Why digital content is the answer for brand engagement (By Paolo Rizzardini)

Digital content done well can be tailored, interactive and trendy, which are key drivers of engagement

By Paolo Rizzardini, Mondia Digital CEO (/)

Consumers don’t want the ordinary when it comes to brand engagement. They want memorable, tailored customer experiences. Digital content is poised to deliver those experiences.

There are 5 billion () active internet users worldwide today –two-thirds thirds of the world’s population. This figure grew by 200 million people from 2021. The average person spends more than six hours () online each day. Almost all of them are also active on social media, and 80% () access content through their mobile phones. The world is online, and the most effective way to reach it is undeniably through digital content.

Digital content marketing (DCM) involves creating and sharing relevant, valuable brand-related content. According to research (/3VlgzH4), DCM’s first-tier effects include “cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement that foster brand-related sense-making, identification, and citizenship behaviors”. These effects contribute to second-tier effects including the enhanced perception of value and brand equity. 

More simply, effective digital content adds value to the consumer/brand relationship and distinguishes your brand from competitors. It creates a better customer experience and helps to boost your bottom line. It also fosters brand engagement and trust.

Because retaining a customer is far more valuable than attracting one in the first place, customer-retention attributes such as engagement should be prioritized. Brand engagement involves strengthening the emotional and psychological investment a user has with a brand. Luckily, digital content done well can be tailored, interactive and trendy, which are key drivers of engagement.

What is good digital content?

Engagement depends on your ability to tailor content to your audience and link it to brand identity and value. The more customer-centric and valuable your content is, the more resonance it will find amongst users, and the more they’ll seek it out. 

The key is to be careful and considered in your approach. 83% () of marketers think that higher-quality, less frequent content is more effective than low-quality, high-quantity content. A single viral video has an outsize ROI and impact compared to bulk, unpersonalized content.

Content that reflects your brand’s values is popular amongst global marketers (47% () view it as a priority), as is interactive, funny, trendy and relatable content. In terms of effectiveness, funny content has an outsize impact (/3OQv3fW), followed by interactive content and authentic or behind-the-scenes content.

The power of digital content emerges when you consider that it can be a bidirectional form of communication. Allowing consumers to engage with content, enjoy personalized recommendations and environments, and take control over recommendations and brand engagement supports a deeper consumer/brand relationship than has been possible before. Interactive content such as polls, games and augmented reality currently comprises 45% () of social media content.

What form should digital content take?

Digital content comprises a range of media, from long-form writing to short-form videos, games, podcasts, infographics and more. Videos remain () the top content marketing media format in 2022, with short-form video growing most rapidly, powered by the rise of TikTok and Instagram Reels. Blogs, images and infographics are also popular content types.

Social media is the leading () marketing channel globally, with Instagram, YouTube and Facebook leading the platform rankings. Facebook has the best ROI compared to advertising on other platforms. According to a recent study (/3EOwS8n), leveraging the interactive features of social media platforms can improve customer engagement and are underutilized. 

The most powerful content tells a story. Online consumers, particularly younger generations, are digitally savvy and too self-aware to fall for tired sales messaging. They want to feel that their favored brands are communicating authentically and delivering narratives that show how they are delivering on their values and objectives.

If the goal is relevance, the key is to listen

You can’t make content that meets the needs of your customers if you don’t know what those needs are. And you can’t make engaging content if you don’t know what engages them. Usage analysis and customer research are fundamental parts of a comprehensive digital content strategy. Luckily, digital content lends itself to data analysis. The important thing is to use data in a way that builds rapport with users, and to maintain a clear focus on the user experience rather than abstract marketing metrics.

Mondia Digital delivers advanced customer-engagement tools and platforms

Mondia Digital empowers global business brands to digitally engage with their customers through premium entertainment solutions offering enhanced speed-to-market, scalability and continuous innovation. Mondia Digital’s mENT platform is an all-in-one digital experience for companies to offer the best in digital entertainment to their customers. mENT’s advanced user experience design exceeds leading entertainment-industry standards and seamlessly promotes multiple content types. Features such as favourites, search, in-product advertisements, autoload content, content ratings, sharing, and improved communication all increase customer engagement and retention.

In addition to creating personalised digital experiences for end-users through its content-agnostic platforms, Mondia Digital manages the full customer lifecycle journey to guarantee the maximum level of user engagement and customer satisfaction. Its extensive premium content library aggregates and curates over 80 million content items covering games, music, video, sports, kids and health verticals, amongst others.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Mondia.