Content is considered to be a silver bullet. Every brand is becoming a publisher based on the assumption that content, as much as product or price, is the ultimate consumer aphrodisiac.
According to Rebecca Lieb of Altimeter, “Content is the atomic particle of all marketing – paid, owned and earned. Content must be executed correctly for it to be effective across the marketing ecosystem as well as across the broad enterprise.”
Yet in an environment boasting millions of tips, tricks and hacks, billions of reviews, how-tos and infographics, trillions of recipes, diets or exercise routines and zillions of videos on every conceivable topic, savvy marketers want to know what content is the strongest lure, how much content is enough, which combination of content is the most potent and which kind of content converts users into buyers fastest.
PR guys believe, as a matter of orthodoxy, that 3rd party endorsements and opinions are the best. The appearance of neutral expert insight or opinion trumps the credibility of branded information or user generated content.
New survey data from Nielsen, commissioned by inPowered found that 85 percent of consumers seek out expert opinion, 69 percent liked to read expert reviews and 67 percent rally to endorsements from unbiased experts. They concluded that expert content is 83% more effective in driving purchase consideration than user reviews and 38% more effective than branded content. The study, titled The Role of Content, concluded that PR efforts beat content marketing. Though keep in mind, its data commissioned by PR pros.
In contrast, a new study with an ecommerce perspective, from HookLogic titled turning Online Browsers into Buyers, argues that “fundamental brand assets – things like product names, images and feature descriptions – are the bottom of the funnel items that have the most impact on turning browsers to buyers.” This research concludes that after price, concise and consistent product descriptions, including speeds, feeds and features, beat ratings and reviews, even though content influences have different impact on different audiences and product sets. Sixty-three percent of respondents cited product descriptions as their top purchase influencer.With consumers searching on 2.7 web sites per product consistent, mirror image content is necessary to build trust and consumer confidence.
Wal*Mart has developed a content strategy that de-emphasizes immediate transactions in favor of packaging information, education and entertainment into their product offerings. Focusing on solutions, recipes and deep product information, the retail giant believes that by providing help, insight and context and back pedaling the purchase at hand, they will engender more brand affinity and long-term loyalty. According to Clint McClain, “ We owe it to our customers to focus, to make sure we give them real utility in the content space.”
Color me, and most of my clients, skeptical about content strategy. Too often brands want to empty out their closets onto a website without serious regard for the needs and interests of their customers. Content creep occurs as each department weighs in and loads up the pages with marginally useful information.
So consider three simple filters to assess content needs.
Make Content Snackable. Everyone scans and clicks. Many brands have gone to dominant images on the home page and tightly templated product page configurations. Gifs, charts and infographics are widely used to telegraph key product features or benefits to a nation of ADD web surfers. Assume you have 9 seconds to connect. Figure out what will engage customers quickly and intuitively.
Synch Content with Buying Patterns. Each product has a buying cycle and a predictable series of customer questions, objections and choices. Zero-in on your product’s buying patterns and map relevant content to these patterns. Long tail considered purchases require different content than impulse or replenishment purchases. Some require encyclopedic levels of content in multiple forms. Others convert with a few simple facts, a quirky video or a simple diagram.
Articulate Desired Customer Behavior. Before you make videos, create 4-star ratings or solicit user reviews, ask yourself what do you want consumers to think, feel and do. Having a clear picture of the immediate perception, a feeling and a call to action should dictate the kind of content and even the content sequence that will resonate with your target audiences. Remember that buying is never completely rational, so content must convey emotion as well as facts.
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