Content Strategy: How Content Consumption Cycle Works

Audience behavior online is rapidly changing. Are your content marketing strategies able to keep up?

As a seasoned content creator, you must be equipped and updated when it comes to your content strategy. Your content marketing strategy will be a big deal because your content consumption will depend on the strategy that you will be applying.

According to a research published online, 58.4% of the world's population are engaged in social media and their average daily use is 2 hours and 27 minutes. The research also includes how people use the different social media platforms to interact with brands and products. The common activities of users are following and getting information on brands and products, finding funny and entertaining content, and sharing photos and videos.

That is why for companies that are engaged in creating a content marketing strategy, it is important to understand how users view content so as to make use of the forms of social media that their audience views.

For beginners who are still exploring the world of content marketing and its services, content consumption is how your audience interacts with your marketing strategy. It is how they read, watch, listen, share, and retain your content.

What content creators often overlook these days is how audiences actually consume content. It is about how they discover, evaluate, and act on narratives. And with evolving digital platforms and unpredictable consumer behaviors, and the insights provided by analytics agencies, content consumption is being disrupted. That is why it is important to re-evaluate how your audience consumes your content.

To help you to increase your knowledge when it comes to your content strategy and your audience content consumption, here are some effective tips straight from the leading digital marketing agency in the Philippines that can help you in your content marketing business.

The content consumption cycle

To better understand your audience you must know how the content consumption cycle works. There are four stages in the cycle and these stages are the discovery stage, evaluation stage, action stage, and the reference stage.

Let us start evaluating your audience content consumption using the cycle.

Discovery Stage

This stage is the initial stage of every content consumption cycle. It is where you can observe your audience choices and searches and how they interact with your marketing content strategy. Here are some of the factors that you must consider when it comes to this initial stage of the content consumption.

• Searchability of your content - This is where your target audience searches for content that suits their need and interest. This is where your right content placement and promotion comes in. Remember that in this part of the discovery stage you must not only produce quality content but you must also make sure that you can get the attention of your target audience that will leave a lasting impression.Here are some points that you might want to focus on when it comes to the searchability of your content.
  • Relevant content - Provide content that is relevant to your audience’s interest.
  • Intellectual content - Introduce new things to your audience; things that they can learn from your content which will let them feel that they are being educated by your content.
  • Emotional - Create content that will capture your audience's emotions. Let them feel multiple emotions while they are engaging with your content, because this can create deeper emotions with your audience.
  • Sensorial - Try a storytelling approach when reaching out to your audience. Your story must be unique and informational for your audience.
• Influenced content and consumption of your audience - Your content marketing strategy must leave a lasting impression on your target audience, because this can lead to influencing other target audiences. And when this situation goes on, you will start to build a reference group for your content that can influence more audience.
• Social media platform specific - You must choose the perfect social platform where to place your content, because not all social platforms are created equal, due to the different preferences of their users. For example, you can have content about gaming reviews or beauty and fashion using Youtube. You can also use TikTok for your social content. Always remember that the social platform that you will be using for your content must capture your target audience. Because if not, then your effort will just be wasted.
• Screen size medium - You must examine the screen size of your audience. Do some research on what screen size they are using, if they are compatible with smartphones, desktop or laptop, or television. Always put in mind that whatever content you are producing it must be attuned to the preferred screen size of your target audience.
• Timing of your content - The timing when to post your content is essential if you want to increase your content consumption, because if you post your content in the right time that users are on social platforms then you will be having a great chance of having engagements.The best time to post on social platforms is from Tuesdays to Thursday at 9 p.m or 10 p.m, and the worst day to post is on Sunday.

Evaluation Stage

Once your target audience discovers your content, the next thing they have to do is to evaluate it. Your audience will start to engage with your content by reading, listening, and watching what you create. Here are some pointers that you must be aware of when your audience will be evaluating your content.

1. Your audience will be reading - You must know what are the different mediums that you will be using when your audience will be reading your content. Make sure also to provide your audience the right content that they will be reading. Make them interested and that will make them want to consume more knowledge from your content.
2. Your audience will be watching - Because of the increase of usage of mobile devices and easy access on the internet, videos and live streaming is within reach.According to an article published online, the attention span of average adult consumers is eight seconds. You have to grab their attention in the first eight seconds of your video content. Take note that videos are vital to your content marketing strategy.When creating videos never forget the basic rule in marketing that you must know your target audience. You must carefully plan your video content so that it will be helpful to the needs of your audience, authentic and genuine which can impact your target audience's senses, and shareable that can generate interactions.
3. Your audience will be listening - Here is another content strategy where you tap your audience’s sense of hearing. You can use sound to your brand storytelling.Today, content consumers don’t just read and watch content–they also make every content material their playlist. Consumers are now consuming audio-related content more than ever. You can use some of these audio platforms that are available for your audio content marketing.It is also not enough that your audience is the one listening, you must also do social media listening. This will help you to analyze the conversions and trends happening around your brand and use these insights to make better content marketing decisions.

Action Stage

Your objective in this stage of the cycle is to make your target audience convert as your consumer.

Analyze how your audience engages with your content. Discover if your audience just browsed your content because there was no engagement or conversion on their part. However, if your audience appreciates your content they will convert as consumers and start sharing your content with others.

Reference Stage

The goal of this stage is to build trust and relationship with your existing audience. Get them to consume more of your content, follow your brand’s journey, and continue in-depth sharing (the word and work of mouth).

Here are some ways that can help you strengthen your content advocacy and consumer loyalty.

1. Be consistent in creating your content - Consistency is the key. You must not stop creating your content! Just keep going and soon you will be mastering how to build content strategy. Here are some of the content marketing tips that can help you in how to be consistent with your content creation.
2. Create useful content - Your content should teach readers something, it must be informational that will educate them. You can do this with reliable links or landing pages on your content, including tips and information that are educational, answer their questions, and solve their problem. Treat your content as something that your audience can’t live without. Here are some tips to consider in your own content marketing efforts.
3. Always know your audience -To create similarly effective content, you need to identify and understand your audience on a profound level. Go beyond their demographics and dig deeper into desires, pain points, values, and other emotional drivers.

The importance of content consumption cycle for content strategy

It is important that your content strategy is in line with the content consumption cycle because it will result in a better targeted audience. Almost 40% of marketers say that content marketing is an essential part of their marketing strategy, and 81% say that their company sees content as a business strategy.

That is why it is important for you to master the content consumption cycle when it comes to your content marketing.

Key takeaways

• Know your audience. Always look into the wants and needs of your target audience, your content must be relatable, and it must also be in line with their own ideas and beliefs.
• Create quality content. Make sure that your content whether for listening, watching, or reading must be of quality. It must grab the attention of your audience and make them want to consume more of your content.
• Be easy to discover. Your audience must easily discover or search your content, be the first one that they read, watch, and listen to.

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