A Microsoft study from 2019 showed that the average consumer had an attention span of eight seconds, down from 12 seconds back in 2000. Each year that passes, this drops even further. This is why it has never been more important to ensure that the content you produce engages the reader at the highest possible level.
You want your consumers to experience your company. The solution? Tell a story. Take your audience on a journey. Give them the Content Experience of a lifetime.
What is a Content Experience?
A Content Experience is an engaging and highly visual collection of online interactive content that can reshape to any device it is viewed on and is not limited to a single piece of content. It places the business in the shoes of its audience and if successfully done correctly, it can greatly help it improve on what it’s offering.
In this blog, we are going to take a look at 4 components you need to include in every Content Experience.
The ‘Wow’ Factor
When creating a Content Experience, you want to get your customers excited. These days there seems to be so much content out there that is fantastic to read and really well-written, but at the same time, full of those annoyingly difficult-to-close popup adverts and overlays, which just causes you to completely abandon the article altogether. A seamless design will make your content more professional and appealing. Such factors like the introduction of subtle animations will help capture your audience’s attention. High-contrast color schemes and readable fonts can boost your user experience because readers don’t have to zoom in or squint to read. You should also try to avoid a cluttered design – sharp and seamless is always the best when creating a Content Experience. A great example of this would be this Worldwide Golf sample.
Tell a story
While your content should always capture the reader’s attention, it should not stop there. You also have to take them on a journey. The best way to do so is through digital storytelling. Start by ensuring the experience is useful by outlining your plot and core message ahead of time. Then when building your layout for your content, make sure it is easy to navigate with an intuitive layout that mimics the natural direction of the readers eyes, hand and thumb for mobile devices. For the content itself, to tell a story, you want to make sure that your brand and business personality shine through, so it is a good idea to try to avoid jargon or business-speak, but a little personality will help engage the reader. But be careful, as sometimes it is easy to push your brand too much in storytelling with the over-use of product drops, links or CTA’s, so make sure you are tailoring your content to the story your audience wants to hear, versus the story you want to tell. To do this, you want to make sure you fully know your audience. You can also tell a story outside of written words, imagery and interactivity are part of the story, and your goal should be to engage the reader the moment they land on the page. A great example of this would be this Discover West Cork sample.
Interact with your audience
Once your “story” is written, you want to make sure your audience reads it all. Adding interactivity is a great way to do this, it makes the experience even more engaging and will convince the reader to take the next step. Building a relationship with the reader is the key element to a successful content experience. The interactions you showcase should drive audiences to consume more relevant content. Including links to other articles or having a relevant posts section at the bottom is always a good way to suggest more content to the reader. Try to include videos, a content page and jump-to links within your content. Also, include a way for the user to always revert back to the homepage or content page. Lead forms are always a good way to interact with your audience and provide valuable information about them. Try to limit the amount of popup forms however, as you do not want to distract the reader from the storytelling process. A great example of this would be this Visit NYC sample.
Build Trust
You want your audience to feel a sense of trust after viewing your content and this should make them want to return each time for more and give them the motivation to take action on your CTAs. A good Content Experience will help build this trust, and in turn develop brand loyalty. Knowing your audience is key here. You need to understand your readers and what they expect in order to respond and take action. It is crucial to create separate content, geared towards each audience type and personalize the environment surrounding your content in order to fully capture them and gain their trust.
Key Takeaways
It is never too late to take this storytelling approach for your content. However, the longer you leave it, the more time and effort you will waste creating content that can never reach its full potential. Begin by understanding your audience, tailoring your content towards them, and add in your multimedia elements to make your content truly engaging and immersive, and always build trust throughout. It is not too difficult to integrate content experiences into your business either. If you already invest in content such as videos, blogs, etc., you already have a starting point. All you need now is a content experience platform such as Experios to help you with the rest.
About Experios
Experios is 3D Issue’s all new Content Experience platform that allows you to build both internal communications and external content easily, while implementing your company branding. You can create annual reports, newsletters and brochures for your employees as well as your customers.. You can get started with Experios for free today, schedule a demo or start your free trial.
