Igniting Customer Connections: Fire Up Your Company's Growth By Multiplying Customer Experience & Engagement

Chapter 13ContentConnecting with More Customers Starts with More (and More Relevant) Content

Every consumer is familiar with content, since consumers see lots of it every day. They may define it as advertising, information, a marketing offer, a tweet, a Facebook post, or more. But it's all content. Consumers tell us what content they value by engaging with it. And in our omnichannel world, multiple channels demand much more content—and better content. Here we take a look at the changing role of content, the growth of content marketing, and how you can put high-quality content to work to inspire customer connections.

Content and ROE²: The Content Connection

It's simple. Compelling content is the key component of Return on Experience × Engagement (ROE²). Content drives emotion, and emotion fuels experience—ideally, a great experience because, as the adage attributed to legendary ad man Bill Bernbach goes, you can't bore people into buying your product. And you definitely can't bore, cajole, intimidate, impress, or annoy them into engaging with your brand. You need to create content that gets their attention, amuses them, captivates their imagination, creates a compelling offer, and makes them want more. Like a hit song, you know it when you hear it. And it always sounds easier and simpler to create than it is.

Experience is the key aspect of content that relates to ROE². Experience involves consumers and gets them talking, and then gets other consumers involved. And that engagement ...