Everyone probably has a solid idea of what information overload means. The threshold for our ability to absorb, retain, and recall information is not infinite. Content shock takes this idea to a whole new level, and marketplace.
Our capacity to absorb information is still limited, but our ability to produce online content is not. The intersection of these two things produces content shock. What caused it and how did we get to this point? Look at the war on content from behind-the-scenes and the origins of the outcome are decipherable.
Content marketing is king. The budgetary value of online content is hard to deny. You can get three times the lead generation by spending 62 percent less than the cost of traditional marketing. Who wouldn’t take that deal?
The fact of the matter is it’s the No. 1 strategy to achieve optimization. The thing about a top-rated strategy is that sooner or later everyone starts using it. That’s exactly the crossroads we’ve hit with content marketing.
At a page count of 27,000,000 new pieces a day, we end up doubling the amount of content available on the Internet every 9 to 12 months. No user can keep up with that much content at any given time, so they have to prioritize the content they choose to look at. This leads to a similar result professionally.
As a result, businesses have to discern the best way to implement a social media optimization (SMO) strategy, especially with the introduction of the SMO Hummingbird algorithm introduced by Google last August. This algorithm marries the importance of links and social media endorsements into one integrated ranking system.
The challenge today: to figure out the limits of that ranking system so that businesses can avoid hitting the anti-social ceiling.
Certain businesses are showing a particular knack for ingenuity and facts-finding missions. They use their brand identities to test the limits of these unfamiliar SMO waters.
How do they do it? One strategy is to post one lead generating Tweet at the same time every day for 10 days and gauge user responsiveness to the campaign as a whole. The results are surprising.
First and foremost, day one of the campaign is understandably the most active with a 72 percent response rate. However, days 2 to 5 show the most telling statistical data, with a 58 percent response rating. Not quite the drop-off you were expecting, is it?
Another strategy is to create both comprehensive content and short-form content so that users have access to efficient information more quickly.
While neither strategy has broken the mold or the platform, businesses may see a slight downturn in their short-term brand identity analytics. Experts predict the short-term sacrifice is well worth the long-term SMO knowledge.
So yes, while content is extremely critical to a business’s success online, it can come back and bite you in the butt.
Are you overloading your customers or potential leads with content? Have you yourself ever felt overwhelmed by a business’s online content?