A New Survey Reveals How Consumer Tastes are Changing and Why Your Content Marketing Efforts Need to Respond Accordingly
When it comes to content marketing, we all know that audiences can be very picky about what they choose to read, watch, or respond to. For sure, it’s important to know who your target audience is and what kind of content they respond to, but it’s just as key to monitor what types of content site visitors are reacting positively to. What formats are capturing their interest? What formats are losing their engagement?
Consumer tastes in content delivery is shifting dramatically. In a recent survey conducted by Blue Fountain Media, a Pactera Company, a leading digital marketing agency based in New York City, consumers indicated they have changed the way they take-in and react to online content. Consumers are overwhelmingly looking to visual content to engage them with a product or service – according to the Blue Fountain survey, which polled over 1,000 consumers about their content marketing preferences in 2019.
About 75% of those surveyed said that picture and video content moves them the most to action. So when looking to engage with your audience or land a sale, visual content ranks the highest.
The Dove campaign for Real Beauty is a perfect example of how successful visual content can be. Led by the Edelman ad agency in 2004-2005, this campaign was recognized by PRWeek as the Best U.S Campaign of the Past 20-Years. It consists of a series of emotional videos, each promoting the concept of real beauty, which has been a topic of debate in a society saturated with commercial images pushing a standardized image of “beauty”. These videos have gone viral.
Establishing an emotional connection with an audience through content is an excellent PR strategy for any company or brand. Such engaging content helps motivate a consumer to choose one product over other brand offerings. Thanks to their Real Beauty series and the way it connected with consumers, Dove’s sales jumped from $2.5 to $4 billion in the campaign’s first ten years.
These emotional video advertisements are available to view on YouTube which, according to Blue Fountain Media’s survey, ranked highest in terms of providing useful content on products and services. Social media giant Facebook came in a close second, followed by Instagram. About 40% of the participants said YouTube is by far the best platform when it comes to providing digital information, trends and other information – and 45% of these consumers prefer videos over other mediums. YouTube reaches a large array of ages and cultures, making it a unique and powerful marketing platform.
Losing motivation to continue marketing via email lists? There’s a reason for that. Less than 2% of those surveyed make purchasing decisions from the content they receive in an email newsletter. More than 50% of the participants say they do not like receiving emails from a company and more than 20% don’t read them at all. Don’t waste your time!
Another factor that may sway the audience’s attention away from certain content is the perceived authenticity of it. About 60% of those surveyed said they are very concerned about whether or not the information they read on the internet is true. Being transparent in all of your marketing campaigns will help you out in the long run and build a positive reputation for your business.
Here are our top tips for refreshing your content marketing efforts:
- Keep it short. Create single panel graphics and short-form videos to get your message across.
- Keep it visual. Consumers want visual content – not long-winded dissertations. If you don’t use Instagram and Pinterest, consider adding them to your content marketing roster.
- Videos are your new best friend. Use humor and emotional scenarios to engage your visitors – and be sure you make these marketing materials available on YouTube and Instagram.
- Re-assess the effectiveness of the blogs, email newsletters and other written content you create for consumers. Over 50% of those surveyed complain such content is too long and boring for them. Don’t necessarily trash these tactics, but look into streamlining them to be shorter and more user-friendly.
- Watch the level of commercialization and a hard sell in your content. Consumers in the survey noted that content marketing has become overtly “selly” and not useful to them at all.
- Influencer and celebrity endorsements also generated some backlash amongst survey respondents. Make sure you monitor campaign effectiveness closely if you employ these brand spokespeople.
To see the complete Blue Fountain Media survey results visit:
https://www.bluefountainmedia.com/blog/survey-how-audiences-view-content-marketing
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