No matter how much of a neophyte you are in the digital circuit, you’ve most likely heard the statement “Content is King” numerous times. You’ve also probably gotten tired of hearing (and reading) all about it, but truthfully, good content has never been more relevant. Not only does it positively impact your SEO and search engine rankings, good content also helps generate new leads and increase traffic to your site.
But more than its evident advantages to your digital marketing campaigns, good content is an engagement driver. With thousands of content vying for their attention every day, consumers have become more discerning. This makes creating great content very important if you want to stand out from the clutter. This is especially true for digital content businesses like blogs, vlogs, and other media companies, since their content IS their product.
Delivering carefully crafted content that resonates with consumer needs and interests is likely to build brand trust and convert one-time visitors into loyal subscribers. However, understanding the importance of good content is one thing; developing it is another story. To help get you started, here are a few pointers.
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Make Things More Convenient
Everybody loves convenience. If it takes too long or if it’s too complicated for customers to get what they need or want from your site, they’re more likely to leave or unsubscribe. Apart from a fast-loading website—as 47% of visitors expect websites to load completely in under 2 seconds—mobile responsiveness and streamlined navigation are also big factors that make your website more convenient and user-friendly.
The latter is especially important if your website’s end goal is purchase or subscription. If you don’t have the resources to develop your payment gateways, there are reliable third-party suppliers you can enlist. For those dealing with repeated payments, consider using a subscription billing platform to ensure that customers are charged on time, automatically and correctly billing the registered accounts so they don’t lapse on their subscription fees. A proper subscription billing software can also automatically resolve failed payment transactions, one of the most common friction points in digital commerce. This minimizes customer churn and even influences customer loyalty and preferences.
Keep It Fresh
Buzzfeed is among the most aggressive creators of content, pushing an average of 25 major posts a day, not including user-generated content. This frequency of posting keeps their website’s homepage fresh with the latest updates, keeping their subscribers hooked because there’s always something new to consume. The regular updates also prevent what is called “content fatigue.”
Of course, not everyone can produce content as quickly as Buzzfeed. Just don’t go too long without updates, lest your subscribers think you’ve closed down. You may also want to follow the Hero, Hub, Hygiene content strategy, which helps (1) attract a huge volume of new visitors, (2) cultivate your relationship with your loyal subscribers, and (3) ensure visibility. The Hero, Hub, Hygiene structure also allows you to identify your highest-valued customers, which is crucial in developing loyalty programs, marketing strategies, and more.
Be Open to Change
Digital is a platform that’s quick to evolve. Just look at how often Facebook redesigns its algorithms based on its users’ activities. This means that digital businesses should also be ready to embrace these changes, and be flexible enough to test new business models, content formats, acquisition and retention tactics, and pricing plans.
Data and research are critical in this aspect, especially when switching business models (say, from pay-what-you-can [PWYC]to a freemium model) and pricing plans (say, from monthly to quarterly billings). You don’t want to “fix what ain’t broke,” especially for a legacy business, but at the same time, you also have to be able to adapt based on trends. This also holds sway in changing your content formats. Video is among the highest-engaging content format, but if your data shows that your subscribers still prefer long-form articles, then don’t do away with that kind of content.
The bottom-line is: if you have a website, you have to have good content. Bad content is a waste of time—both for your business and your consumers.
