how they do it and when.

?

?? INTERNET USERS ARE DOMINATING THE DIGITAL SPACE!

There are 5.07 billion internet users worldwide and each of them spends an average of 6 hours and 49 minutes daily using the internet. (Source: Statista.com – “Daily Time Spent Online by Users Worldwide Q1 2022 by Region")

It means that they go to the web purposefully and brands must set the timing sharp to deliver content in the right moment or time frame and through the right channel!

What we are consuming through websites, different platforms and our Social Media feeds are various things and today we also consume content differently – e.g., in the morning we comment on our best friend’s funny video, and then we stop scrolling to say “Wow” for Kim Kardashian's bombastic red carpet cocktail dress that she wore at the Oscar's and the next moment we read news about the hurricane devastation on the other side of the globe.

As content literally lives with us and comes to our homes, to our beds, and while we are having a hot bath or wherever we are, it’s mission-critical to understand the specific audience profiles and which phase are they in the customer journey.

?? IF YOU WANT TO CREATE SHAREABLE CONTENT, FOCUS ON MOBILE!

In one of the earlier issues of the Strategyscope newsletter, we highlighted the importance of mobile responsiveness as a basic requirement. Because of the significant increase in the number of mobile devices and smartphones worldwide, your websites or any landing pages belonging to your brand or business, aka your OWNED MEDIA CHANNELS where you share your content, must be mobile responsive!

(Read the article with the details here: “Strategic tips to increase content engagement – the royal story of content - part 2”)

“In Q3/2022 a total of 5,480 million unique individuals are using mobile phones (any kind of headset) globally and 92,1% of the global internet users aged 16 to 64 use mobile phones to access the internet. Kenya, Brazil, South Africa, the Philippines and Mexico are the top 5 countries that are beyond this global average (between 97,9-96,2%) in this ranking and from Europe, it's Portugal, Italy, Greece, Romania, Poland and Spain, – while only 39,5% of the USA users do so.

Their top 7 main reasons for using the internet are:

·???????Finding Information (58,4%),

·???????Staying in Touch with Friends and Family (54,2%),

·???????Keeping up to date with The News and Events (50,08%),

·???????Watching Videos, TV Shows or Movies (49,8%),

·???????Researching How to Do Things (48,1%),

·???????Finding New Ideas or Inspiration (44,4%) and

·???????Researching Products and Brands (44%)

Global internet users from the same age group spend an average of 2 hours and 28 minutes using Social Media.”?(Source: datareportal.com – “Complete Digital 2022 October Global Statshot Report”)

?? DO YOU SLEEP WITH YOUR MOBILE PHONE OR TAKE IT TO THE TOILET?

Well… Let's be honest, most of us are quite guilty of considering our mobile phone as our BFF, aka "best friend", and these little gadgets play a significant role in various areas of our lives and in many situations. So here are some pretty telling and interesting statistics about the cell phone usage of American users in 2021.

“On average, Americans checked their phones 262 times per day in 2021—that’s once every 5.5 minutes! From the moment they wake up to the time they go to sleep, Americans stay glued to their phones. They’ll even resort to texting someone in the same room instead of talking to them.

Furthermore, some of the key findings of the research made by Reviews.org is that

·???????62% say they sleep with their phone at night, and

·???????70% use their phone on the toilet,

·???????43% say that their phone is their most valuable possession,

·???????83% of Americans feel uneasy leaving their phone at home and

·???????46% say that having another person use their phone causes them anxiety or stress, etc.”

(Source: Reviews.org surveyed 1,000 Americans aged 18 and older to determine their sentiments toward cell phone usage - 2021.)

?? SEEKING OUT BRANDS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Did you know that “49,2% of global internet users aged 16 to 64, visit Social Media in order to learn about brands and female users lead in all other subcategories of the age category studied vs males?

Kenya, Brazil, South Africa, Nigeria, Indonesia and the Philippines are the top 6 countries that are far beyond this global average (between 66,5 -61,9%) and from Europe, it's Greece (60,0%), Romania (54,5), Portugal (53,5%) and Poland (52,2%).

·???????75,1 % of global internet users from this age group use any kind of Social Media platform,

·???????43,3% use Social Networks,

·???????20,6% Question and Answer Sites,

·???????and 16,4 % Forums and Message Boards to find information about brands and products.

(Source: datareportal.com – “Complete Digital 2022 October Global Statshot Report”)

Content creation is not equal to getting up one day and telling the world what just comes into your mind at that very moment, and a great piece of content doesn’t even come alive by the pressure that “you must write something” or “record a video” whatever it takes.

Great content is always PURPOSEFUL! However, unfortunately, people identify mistakenly their purpose. Meaning that they assume something and define a purpose that does not meet the needs or interests of their audiences at all.

?And then they don’t understand why the contents don’t convert?

?When we scroll on the internet we often bump into different types of content from time to time

? ?that is not easily digestible,

? ?where there’s no relevant context between certain paragraphs of the post, between the slides of the carousel or the thoughts one presents in a video,

?which are too philosophical,

?where there are 3-4 different Call To Actions added what makes the receiver totally confused, etc…

“Think with the customer’s head: is this a piece of content you would share yourself? Would you buy from yourself? What do customers want to learn, and what makes them act?” (Strategyscope)

?? WHAT MAKES YOUR CONTENT GREAT AND CONVERTING? – FOLLOW THIS QUICK CHECKLIST AND KEEP IT ON HAND:

?? Topic Ideas – List some topic ideas of sharable, interesting and engaging content that will spread around and break through the noise of the digital sphere!

?? Define 1 Clear Main Message – What is the key takeaway?

?? Package the Solution into It – Provide the Solution or Solve the Problem that makes your content relevant to the given target audience, valuable and sharable.

?? Proper Structure – Follow a logical structure including these key elements and align it to the given type/form of content:

???1.) Title/Headline – First and foremost, WRITE A KILLER HOOK! Your headline must be keyword-based, catchy, entertaining, touch pain points, or be shocking and hooks the audience. In case e.g., video captions the same rule goes and keep it simple.

???2.) Subheading – The subheading is another headline under the main headline that drives the reader to keep on reading. It gives you a great opportunity to expand on the message you delivered in your headline. In order to make your readers convert include your USP (Unique Selling Point) to make them understand what’s in it for them.

??3.) Body – This is the main or middle section of your content whether it is a blog article, an eNewsletter, a presentation or an educational video, etc. This is the part where you tell the story or describe the details of what you want to tell and give value.

??4.) Summary or Conclusions – Recap the main message and insights or share the moral of the story. At this point, empower your audience, make them feel smart, and motivate them to take action!

??5.) 1 CTA (Call to Action) – Don’t confuse your audience with several Calls to Action, but limit it to the one you really want them to react to.

?? RELEVANT KEYWORDS – Do keyword research that is relevant to your niche and your product or service and embed those keywords into your content by putting them in context. Refine these keywords so they work seamlessly in your content and are jargon-free.

Conclusions:

Rule #1 is that if you want to create shareable content, it's not enough to post a funny meme video, you must also add post text or caption that contextualizes your strategic message! Ask yourself: is this a piece of content you would share yourself?

Also, if you want to create great and converting content, you need to not only think with the head of your customer and client but also have to understand their online behaviour, and then add that information to specific Customer Personas. However, until you don't educate yourself on what are their interests, and how to entertain them by the content type or form they like the best and don't understand their digital content consumption habits, you will definitely fail!

And then you will fail again if you simply copy the competition, if you try to follow the trends of big brands like Apple and Starbucks, or if you apply ideas you heard in a Facebook group from people who are not experts in Content Marketing. Remember, content creation is not an intuitive or random action, but a strategic approach!

??2022 All rights reserved.

Editor’s Note: Content Strategy is a huge subject with several various verticals and aspects. Strategyscope will continue to discuss this topic but does not intend to replace Wikipedia or high-quality professional marketing resources. Rather, it aims to provide guidance and share best practices based on real-life experiences and client cases while keeping you up-to-date.        

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??If you want to broaden your knowledge about how to craft your Marketing, Branding and Content Strategy, stay tuned because more details will be described in the upcoming issues of the STRATEGYSCOPE newsletter.

STRATEGYSCOPE is the Marketing, Branding & Content Strategy Compass for your business boost. Each week the newsletter covers various topics within these 3 key areas to guide SMBs (Small and Medium-sized Businesses) Entrepreneurs, and Solopreneurs to fine-tune their strategies and utilize the potential of Marketing for their sustainable growth.

?? Got a question or Want to Work with Me? Shoot it over in the comments or DM to me @Ildiko Bujaki