A recent study conducted by AOL has discovered eight key motivation drivers for content engagement. They are as follows:
- Inspiration – Inspiring the audience that is looking to try something new or find some fresh ideas.
- Education and to remain updated on the latest news.
- Looking for answers or advice to help them combat a problem.
- Seeking comfort and support or to gain insight.
- To become part of a community and connect with others with similar interests or passions.
- For relaxation or to feel good and improve their current mood.
- Looking for entertainment in order to take a break or to escape.
- To remain socially updated.
Their research involved analysing 55,000 interactions by consumers across eight markets and it involved 32,000 respondents. AOL discovered that the US is sharing online content more than anyone else and that Japan and Germany were sharing the least. However, Japan did do well on ad-awareness for the inspiration and to relax and improve moods.
5 Tips on Increasing Engagement
These findings can be used to help you come up with content that will inspire your audience to engage with you. Engagement is more about quality than quantity. It’s less about clicks and more about the activity and the reach your online content gains. Using the motivators above along with the 5 tips on increasing engagement below will help you to provide valuable content for your audience and for your business.
- Know your audience. You can’t engage your audience if you don’t even know who they are. You need to connect with them and therefore you’ll need to know what they like and what they dislike and how they like to communicate.
- Understand what your audience wants from you. Find out the questions they’re asking and provide them with the answers and give them an insight into what they’re interested in.
- Be on time. Post your content at the same time each week and stick to your schedule. Publish content at times that fit in with your audience’s habits and when they need to find the content you’re sharing. Don’t take breaks either, readers don’t like it if the content goes missing for a couple of weeks. You need to be consistent.
- You need to engage with your audience too. Respond to their questions and reactions. Spend time listening to their conversations and getting involved.
