‘Content is king’ a phrase that we are all too familiar with. It is sometimes referred to as the ‘content is king quote’ and was made famous by Bill Gates.
“Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet, just as it was in broadcasting.” Bill Gates
This is very true, however, with the vast range of content types and experiences it can be difficult to know what to put most focus, effort and budget into when it comes to content. The journey of a customer from initial awareness to conversion has many touch points and research points where content is critical.
What is a content experience?
Content experiences are typically stand alone pieces of content that truly engage the reader, like the transformation of a PDF, magazine, online publication etc. into an engaging digital experience. Content Experiences have major advantages over traditional marketing formats such as blog posts and PDFs. These experiences include far more engaging elements such as interactive content, personalized content, rich media and data collection elements including polls and forms.
Let’s discuss some of the types of content experiences that can be most beneficial and that can be added into your content marketing mix.
Brochures
Digital brochures as a digital experience can capture key product and service features that print brochures cannot. A real estate brochure for example as a content experience can capture the imagination of the buyer by transporting them to a video tour of the property. With a content experience you not only have the ability to embed interactive content but you can then tailor variations of the brochure that is personalized – for example that Real Estate brochure can be tailored to just include the properties that match a buyer’s specific budget and requirement without having huge additional print costs associated with doing so. This takes your brochure from a simple PDF to a whole new interactive and personalized level for the reader.
Newsletters
Newsletters are a great way of staying connected with existing clients as well as new leads. Newsletters are frequently built in email constraints which not only limits the engagement of the reader, but also the readability as they choose to view on different devices. A responsive content experience newsletter can capture feedback and leads through the use of embedded forms, engage readers with video content and provide a more engaging reading experience.
Magazines
Magazines in PDF form have been converted into digital replicas for many years, however, it is now time to consider moving from the print designed PDF into a fully responsive content experience. Readers of a magazine are more than likely reading on a mobile device.
The print designed PDF is not easily viewed on mobile devices and often requires the reader to pan, pinch and zoom. A content experience for your digital magazine takes your publication to the next level. Not only does it give readers on all devices a quality experience on all devices, but with added features will increase engagement and ensure that ROI is measured through analytics.
White Papers
Whitepapers act as trusted, educational research resources for individuals and companies requiring a non-biased and balanced view on the given subject area. Whitepapers are considered premium content and are therefore expected to include more than the standard blog post or article, so can a PDF do it justice? A whitepaper content experience not only has lead capture tools but can provide the reader with data and graphs in a far more visually pleasing way.
Key Takeaways
Businesses have so many types of content that play their part throughout the lifecycle of a customer. Whilst it can be difficult to know where to start with enhancing your content, there are particular content types that lend themselves very easily to getting started with a content experience. Brochures, Whitepapers, Newsletters and Magazines are four types that we are seeing widely adopted in a content experience format. Not only do they make the content far more visually appealing, but they provide marketers with the all important performance data that can be used to supercharge the marketing plan going forward.
About Experios
Experios is 3D Issue’s all new Content Experience platform that allows you to build all sorts of internal communications easily while implementing your company branding. You can create annual reports, newsletters and brochures for your employees as well as your customers. Take a look at Lead Tiles Employee Benefits Guide for inspiration. You can get started with Experios for free today, schedule a demo to find out how.
