Content Consumption: Successfully Engage Customers With the Rule of 15

Widen recently polled customers on their content consumption preferences, and the results were enlightening. Here are some excerpts from their customer responses:

"I like reading, watching videos and listening to podcasts. For something more how-to, I prefer a video, but for something subject-based or knowledge-based, I prefer reading. Sometimes my preference has to do with whether I would disrupt others."

"I read a lot of blogs. But if something is explained to me for the first time, I watch a video, then dig deeper by reading. I can absorb video faster, but I follow up with reading because I can go back and reread as much as I'd like."

"I prefer something more visual. Quick bullets and photos and imagery. That helps us sell. I would rather look through something quickly. Like a YouTube clip or a social media feed."

The key takeaway from these comments is that everyone experiences content differently. Once marketers know the content preferences of various audience segments, they can deliver a more targeted and memorable experience — and achieve engagement.

But tailoring content to individual customer preferences isn't a simple matter. With limited resources and budgets, marketers often don't have the time or money to create unique, standalone pieces for every customer type. The good news is that's not necessary.

To meet the two overarching objectives of delivering value and serving content according to customer preference, marketers should remember the "Content Repurposing Rule of 15." Marketers can follow this path to success by creating a single piece of high-value content — a whitepaper, slide deck or research report, for example — and then look for 15 different ways to repurpose or reuse that content in different forms.

A detailed, informative whitepaper outlining the benefits of Widget A can appeal to readers by providing all the information they need to make a decision. But whitepapers typically lack the interactivity of a video, infographic or quiz disseminated on social media.