As a specialist digital agency based in Manchester, we look for the right channels and formats to ensure our clients’ content has maximum impact. And the choice of format is important, as we will explain.
When the human brain encounters content, it will react differently according to the format of the content it is taking in.
We know that the choice of typeface you use can influence readers, but the brain also has a range of responses to different content formats.
The Time to Read
Written content is an old, well-established form of communication.
However, as technology has evolved and developed, so the means of delivering and consuming written content have changed.
Nowadays, many people do their reading with online and other digital devices, rather than books, newspapers and magazines.
And words still play a prominent role in the digital world.
People read search results. They visit websites and read homepages, blogs, whitepaper reports and ebooks.
Text-based material works well for SEO, driving people to websites using carefully-optimised written content.
You can explore information in-depth with written content, and it can boost your credibility and authority.
The Sticking Power of Images
The brain is capable of remembering images better than it remembers text. Half the human brain is directly or indirectly concerned with vision.
Images can help people understand and retain information, even when it is complex.
Research shows that even the parts of the brain thought of as simple can do complex, sophisticated processing of visual subject matter.
Therefore, using graphic content is a way of making your message stick.
What should this graphic content consist of?
There are different ways of making a visual impact with content, including:
- Images
- Symbols
- Infographics
- Photographs
This makes the design of your content a critical factor. It is about finding the best graphic solutions for integrating text and image-based content.
It applies to video too – while this is image-led, it still needs to be coherent and have a structure that executes a clear content strategy.
Taking Content Further By Going Interactive
Content must compete in a crowded digital marketplace and it must engage.
Video’s dynamic, non-static appeal has proved popular, but there is a way that you can invite active participation from your audience, by using interactive content.
Interactive content can stimulate several parts of the brain at once, increasing audience engagement.
Quizzes, for example, attract interest, and have the added value of giving you information about the people who take them: their likes and dislikes, interests, needs, fears and aspirations.
You can have interactive surveys, infographics, landing pages, ebooks, presentations and even case studies.
This type of content demands an audience’s attention but rewards their participation, as a mechanism for you to:
- Increase awareness of your brand
- Engage website visitors
- Improve the quality of your leads
Interactive content can support every stage of the buyer’s journey, awareness, evaluation and decision-making.
Extend Your Influence with Content
If you want to influence your audience with your content, you need to first understand who this audience is, and what the best content formats will be to appeal to them.
