As more and more people are trapped in their homes during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the demand for quality content continues to skyrocket. The time for effective content marketing is now, and we have compiled five impactful ways that you can leverage the situation to your advantage.

1 — Leverage User-Generated Content (UGC)

What is UGC?

User-generated content, or UGC for short, is any content that has been created and published by unpaid contributors. These contributors, who are often fans, promote a brand instead of the brand promoting itself. UGC can be content of any type — including blogs, website pages, images, social media posts and testimonials.

Why is UGC better?

GamingSoft White Label Operators have found that “85 percent of consumers find UGC more influential than brand content”. Consumers are more likely to trust and engage with content that is perceived to have a grassroots origin, rather than a commercial message with a corporate origin.

A famous real-life example

When Coca-Cola launched its Share a Coke campaign, it encouraged its customers to find a coke with their name on it and share it on social media. The campaign was an immense success — in Australia alone, where the campaign initially started, they managed to sell “more than 250 million named bottles and cans in a nation of just under 23 million people” in one summer.

With this one move, Coca-Cola enjoyed a massive amount of free viral marketing for the brand as people showed off images of themselves with their coke.

Make UGC work for you

To make UGC work for your brand and your target audience, ask yourself these questions:

• What catches their attention?
• What do they enjoy sharing?

Identify these points and ask them to share it! Don’t be afraid to think out of the box!

2 — Create Video Content

Stronger Engagement

Video content is paving the way for the future of content marketing — it is more likely to capture interest and engage a viewer. With more of their senses stimulated, audiences are drawn to this medium compared to more traditional ones.

“The modern consumer increasingly expects to receive video content from their favourite brands, and video keeps audiences engaged longer than any other type of content. […] Live-stream audiences continue to grow as well […] 81 percent of respondents watched more live video in 2019 than 2018.”

CoreDNA

People are spending more time on video

The appeal of video content to audiences cannot be understated. Zenith Media has found that the average person spends 84 minutes watching video in 2019, and the number is expected to increase to 100 minutes a day in 2021.

Producing quality video content encourages your audience to spend time and engage with your brand. A study by Wyzowl has shown that 89 percent of businesses experience a positive ROI with their video content, and 80 percent saying that video content has directly led to increased sales.

What type of video content is effective?

There are a number of ways to create effective video content, but the core philosophy behind it is simple: Create something that adds value to your viewer. Popular types of video that you can try include:

• Presentations
• Webinars
• Event coverage
• Interviews
• Behind-the-scenes
• Infotainment

Don’t just stick to the formula, however! Video content is endlessly evolving, and it’s always worth it to try something new!

3 — Quality over Quantity

“When it comes to digital marketing, quality trumps quantity and makes your brand more personable in the long run. We live in the age of transparency, and consumers crave authenticity.” – Forbes

This is an evergreen rule-of-thumb that applies across all of your business’s digital content. Consistency and quality are the core pillars of any successful original content. Less is more — if you release too much content at once, it can easily overwhelm your audience.

We’re still trying to do too much all at once. As content marketing gets more established, we can’t get away with cobbled together operations or haphazard processes.

Content Marketing Institute

It is important to be consistent when sharing new content. However, it is even more crucial to never compromise on the quality of the content that you publish.

4 — Appeal Visually

Visual Content is Versatile

One of the most appealing parts of online media is its versatility when it comes to utilising the visual medium in novel and refreshing ways.

From entertainment to communication, people are going all-in on the power of dynamic and interactive imagery. Among the next generation of soon-to-be adults, visual social media reigns supreme — Instagram, YouTube, Tiktok and Snapchat are the most popular platforms where teens hang out. For adults, YouTube is the most-used platform, topping even Facebook. To this end, visuals in content are going to get even more interesting in 2020.

Legendary Media

Captivate Your Audience

Utilise this content marketing trend — create and share visually appealing content that will captivate your audience. Make full use of the flexibility of visuals — here are some of the many ways you can use visuals:

• Infographics
• Videos
• Bars, Graphs and Charts
• Screenshots
• Illustrations
• Memes (works surprisingly great in the right places!)
• GIFs

Be sure that your posts stand out — your audience will be bombarded by an endless stream of information on their social media feeds.

5 — Utilise Your Content Creations

Share it right for each platform

Make sure that all the hard work you put into creating great content doesn’t go to waste! Optimise and share your content in a form that’s appropriate for each channel and platform. We are spoiled for choice when it comes to social media platforms — and creating unique content for each platform can be overwhelming.

Optimise your usage of content

Make your content work for you instead! You can use the same core piece of content on all your platforms, but be sure to craft each post in a way that makes sense for the platform. Stagger your releases and write unique posts for each platform so that your audience doesn’t get flooded with the same content more than once. This will give you more bang for your buck.

Putting it all together

As the economy and the overall market slows down to a crawl, be sure that you aren’t slowing down with it. When it comes to marketing, this is the right time for you to ramp up your efforts.

Remember the words of Warren Buffett — “Be greedy when others are fearful.”

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