What To Do About Content Fatigue?

As anyone who works in marketing or runs their own business knows, content is king. WordPress hosting and the affordability of domains has made it even easier than ever to create a constant dialogue with customers with engaging blog posts.

Furthermore, social media has also enabled us to bypass the media and directly talk to consumers.

But this is not such a well-kept secret after all. Because today, businesses are competing for the attention of consumers at a phenomenal rate. Figures suggest that the average person may see up to 4,000 adverts a day.

Content fatigue

The problem with this abundance of content from online platforms and domains is that we are starting to suffer content burnout.

A recent study by scientists at; University College Cork, Technische Universität Berlin, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, and DTU, suggests that this content bombardment makes it hard for us to focus on messages, and affects our attention span.

Professor Sune Lehmann from DTU Compute, said: “It seems that the allocated attention in our collective minds has a certain size, but that the cultural items competing for that attention have become more densely packed.”

The scientists reviewed a number of domains, including data from Twitter and Google Books, movie ticket sales and citations from scientific publications over the past 25 years in the study.

Is content still king?

This news doesn’t bode well for businesses, which rely on content to reach consumers. So, what can companies do to buck this worrying trend? Here’s four important considerations:

1. 1. Choose quality
      First and foremost, it’s about creating good quality content, rather than quantity of content. A well-thought out 500-1,000 blog post with SEO keywords will be more impactful than a series of short unconsidered posts. If you have WordPress hosting, look at tools like Yoast which can help shape the quality of your article. It will look at keyword count, length of text and use of headings to retain the attention of your reader.
   2. Be strategic
      It’s not enough to just have a social media presence. To really cut through and reach your audience, you need to be targeted and considered. Look at trends for the times your audience are online. For instance, parents are up early with kids and usually off social media during kid’s bath times and bedtime around 6pm. If you are more strategic about the time you post online, you have a better chance of your content being seen by the right people.
   3. Be different
      In a world where everyone is vying for a dotcom domain to try and compete with major brands, don’t be afraid to be different. You can set your brand apart with a domain name in Ireland for instance. Since .ie domain extensions are only available to those with Irish roots, it can help your website stand out from competitors.
   4. Know your audience
      Finally, if you use online platforms for advertising, think about how you can take a targeted approach. Understand your audience, and look at where they dwell. It’s no longer effective to have a ‘scatter gun’ approach. Think at how you can effectively target those more likely to respond to your message.

As an additional thought, we live in an age of ‘fake news’, as such transparency and honesty go a long way in consumer’s perceptions of your brand. This was highlighted in a recent study by Harvard Business Review, that found “transparency benefits consumers and firms.”

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