By: Matthew Kaiserman, Junior Account Executive

Today’s marketing landscape is driven by how long you can actively engage your audience. Attention spans are shrinking, and brands are having to work to find ways to convey their message before audiences click on something else that catches their eye. This shift towards clickable and easily digestible content is making many brands and content creators rethink their marketing approach.

Consumers are looking for an experience in the content they consume. While written content still has a valuable place in the marketing landscape, other engaging forms of content have most recently become in demand. Integrating digital methods to content creation will lead to further engagement across the board. In my recent interactions with journalists, it has become increasingly clear that visual components are not only preferred but needed to support story ideas and written articles.

While many B2C companies are taking the lead with curating this new wave of immersive content, their B2B counterparts tend to lag behind. The industry standard has typically been static white papers, case studies and infographics. While these forms of content are informative, they can be modified to increase engagement. Adding an interactive component to this type of content can further drive clicks and increase website traffic. A video infographic or an interactive landing page is a much more engaging method for sharing company data or information and will lead to increased conversions and drive higher click rates. Visualizing data in an engaging way will garner much more buzz and media interest, especially around any major industry conferences.

Integrating similar strategies within social and content marketing campaigns will also yield better engagement. Incorporating video is a major part of this as consumers want information presented visually and in a way that is easily digestible. We have altered our marketing strategy to include more video and less static content. More information is being consumed on the go as well, so audiences will click on content that best fits their device. It is much easier to watch a video on a mobile phone as opposed to reading a long-form article. Catering to the preferences of your audience has become imperative, and is what we practice ourselves as an agency and recommend to our clients.

Live and 360 videos expound further upon this video marketing strategy. These types of content are even more engaging than traditional video and garner higher engagement. Live videos are a great way to speak directly to your audience and create authentic content quickly. 360 video is great to show your audience a full view of what your brand is doing. Showcasing a new office, attending a tradeshow or launching a new product are great examples of content that can be viewed through a 360-degree lens.

Another form of content on the rise are immersive experiences. This takes video content a step further. By incorporating augmented and virtual reality into content, brands can craft a truly immersive experience that allows audiences to fully submerge themselves into the content a brand is creating. We used AR/VR to change the way communicators share news. Media Frenzy Global helped bring the first holographic press release to life to make an antiquated method of communication much more engaging. As well, wearable devices like VR headsets are helping to further drive this wave of immersive content. AR/VR is on the rise and brands need to experiment with different ways to connect with their audiences.

Brands are becoming their own publishers and are generating their own content instead of relying on traditional media channels to share news. Social media provides a great way of message amplification, it is just a matter of curating content that is compelling enough to drive clicks. Creating content that is unique to your brand will help you stand out from the crowd to achieve this. Taking risks and trying out new, immersive forms of content that go beyond the written word will help brands better connect to their audiences and spark a deeper level of engagement.