This is a question that I think resonates all content marketers. From my days in broadcast television news, we spent hours and hours discussion whether a story would generate enough interest to drive viewership. Now in the digital/social communication world, it is even more of a legitimate discussion.
In-order for organizations to take ownership of their brand message, they have to become their own content marketers. They have to create home bases for audiences to navigate and social strategies to generate conversation portals ultimately for content discovery.
But if the content is not relevant or even sticky, audiences tend to find other places to engage. So what makes content sticky? What do I mean by sticky? Content that connects with an audience and makes them want to hang around and explore more.
Here are a few points I think that makes content “sticky”…engaging people hang around and enjoy.
1 – A voice that resonates
The content has to be presented in a voice the resonates with the audience. We are finding a corporate, distant voice tends to create barriers and less connectivity. People are navigating and engaging content that is presented in a conversational tone. Whether it is written, audio, or video…the content has to have an inviting tone.
2 – Message that connects with the soul
We talk about feelings…but people want to feel the emotional connection of the person or organization. The message has to touch that part of their soul that sparks and emotional response. This is the connectivity the creates a bridge between the audience and the organization.
3 – Brings life/context/purpose to the overall message
Their has to be an overall purpose behind the message. People want to have purpose when the read, listen, and watch. They want know what they have found and why they should keep on exploring. Each piece of rich media created must have a unified purpose carefully communicated to keep people around.
4 – Makes people want to be a part of the community
People want to be a part of something. They want to feel like ever word they read, ever video they watch, every piece of audio they listen to gives them a since of ownership. People just want to know they can be a part of something that is making a difference.
Imagine a campfire with a good story. What makes you hang around until the end, when it is cold and the hot cocoa is almost gone. What makes you want to hangout with those people to listen to the whole story? What makes the story sticky so that you come back and enjoy another campfire? Imagine building your community with that campfire in mind.
