Do you recall times when you’re reading through an article and then boom, you’re disrupted by countless pop-ups, ten different fonts, and many unrelated Ads? What was your first reaction? Probably closing that article window and looking for another one, right? This is just one example of a dissatisfying content experience. Although the information in that abandoned article might have been valuable, the experience was the barrier. A positive content experience attracts ideal buyers, converts leads to opportunities, and pushes you closer to the closed/won.
Content experience is an evolutionary approach to content marketing, placing an emphasis on how your audience consumes and interacts with your content. It’s about how you position your brand, build a relationship with your audience, and continuously provide them with valuable content across the buyers journey.
Here are some definitions and concepts of how marketing practitioners perceive ‘content experience’ from the web:
- According to MarTech Advisor “Content experience is defined as the overall experience of accessing, consuming, engaging with and responding to a stream of brand content - across diverse devices, platforms and channels, through the journey from prospect to customer”.
- “Content experience is the environment in which your content lives, but it’s also so much more than that. It’s the place where all the user action takes place. It’s where a visitor converts to a lead, and where you can measure your content’s effectiveness across the entire buyer journey.” Uberflip, The Ultimate Guide to Content Experience.
- When Constant Content was asked why content experience matters for content marketing, their answer was: “From the viewpoint of a prospective customer, certain factors contribute to a positive content experience: They can easily find what they’re looking for, They enjoy the way the content is presented, They can easily view the content on whichever device they’re using, They feel emotionally engaged with the tone of the content, They can quickly find other content relevant to their interests”.
- Auto Pilot identifies three components to building a content experience: “Environment: where your content lives”, “Structure: how your content is structured”, and “Engagement: how you can compel your customers to engage with your company”.
- A key marketing fundamental to consider when developing a content experience is personalization. Uberflip states that “B2B marketers need to adapt to buyer expectations. Those who do will win over customers by recognizing each individual and providing personalized experiences based on their unique interests, behaviors, and needs”.
- It’s essential to distinguish between content marketing and content experience. MarTech Advisor explains the difference: “While content marketing pertains to the creation, distribution, and analysis of content – and often individual pieces of content - content experience is a much more holistic approach across creation, consumption and measurement criteria”.
Creating a content experience really goes beyond just creating content. It’s about crafting a holistic system that guides your prospects across the marketing funnel. You need to:
- Understand your audience
- Identify their needs
- Speak to pain points
- Help them find what they are looking for
My tip to you… start with developing content that addresses their queries and triggers positive emotions. This will get you on the right path to orchestrating a memorable content experience.
There are many content experience tools available in the market to help you consolidate and utilize all your content. One of my top choices is Uberflip which we have experience with as partners and customers.
For more information on Uberflip, check out the “Why I’m Uber Excited About THIS Content Experience Platform” video and “How Content Experience Helps Financial Services” Interview.
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