#2: Digital content for the next phase—emerging content trends you don’t want to miss
At the same time the pandemic drove budgets down, demand increased for more, better, and more entertaining content—and that applies to civic engagement projects as much as it does to consumer products. Because audiences largely moved over to online communication, they wanted more quality digital content. That demand will continue as we move out of pandemic-driven responses into a pandemic-informed culture.
Data ranges from a shocking 12 hours per day up to more than 16 hours spent on digital media by average adults in the US—and while that represents every kind of online activity, from work to movie watching, it means we are online more than we are off. It’s up to creative teams to find new ways to grab and keep our attention with thousands of sites competing for audience time.
We’re putting four trends in digital content at the top of the list for civic engagement planning teams—SEO (Search Engine Optimization), AI (Artificial Intelligence), video, and live streaming.
Go for E.A.T. More than 70% of users depend on organic results (keyword searches) to find information online, so where your content ranks on search engines matters. Meet the EAT principle for content quality to up your ranking: expertise, authority, and trust—start by researching and writing to your audience, incorporating data, and referencing and tagging subject matter experts and you’ll be on your way!
Don’t go it alone. With budgets crushed and the pressure on to engage audiences and move projects, you might think sacrificing quality is a requirement – but you can easily increase the quality of your content with the help of AI tools like Grammarly, Wordsmith, and AI Writer.
Move it. Vlogging is fast passing blogging in audience reach—with a channel on YouTube, you can share information and tell your project’s story. And by adding animated explainer videos, you’ll turn complex civic planning ideas into entertainment that connects your audience to your subject.
Make it live. Live streaming is more than just a subset of video. When you go live with content, you build trust and transparency with your audiences, who place high value on authentic communication. Real-time engagement and the unpredictability of live streams keep audiences hooked. From production to repurposing, the costs are low—turn the video into a transcript for a blog, use it in a podcast, or tack on explainer content to make the most out of your live stream.
Digital Takeover
We may be moving out of shelter-in-place, but the habits we developed in the increased screen time that resulted from working from home during the pandemic are here to stay. Innovations in content quality will have to remain a top priority for engagement teams to generate the attention and input they need to inform collaborative civic planning.
Interested in seeing these trends in your outreach? Let’s get to work, give us a call and schedule a meeting today.
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